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Zur Linde-Napf @Feldberg (Oberried, Germany)

August 3, 2017
#Meat, *Sides, @Freiburg, @Germany, @Oberried, German, Roasted Potatoes, Schnitzel, Schnitzel, Uncategorized
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Schnitzels after Feldberg hiking.

DSC01382-01Following a family friend’s recommendation, we started our Feldberg hiking day from the very end of St. Wilhelmer Tal and spend most of our day hiking up and down that beautiful mountain. We were past knackered and glad the parking lot, we had left the car kinda belonged to an old restaurant, which was also the last house of the valley.

We snatched one of the last benches outside and ordered some hearty pork schnitzel with brägele, the locally acclaimed version of roasted potatoes. Like in the old days the schnitzels here were thumb-thick, juicy and fried til crisp. I really like ’em thin but after a long hike like today, this hit the spot right in the face. The potatoes had a good balance between crunch and chewiness and together those two made for a fulfilling finish to a great day.

Service was kind and slightly slowish and the place came with a familiar breeze of blackforest charm. Other than that it’s just at the perfect location for an energy refuel after a day on the mountain.

Get Your Grub On!

Gaststätte Zur Linde-Napf
Feldbergstraße 14
79254 Oberried | St. Wilhelm
Germany
p: +49 7602 944 690
http://linde-napf.de/

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The Holy Taco Shack @Barbarastraße (Freiburg, Germany)

May 9, 2016
#Fusion, #Seafood, @Freiburg, @Stühlinger, Fish, Food Truck, Mexican, Tacos, Western/International/American
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Back in (baja)style!!!

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I hadn’t been to the shack for a while but the sun was out, I had Mexican-Food-Loving-Friends in town and these guys just had announced the return of the baja fish tacos to their menu. So when we arrived back in Freiburg after a day of exploring the black forest and beyond we headed straight for Stühlinger and one of their outside tables ordering a set of fish tacos each.

I’m not sure if my picture does it actual justice but these babies were intimidatingly ginormous. M. and our friend C. intuitively reached for fork and knife but I was willing to get my hands dirty. After all, these were tacos, right? Flipping up the sides of the appropriately large flour tortillas I wasn’t even able to close them properly above the crisp battered perch but I was ready for my first bite and didn’t plan on letting go of it. This was amazing. I still remembered them vaguely from the BZ food truck festival last year but it was like a brand new experience altogether. The batter cracked under my teeth making way for the wonderfully flaky fish meat that was breezy fresh and cooked ’til perfectly glassy. Just moments after the fish literally melted, and the juices had drenched my hands in tasty goodmess, all the other flavours started kicking in; the creamy chipotle mayonnaise, the crunchy greens and veggies, some sourness coming from that tropical salsa and especially awesome vibes blazing from the fresh Mexican herbs. It was like being teleported to a Californian beach (without ever being to one) for a couple of minutes, sipping on a cocktail enjoying the sun. Oh yes, I am glad these fish are back in town.

On top of an excellent meal the service today was super refreshing, attentive and friendly and on my way out I also finally got to say hi to some of the great people, who are responsible for all this. Thanks so much guys and see you soon.

Get Your Grub On!

The Holy Taco Shack (closed on Sundays)
Barbarastraße 18
79106 Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany
p: +49 176 32970414
http://www.theholytacoshack.com/

Burger Chalet @Niemenstraße (Freiburg, Germany)

March 21, 2016
#BBQ, #Meat, @Altstadt (FR), @Freiburg, @Germany, Burger, Fast Food, Fries, German, Himmel & Erde (Heaven & Earth), Uncategorized, Western/International/American
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Himmel & Ääd Burger.wp-1458498362959.jpg

What an amazingly beautiful day it has been yesterday and the city was full of locals, students, tourists, and shopaholics alike soaking up the sun and roaming the streets of Freiburg, filling them like ants. We were right in the middle of it and completely lost track of time until our stomachs started growling to let us know a lunch was way overdue. It was lunch madness and almost every place around the Bermuda Dreieck (= Bermuda Triangle; a corner area in Freiburg) was packed with customers and some fast food joints even had queues oozing out their doors. Thankfully I had done my homework so we didn’t have to go on another hangry food quest and just around the corner, nestled between a garage something and another restaurant, Burger Chalet awaited us. As the name tells it’s a popular little burger joint and luckily the queue was sort of short and two lovely ladies allowed us to join them at their table for one of the rare options to sit outside enjoying the sun today.

