Arriving on a Saturday at the Munich rail station with vague plans to spend two nights in the south Bavarian countryside, we had booked a car but not a hotel. A spur-of-the moment call to the Neu-Meran, however, quickly solved the problem of a roof over our heads.

Two hours later we stepped into the time machine. The first wave of nostalgia was when, on entering the hotel's antique-bric a brac-taxidermy-filled reception room, we found no sign of life. After a few minutes of snooping various public rooms we encountered a pleasant young woman in the dining room who exclaimed, "You must be Mr. Bestor. I have three rooms to show you. You can pick the one you like."

We settled on Number 212, a somewhat larger than average double that offered a balcony with a sweeping view over Bad Reichenhall, the surrounding green hills and jagged peaks for $115 with breakfast.

There was no check-in, no paperwork or credit card processing, we were given the key and told the hours of breakfast (8-10 a.m.). While this was going on we requested a table for dinner and it wasn't until then, when we were seated in the dining room, that we were handed forms to complete for the local kurtax.

The "old-time Bavaria" impression was only strengthened by our Neu-Meran dining experiences. Sophists would probably use the word kitsch to describe the dining rooms profusion of knickknacks, plants and religious icons.

In the sense of ease and well-being engendered, there are few dining experiences equal to the cozy, relaxed charm of such country restaurants; each table bathed in its own pool of light, tall, froth-topped glasses of beer, the wood smell and the beaming faces of prosperous locals out for an evening of good essen und trinken.

And of course there is all that farm-fresh food. In the near future we have plans to bore you with our "dish hall of fame," a list of the best plates of food we've been pleased to report on in these pages over the past 15 years. One of them, you can be assured, will be the duck liver paté with apple shavings served by the Neu-Meran as a first course. Two butter-cube sized chunks of rich but surprisingly subtle paté was just enough for one - one cocktail party. The apple had been marinated lightly in an indefinable something that, when joined with the duck, took the dish to a higher level. A smear of the paté sprinkled with a few strands of the apple and it was magic on toast.

While nothing reached the culinary heights of the duck paté, all dishes were prepared with care and the highest quality, freshest ingredients. Two of the best were Hirschgulasch (about $12), a deeply hearty venison ragout with Spätzle and Preisselbeeren (similar to cranberries) sauce, and Zanderfillet (approximaely $20), eight small, sauteed filets of a sole-like white fish served over creamy mashed potatoes and garnished with a handful of earthy mushrooms.

The Neu-Meran is known for its extensive wine list, but we were happy with glasses chosen from among the several offen wines available, notably a lively Schwarz-riesling (red) that cost about $4. We had no quarrel either with the beer vom fass from the local Wieninger Brauerei (half liter: about $2.75). Without beverages the three-course dinners averaged $24 per person.

In summer, meals can be taken outside on a terrace that offers the hotel's superb view of green hills and rugged mountains.

The "served" breakfast - rather than from a buffet - demonstrated the hotel's commitment to house-made, top quality ingredients. Butter, eggs, cheese and sliced breakfast meats don't get any fresher. One morning we were presented with slices of an ethereal, butter-infused coffee cake that had just been baked on the premises.

For almost 50 years, Franz and Ingrid Weber have welcomed travelers to their hideaway in the forest above Bad Reichenhall. Franz runs the kitchen and Ingrid is out front. On both nights they were still charming guests in the restaurant when we toddled off to bed just shy of 11pm, and back on the job still smiling when we came down for breakfast next morning a few minutes before 8. A hardy couple.

The Neu-Meran has a small indoor pool, fitness center, steam room, sauna and other accoutrements of a resort hotel, but the real draw is the food and the gemütlich management.
 

Contact: Hotel Neu-Meran, D-83435 Bad Reichenhall-Nonn, tel. +49/08651/4078, fax 78520,  hotelneumeran@aol.com, www.hotel-neu-meran.de 
Daily Rates: Singles € 57-77, doubles € 114-124
Rating: Quality 15/20, Value 16/20