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Monthly Archives: September 2017

The Alpine Diner @Hotel Eden (Lake Resia, Italy)

September 29, 2017
#Course | Set Meal, #Dinner, #Dumplings, #Haute Cuisine, #Hotel Restaurants, #Meat, #Molecular, #Salad, #Seafood, @Bolzano, @Italy, @Resia | Reschen, @South Tyrol, Austrian, Uncategorized
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A gourmet short trip to Italy

Salad & antipasti buffet

We stayed at this beautiful newish hotel at Lake Resia that promised a couple relaxing and tasty days because of the attached mini spa and a daily dinner service with a 4 course meal curated by the junior boss of the house and head chef Markus Strobl.

During the few days we stayed here, we had so many dishes that I will keep this brief and short and let the pictures do most of the talking. Just that, there was a salad and antipasti buffet each day to start off the menu and even though it was mostly the same, every day they had some changing highlight items like perfectly grilled and chilled veal. My favorite picks were the marinated artichoke hearts and that slightly blanched and lightly dressed coleslaw with cumin.

 

Mediterranean swordfish
Barley soup
Topfenknödel
Rye bread dumplings
Menu
  1. Fluffy dark Rye Bread dumplings in fond with oven vegetables and fried parsley
  2. Barley soup with ham roll and chive-gel
  3. Insane Meditteranean swordfish with pea flan, snow peas, and minestrone broth
  4. Perfect Topfenknödel with nougat center, figs, and cinnamon ice cream

 

Ravioli
Essence of peppers
Peach sherbet & champagne
Flank of Ocean beef
  1. Amazing ravioli with carbonara filling, truffle aroma, and oven melanzane
  2. Essence of peppers, chorizo-egg-dumplings and carrot pearls
  3. On spot Ocean beef flank, tomato, dauphine-potatoes and oven carrots
  4. Genius peach sherbet, water melon and arunda bubbles from east of Meran

 

Beef tartar
Parsley soup
Guineafowl
Lave cake intact
Lave cake dismantled
  1. Fresh and bio beef tartar, parmesan splinters and crostini, celery walnut salad and red onions
  2. Parsley cream soup, bacon trameszzino and gel of smoke
  3. Lardo stuffed breast of guineafowl, young leek, white bread pudding and chervil mousse
  4. Lukewarm chocolate lava tart with wild berry sherbet and strawberries

 

Celery tortelloni & truffle foam
Consommé double & mushroom crepe
Beef cheek
Yoghurt mousse & passion fruit
  1. Celery filled tortelloni, truffle foam, and broccoli
  2. Consommé double, fantastic mushroom crêpe and zucchini julienne
  3. Beef cheek, smoked mash, black carrots and parsley
  4. Farmer yoghurt mousse, ice cream, meringue and acidy passion fruit
DSC02267-01

Regional cheeses, chutneys, and nuts

As the salad buffet at the start, the dinner closing was also the same every day, an interesting selection of regional cheeses, chutneys, and nuts.

Bedroom
Bedroom
Eden Hotel (front)

The time we spend in this dining room was such a treat and I didn’t have a single dish I didn’t like and many that I loved. Atmosphere-wise it took us some getting used to as everybody was whispering quietly at their tables which made it all a bit library-like but after the first night we had some good wine, turned up the volume a notch and enjoyed ourselves. Thanks for a wonderful foodie stay at your hotel and keep being inventive.

Get Your Grub On!

Alpine Diner Restaurant & Bar (Hotel Eden Reschensee) – reservations mandatory
Hauptstrasse 4
39027 Reschen BZ / Resia (Südtirol / South Tyrol)
Italy
p: + 39 473 633137
http://www.eden-reschensee.com/

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Restaurant Maximilian @St. Anton (Arlberg, Austria)

September 27, 2017
#Dessert, #Lunch, #Sweets, *Bakery & Desserts, *Pudding, @Arlberg, @Austria, @St. Anton, Austrian, Kaiserschmarrn, Uncategorized
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Kaiserschmarrn Stopover.

Kaiserschmarrn

Kaiserschmarrn

We had some organizational difficulties putting together a holiday this summer so eventually, we simply took a week off and decided on Sunday that we’d be going to drive down to the very northern tip of beautiful Italy the next day. On our route, we passed the picturesque town of St. Anton and made it a point stopping by and have a go at some good old Austrian Kaiserschmarrn. The restaurant I initially chose wasn’t open yet so we went to next best place we could find, sat down and were instantly greeted warmly by the waiter as if we’d be coming here every Monday afternoon.