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Burger of the Month: Himmel & Ääd Burger (Heaven & Earth)

Beforehand I had made plans to get my grub on with that ‘Alpenfeuer’ (Fire of the Alps) burger that comes with a chili-cheese-sauce, firy jalapeños and a homemade chili powder. Well, plans are great, but then life happens and as so often I did let another menu special item distract me and lead me off my  destined path. Without even thinking I heard myself ordering a medium grilled burger of the month, the ‘Himmel & Ääd’ (Heaven & Earth). Himmel & Ääd or Himmel & Erde is a popular and regional german dish, which is mostly common in the Rhineland, Westphalia, and Lower Saxony. In it’s purest version it consists of blood pudding, mashed potatoes, fried onions and apple sauce and actually so did this burger. Together with that juicy beef patty and wedged between two appropriately sized and perfectly toasted buns this just worked. All these very different textures and flavors merged together wonderfully and created something new and delicious. My favorite, besides the remarkable standard items of the burger, was the thin slice of tangy blood pudding, that added a spicy, almost creamy component on top of the patty. The tart and sweet apple chutney gave some fruity notes and the onions, being sweetish as well convinced with a light smokiness. The only thing that didn’t do too much for the whole concept and the flavor palette was the mashed potatoes, and frankly, it made it all just a bit more difficult to eat. I do get it though, it completes the transition of the traditional plated dish to a hands-on inventive burger. Fries were good.

Additionally to the fact that they know how to cook their stuff it’s worthy to mention that they are sourcing most of their ingredients locally, aren’t using any additives, the meat is freshly ground every day and they are making all their sauces themselves and from scratch as well. A lot of craft and thought goes into every burger here and the entire menu is also available with an in-house made vegetable patty for the vegetarians out there. The shop is small and cozily set up for a quick meal in a relaxing atmosphere, however, the glass barrier in front of the grill can’t save you entirely from all the food smell, so don’t mind taking a bit of burger scent home with you. The staff seems to enjoy themselves, is friendly and the guy  behind the counter was particularly fun to chat to. I was super full and happily content when we left and already have the next visit scheduled in my head. This time hopefully trying my original choice of burger and those fabulous looking rosemary potatoes. Thanks for the great grub.

Get Your Grub On!

Burger Chalet (closed on Sundays and public holidays)
Niemenstraße 9
79098 Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany
p: +49 761 278 382
http://www.burger-chalet.de/

Takumi München @Maxvorstadt (München, Germany)

October 29, 2015
@Germany, @Maxvorstadt, @Munich, Japanese, Ramen, Tantanmen
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Bavarian ramen.

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Tan Tan Men

It was the last weekend of Wiesn in Munich and I went back to the beer tents at freaking 7:30 a.m. in the morning to meet my friend from Hong Kong and her hilarious entourage from Spain, Belgium, Ireland and England, from whom most had never been to the Oktoberfest before; no reservations, no choice. After a bit over an hour wait, we actually made it into the Augustiner beer tent and…well let’s just fast forward for a couple of hours and a few emptied stones. Our little group split up; some went missing, some went home and a few continued on their german beer quest. I, even though ready for an extended nap on the couch, made a little detour to my favourite ramen shop in Germany to date, Takumi in Maxvorstadt, just a little train ride away.

