On the Waterfront (Venice Beach)

One of J's favorite summertime activities is drinking beer under the sun at On the Waterfront, a Swiss-owned biergarten (beer garden) on Venice Beach.

Raclette, a traditional Swiss dish of cheese and potatoes, was introduced to us by our Swiss friend who first brought us to On the Waterfront.

I tried Rosti for the first time. This is a curry version with chicken, tomatoes, and fruit. Odd, but not bad. It was served on a bed of hash browns, so after about half a plate I was stuffed.

A salad. Boring!

Meringue sundae. Frankly, when I ordered meringue at a Swiss place, I expected homemade. Hello? Swiss meringue? It has its own name. Arg. At least the caramel ice cream under this was tasty.

They serve Charly Temmel's ice cream, which our friend tells us is Austrian in origin. This is a banana split with vanilla, strawberry, and banana ice cream. The ice cream style is very fluffy and slightly icy with what tastes like a lower butterfat content than your average American ice cream. Huge, fairly tasty sundaes for around $8.

The six of us managed to consume all the food above (and then some) plus over three pitchers of Erdinger Weisbier and a pitcher of Schwartz black beer. Ah, summer.