Kaiserschmarrn
Beef broth w/ liver dumpling

We started with some hearty soups and I actually quite enjoyed my first ever liver dumpling in a rich and strong beefy broth. Though this was mainly the door opener for the main object of desire, a two person serving of buttery kaiserschmarrn with an acidy and sticky plum compote aside. Kaiserschmarrn is kind of a thick pancake that sometimes gets ripped apart chaotically or like in this case is jabbed into more or less consistent, tasty cuboids. This by itself was so worth the stover, thick yet fluffy blocks of pancake dough, caramelized in butter and dusted with a light coating of powdered sugar. I dipped every other piece into the compote to have a nice changeup between the almost savoury and fruity flavours. So decadent, so wonderful, I strongly recommend it.

Get Your Grub On!

Restaurant Maximilian
Dorfstraße 57
6580 St. Anton am Arlberg
Austria
p: +43 5446 333310
http://www.maximilian-stanton.com/

 

 

Tains Nahkauf @Immermannstraße (Düsseldorf, Germany)

September 23, 2017
#Takeout / Da Bao, @Central (Stadtmitte), @Düsseldorf, @Germany, @Little Tokyo, Bao, Beijing / Peking Duck, Chinese, Uncategorized
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36hrs in Food Paradise – Hour 35.75, Da Bao

Peking Duck Bao

Peking Duck Bao

I had such big plans for my last meal in Düsseldorf but there were just a few too many gin tonics between me and my bed (my friend’s sofa) last night so I kinda overslept a bit. Rushing towards the train station I already saw myself wolfing down some greasy maccas burgers just when we passed an Asian convenience store that had a tiny food section out ifront. Swiftly scanning the menu I instantly knew that maccas could suck it.

I didn’t have enough time to really go overboard here so I ordered the one item I deemed the most delicious, the Peking Duck Bao. I did get it for takeout (da bao) so I was only able to enjoy it when I was already in my seat while the train started pulling out of the station. This thing was the bomb. The bao was perfectly made, fluffy but solid and the roasted duck, succulent and sweet from that plum sauce with fresh cilantro biting through with a pleasant menthol sharpness. The small greens aside were dressed in tasty sesame sauce and I made an absolute mess eating it cause I had missed grabbing some plastic cutlery at the shop. Thankfully I was all by myself in the little quite chamber at the end of the train, belly full of bao and duck and face and fingers full of sticky sesame and plum sauce. What a nice finish to an otherwise awesome short stay. See you soon Düsseldorf, I think I love you.

Get Your Grub On!

Tains – Mein-Asiamarkt
Immermannstraße 50-52
40210 Düsseldorf
Germany
p: +49 211 9173 6415
http://www.mein-asiamarkt.de/

Yabase @Klosterstraße (Düsseldorf, Germany)

September 8, 2017
#Seafood, @Central (Stadtmitte), @Düsseldorf, @Germany, @Little Tokyo, Agedashi Tofu, Beer, Drinks, Japanese, Lemon Sour, Maki, Mochi, Sake, Sashimi, Shoju, Sushi, Tsukune, Uncategorized, Yakitori
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36hrs in Food Paradise – Hour 26, Raw

DSC01900-01We made it back from Curry just in time to freshen up and head out to meet my host’s buddies at Yabase, an izakaya-style sushi restaurant close to his apartment. A quick meet & greet and then straight into the serious stuff. Starting with drinks I asked for a lemon sour (shoju, lemon, and soda), that a former colleague had introduced me to during my last trip to Japan and with a hint of hesitation and a nondescript smile the lady said it should be possible to organize, and it was. Cheers.

Sake & tuna platters
Lemon sour
Sashimi moriawase

We continued with a medley of dishes including a great quality sashimi moriawase, a tuna and a salmon platter. The latter two consisted of lean to fatty cuts as well as an aburi version each and some fabulous other bits. I truly think every sushi restaurant should have some of those, they’re just the perfect thing for solo eaters.