I was obviously lucky today, unlike on other occasions, as the place was actually open and no waiting in the queue either. I sat down and ordered my favorite, the Tantanmen. I have tried others, but so far no bowl could beat that red and rich, spicy broth. Portions are huge here and I was a bit overwhelmed when the piping hot bowl showed up, doubting I could actually finish it, I was wrong. The broth was awesome, savoury and spicy, thick and rich, loaded with peanut and sesame flavors and loads of that deliciously spiced minced meat. I absolutely loved it. Now let me talk about those noodles; I do come here almost everytime I’m in town, but these were hands down the best ones, they’ve ever made for me. Maybe because the place was not as packed as usual, maybe they improved generally or I was just darn lucky, but these noodles were very very close to perfect. Speaking pasta terms, they were absolutely on spot al dente, chewy and with this unique texture, that only ramen noodles have. Not that they have ever been really bad before but more often than not, they were a little on the softer side. Not stopping there, even the eggs went through some sort of evolution here and seemed more beautifully waxy than ever. So awesome guys, keep it up.

Service here has always been super nice and everybody is offering you smiles and it was exactly the same today. Staff is friendly and service is pretty fast and efficient. If I would need to pick on something negative it would be the fact that your ordinary ice tea here comes by the glass for EUR1,80, which gets quite pricey if you (like I) tend to drink loads while eating big bowls of hot soup. In the end, it’s just water, so I would rather pay a bit more for a free flow of my jasmine tea rather than order over and over again, but maybe that’s just me being used to free flow tea and water in these kinda places. Other than this little blemish, I totally love it here and see no reason why not to come back again and again and again.

Takumi München (open all week)
Heßstr.71
80798 München
Germany
Tel: +49 89 528 599
http://www.takumi-noodle.com/index.html

The Holy Taco Shack @Rieselfeld Wochenmarkt (Freiburg, Germany)

May 6, 2015
#Busy, #Meat, @Freiburg, @Germany, @Rieselfeld, Fast Food, Food Truck, Mexican, Tacos
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I ❤ tacos.

The Holy Taco Shack - Food Truck
I collected a huge repertoire of food memories and pictures since I have been back to Europe, mainly because I have been traveling a fair bit to the Netherlands/Holland, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy, which of the two latter were very focused on the local food experience. That aside I think it’s only appropriate to choose a place in Germany for my first review since almost a year, not German cuisine however representative for what’s going on here at the moment. The Holy Taco Shack is part of the reinvention of the culinary scene in Germany right now. Many people put a totally different value on the food they sell and eat today with a lot of love for detail and appreciation for culinary skill. Some results out of this are the growing numbers of food trucks as well as street food festivals and markets that seem to have started in Berlin but already have spread into all corners of Germany. This particular truck, or actually more a food trailer, is run by a German-American couple that left their former jobs behind and started their own business filling the big gap of proper Mexican food in Germany and thankfully decided to do so in beautiful Freiburg.

The Holy Taco Shack - Classic Tacos Mango SalsaAfter many missed opportunities to try their food before, I finally managed to be in Freiburg at the right time for their weekly appearance at the Rieselfeld Market on Saturday. We went fairly early, as apparently their food sometimes sells out rather quickly and I wanted to have free choice. So here I was, ordering my first round of Classic Tacos – a set of three – with all the meats from the menu, chicken chipotle, beef brisket and my secret passion, the carnitas, medium spicy with some extra mango salsa on the side. They use their homemade corn tortillas, made from maíz azul (a black purple-ish type of corn) that have a bit more to them than the regular corn tortillas. It might be just the colour but I thought they were pretty great. Now on to the inner values and I must say that all of the meats were exceptionally delicious. The beef was super nice and tender like it was slow cooked for ages (which it probably was) and the chicken, which I expected to be either a bit on the dry side or drowning in sauce, I liked even more, just so juicy and fantastic. My other expectation though proved to be right; the carnitas are still my absolute favourite. They were wonderful moist with a good char on the edges that had touched the hot plate, an insanely good combination of meat and fats. The homemade medium salsa was just right, not too spicy but still gave me a kick on my tongue and the mango version for an extra €1 was the perfect companion and totally worth it. Fruity, slightly sour and refreshing in between the flavour party going on around here.

The Holy Taco Shack - Spicy Classic TacosSince I wasn’t sure when I’d be having another chance to eat here again I went for a second round of the same, just this time with the spicy salsa and the extra jalapeños. This salsa is fun and squeezed cold sweat right out of my head so that I wished I would have ordered this mango pineapple salsa again to cool things down a little bit. All in all amazing food.

