Gerni’s Farmhouse: Austrian restaurant at the Sparkling Hill Resort in Vernon
For my mom’s 60th birthday, we took her for a weekend getaway at Sparkling Hill Resort in Vernon. Sparkling Hill is a luxury wellness retreat with European inspired spas, situated at the top of a cliff with views of Okanagan Lake (Full review of the resort coming soon!).
Gerni’s Farmhouse is one of the dining options available at the resort so you do not need to drive or leave the resort area. They offer traditional Austrian cuisine. We came here for dinner on our second night.
The vibe
The building of Gerni’s Farmhouse is actually really cool. It is an original 16th century building from Weerberg, Austria (a real farmhouse!). It was actually dismanted in 2019 and shipped to Canada, and then rebuilt on the resort land by Holzbau Maier.
It was pretty cool to take a look inside and see it from the outside (it looks great). The vibe is definitely very different from the rest of the Sparkling Hill resort because of its wooden architecture.
We sat on the picnic tables outside to enjoy more of the view since it is situated on the cliff. It kind of felt like we were in Europe and the staff were also wearing traditional Austrian outfits and dresses.
Food review
Here is everything we ordered at Gerni’s Farmhouse from their dinner menu.
Bratwurst ($8)
We actually ordered this bratwurst as a side add-on, that’s why it is $8 and just comes with one sausage and mustard. If you order the bratwurst as an entree, it comes with a pair of grilled bratwurst, mustard, sauerkraut and a Kaiser bun for $21.
It is a pretty big sausage so even sharing it with 6 people, everyone got at least 1 or 2 bites of the sausage. It’s been a long time since I was in Germany so I don’t really remember the taste of bratwurst anymore, but overall it was a nice sausage (I don’t like sausages that much 😅).
Rindsgulasch ($38)
Two of us ordered the rindsgulasch, which is a beef goulash (kind of like a beef stew). You can add $2 to substitute spaetzle (kind of like a pasta) instead of the bun.
The beef was tender but I found the creamy sauce/stew it was in to be too salty the more I ate it. It tasted ok with the bun and the sauce, but the bun also wasn’t very impressive.
Huhnerschnitzel ($36)
My sister and I both ordered the chicken schnitzel. It comes in a heart shape which is lowkey cute 🥰. It also comes with some buttered potatoes and seasonal greens. We also both added $5 for the mushroom cream sauce.
In general I thought this dish was ok. I’ve had better schnitzel before in the Lower Mainland that was more crispy, but this one at Gerni’s Farmhouse was also acceptable and fine. The sides were also fine, but I wasn’t a big fan of the mushroom cream sauce. Compared to the ones I’ve had before with my schnitzel, I found this one to be too sweet.
Original bayrische schweinshaxn ($34)
My parents shared this entree – a huge Bavarian pork knuckle 😮! It is served in a beer sauce, some buttered potatoes and a side plate of German coleslaw.
The size of the pork knuckle was certainly impressive. There was a lot of meat on that bone! It also took a bit longer to come out but nothing to complain about. The meat was very soft and tender but there is also quite a bit of fat on it.
I’m not sure if there is a difference between Bavarian pork knuckle and the German pork hock, but I remember the German pork hock to have more of a crispy skin on the outside, which is what my family and I were expecting. The skin on this Bavarian pork knuckle was not crispy. Aside from this, it is a big portion and a fun dish.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I give Gerni’s Farmhouse 3 stars but it kinda barely passed my 3 star mark. This is mostly because I found everything to just be average, whereas I was expecting really amazing European food based on what the front desk was telling us.
Again, the beef goulash was kinda salty. My chicken schnitzel was just average and the only cool/stand-out dish would be the pork knuckle. So that all together gives me just an average impression of Gerni’s Farmhouse, despite its really cool architecture and vibe. Perhaps this is a better spot for some beer and snacks, while enjoying the great view.
Gerni’s Farmhouse still tasted better than the PeakFine dining inside the resort itself. But overall, I don’t think the dining options inside Sparkling Hill resort are that great.
Sincerely, Loewe