Gyu nigiri
Tsukune & agedashi tofu
California maki
Ice cream mochi (chocolate, strawberry, sesame)

The next two hours we spend our time ordering random dishes like raw gyu, maki, beautifully made agedashi tofu and sweetly glazed savoury tsukune yakitori. After those were all washed down with cold brews and hot sake, we discovered they even had ice cream mochi dessert and since they were kind of miniature we had a multitude of ’em. The choco mochi were like frozen drops of mousse au chocolate, chewy on the outside and freezy creamy on the inside. A cool finish to an ortherwise delicious meal.

Awesome food, fabulous company and ass kicking service. Great night.

Get Your Grub On!

Yabase
Klosterstraße 70
40211 Düsseldorf
Germany
p: +49 211 362677
yabase-ddf.com

Curry @Hammer Straße (Düsseldorf, Germany)

September 6, 2017
#Meat, *Sides, @Düsseldorf, @Germany, @Hafen, Currywurst, Fast Food, Fries, German, Uncategorized
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36hrs in Food Paradise – Hour 25, Curry

DSC01887-01After my delightful afternoon snack, I went on to pick up my friend at work, grabbed a coffee at his shared office space, enjoyed the view and moved on to stroll through Düsseldorf without any particular destination. Somehow we ended up at the urban harbor down at the Rhine river and just hung out at some pedestrian bridge for a bit enjoying the quiet Friday afternoon.

Since he didn’t get anything to eat since lunch he suggested a quick currywurst run to a shop around the corner and not being hungry at all myself I just went with it.  A 10-minute-walk away we sat down outside an obviously popular fast food joint with waiters that cracked me up every time they opened their mouth. I was still a little full from my second lunch so my friend managed the ordering. His choice fell on the spicy currywurst and, after a short dispute about necessary portion sizes, on the large fries with mayo and raw onions to share. The fries were good, crisp and plenty, and worked just great with the thick onion mayonnaise but the sausage lacked a bit of snap and wasn’t really spicy at all, more fruity actually. Since my mate comes here frequently though he confirmed this was not the usual, so it probably just got mixed up in the process. Happens.

There is tasty food here, a definitely entertaining bunch of people and the place comes with a nice little beer selection of local and ‘foreign’ brews like Zäpfle pils from Rothaus. A nice local hangout for pre and post-party grub and beers.

Get Your Grub On!

Curry
Hammer Straße 2
40219 Düsseldorf
Germany
p: +49 211 3032 857
http://www.curry-deutschland.de/

Naniwa Noodles & Soups @Oststraße (Düsseldorf, Germany)

September 3, 2017
#Noodles, @Central (Stadtmitte), @Düsseldorf, @Germany, @Little Tokyo, Beer, Drinks, Japanese, Ramen, Shoyu, Soup, Uncategorized
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36hrs in Food Paradise – Hour 23, Shoyu

 

Shoyu Ramen

Shoyu ramen

I was now almost one day in classy Düsseldorf and felt it was already time for seconds at Naniwa, where I had started my foodie safari through this town. It was a few hours past my udon lunch and there was still a bit to go before our big sushi dinner tonight so coming back here just seemed the logical thing to do. Because of the weird mid day timing, the queue, short to begin with, went super fast and before I could think about it too much I was already sitting at the bar counter browsing through that beautiful menu of theirs. I could’ve ordered without even looking at it again as I already knew what I wanted since I had left yesterday. They’ve proven themselves worthy, so now I sat here excited again, waiting for my shoyu ramen.

 

 

 

Shoyu ramen
Inside the shop
Til the last drop
Kirin, Kirin, Kirin.

Oh gosh, it was beautiful. The broth was amazing, clear on the surface though porky and muddy on the ground with a salty, tongue-coating umami. I already had that content smile crawling up on me again. Feeling pretty proud of myself and my brilliant idea to fit in another meal today, I started lifting springy noodles and slurping them down in a machine-like manner, being twice as fast and louder than the guy in the neighbouring seat as if it was some sort of challenge. The chashu came in a few thin slices, soft and melt-in-my-mouth and even the tamago, not perfect, however, had strongly improved on the wax level compared to yesterday. Enough said, I liked this even better than their delicious Tantanmen and because of the less thicker broth I also emptied that bowl down to the last drop. This was awesome, domo arigato gozaimasu.

Get Your Grub On!

Naniwa Noodles & Soups
Oststraße 55
40211 Düsseldorf
Germany
p: +49 211 161799
http://www.naniwa.de/