It was busy that day, the queue got longer and they still stayed cool and friendly even that many people were asking a lot of questions about the food and the TV show they have just been part of. I hope I’ll be able to come here many more times, it’s good to have you guys around, keep it up and all the best.

The Holy Taco Shack
Maria-von Rudloff-Platz 1
79111 Freiburg
Germany
Tel: +49 176 329 70 414
http://theholytacoshack.com/

P.S.: This is their usual Wednesday and Saturday location but follow their Twitter or Facebook for the latest updates and additional spots.

Getmygrubon goes Europe!

April 27, 2015
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Home is where your plate is.

As some of you might know, I moved back to Germany end of last year and had a lot of things to organize first besides the actual settling back into a culture and country I haven’t been living in for the last 7ish years. I decided to take a little sabbatical before diving back into a new job and used it to learn how to snowboard, visited many friends, all my siblings and the rest of my family, started signing up for language courses and am now in the midst of finding and applying for a new job, that can excite and inspire me.

I already had a huge backlog of articles from Asia and meanwhile also visited a good handful of countries (and some of their restaurants) here, which you might have recognised from my Instagram, Twitter or Foursquare (Swarm) postings. I wanted to wait a little longer until I’m more settled but all the fantastic food I came across made me miss this blog and how it accompanied me during the past three years. Furthermore from my point of view there is an undoubtable need for more foodblogs in Europe, particularly Germany, that tackle restaurants, food trucks, pop-ups etc. as I have quite a hard time finding information about places I would like to visit or finding out about the actual restaurant in the first place. I think you wouldn’t have a problem in places like Berlin and Munich but otherwise the field of foodblfoggers seems rather scattered and the majority is concentrating on home cooking and recipes.

Because of all this I decided to immediately revamp my blog as a predominantly European – not limited to – version of getmygrubon.com. Maybe not in the same high paced frequency as before but to keep it going and fill it up slowly for people out there like you and obiously myself. Also Asia hasn’t seen the last of me yet.

So watch out and thanks for sticking around.

Sincerely, Nik

Alte Kanzlei @Schillerplatz (Stuttgart, Germany)

December 3, 2013
#Brunch, @Germany, @Schlossplatz, @Stuttgart, Bavarian (Bayrisch), German, Weisswurst (White Sausage)
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Now that’s a proper brunch.

image‘Alte Kanzlei’ in Stuttgart is a very nice and popular place for brunch and lunch and so we found ourselves stranded within a crowd of people and without a reservation. The fabulous waiter though spotted a soon to be available table for our group and after an only 10 minute wait we already sat down. Off to a good start.

It wasn’t lunch time yet so I was looking for something smaller and after discovering ‘Weisswurst‘ on the weekend menu I didn’t have to look any further. The sausages were darn good and well seasoned considering we were outside of Bavaria. They obviously had used an “opferwurst” (victim sausage) – a sausage cut open into the broth so the gets saturated with salt and doesn’t drain the taste out of the other sausages – so the ones I got to eat were still hearty and delicious. The brezel maybe was a bit dry but added nicely to the saltiness of the whole thing and that all topped with some sweet and grainy mustard. Washed down with an extraordinarily refreshing ‘Spezi‘ and I was home.

It was a really nice place, bright and warm, bustling and yet the waiters went out of their way to help us. The food was appetizing and service efficient, friendly, funny and fast; screams for a repetition.

Alte Kanzlei
Schillerplatz 5a
70173 Stuttgart
Germany
Tel: +49 (0)711 294 457
http://www.alte-kanzlei-stuttgart.de/

coa @Lautenschlagerstrasse (Stuttgart, Germany)

December 3, 2013
#Noodles, @Germany, @Schlossplatz, @Stuttgart, Chinese, Dim Sum, Pho, Theodor-Heuss, Vietnamese
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There’s still hope.

imageI was back home for hardly one week and even though it was just for a couple of days I already craved some Asian food. Doing a bit of research online brought us to ‘coa’ (cuisine of asia) in central Stuttgart. At first I was pretty sceptical about this place as it offered a big mix of dishes from Vietnam, Thailand, India, China etc. and I would have felt better if they were specialized in just one type of cuisine but now we were here already, so what?

We had some Vietnamese ‘Summer Rolls‘ which were quite tasty actually but I didn’t really get the fact that they just served the ingredients and we had to assemble them ourselves, one of those weird “food experiences” I suppose. We also had the ‘Shao Mai‘ which I didn’t like but then, I never really do. As main we both ordered their ‘Pho‘ and I had ankle-height-low expectations that this was going to be any good. What a nice surprise it was then when it turned out being pretty delicious. The broth was super good, full of that cinnamon I miss so often and there were many herbs like coriander floating around in it too. The noodles weren’t anything too fancy but the meat was softly tender and super lean.

They messed up our orders a couple of times so we had to wait quite a while for our food but the staff handled the situation fairly clever by throwing in some free espressi at the end of our meal. Generally I must say though that eating here actually made me pretty happy. It was probably not the best pho I have ever had but it can easily keep up and even outdo some of the bowls I tried in Singapore and it’s always fantastic to find some decent Asian grub in good old Germany. I’ll remember this one.

coa – cuisine of asia
Lautenschlagerstr. 23
70173 Stuttgart
Germany
Tel: +49 (0)711 2184 2566
http://www.coa.as/

Brunnenwirt @Leonardsplatz (Stuttgart, Germany)

July 27, 2013
@Bohnenviertel, @Germany, @Stuttgart, Currywurst, German
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Stripclubs & Currywurst

imageIt was the hottest day of the year and we had celebrated my youngest sister’s birthday with some beers in the sun. It was getting late and we felt like supper, like currywurst supper to be exact. We literally walked the extra mile to reach ‘Brunnenwirt’ a tiny corner shop located in the red light area of Stuttgart – Bohnenviertel –  that sells hearty grub on the go and until late.

We used to come here quite frequently when we were living around the corner and therefore ordered our old time favorite, the ‘Currywurst Spezial‘. The currywurst here was an extra large skinless pork sausage that they chopped in bite sized chunks. Then all covered with ketchup (tomato sauce) and mayonnaise and sprinkled with curry powder. But the ‘spezial’ came from the dash of gravy they added from the pot in which the ‘Shashlik Skewers‘ simmer for hours. The sausage was not too strong in taste and traditionally lacked the snap because of the missing casing. The other flavors are hard to separate but the sweetness of the tomato sauce, the creaminess of the mayo, the curry taste and the meaty shashlik gravy fused together very nicely, just what we wanted after a long day in the heat.

It’s quite a dodgy little corner stall with a very mixed clientele but it is also an honest place, no thrills but still clean, tasty, unhealthy junk food with a sometimes quite entertaining combination of characters around. Go check it out.

Brunnenwirt
Leonardsplatz 25
70182 Stuttgart
Germany
Tel: +49 711 245621

Roessle @Auf Dem Graben (Waldenbuch, Germany)

July 23, 2013
@Germany, @Waldenbuch, German, Steak, Swabian (Schwaebisch)
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Spaetzle = Home

imageIt was my sister’s birthday and my mom had booked a table at ‘Restaurant Roessle’ in Waldenbuch where we met family and some of my sis’s friends. They had changed their menu slightly since I have been here the last time but all the old favorites were still there.

I ordered the ‘Rinderfillet Jaeger Art‘ (beef fillet with mushrooms) and remembered to order it rather rare what my recent visit at the ‘Bootshaus‘ had teached me. The first cut into the lovely charred meat proofed that this was the right decision as it was perfectly rose and juice in the center with a surprisingly strong beefy taste for a lean cut like this. The mushroom sauce was rich and creamy but tasted so delicious I completely wiped it off the plate using the tasty handmade spaetzle (local type of pasta). The spaetzle were soft, fluffy and light and were sprinkled with in butter fried breadcrumbs that coated them with more texture and flavor. Home.

‘Roessle’ had been around for some generations and offers a very nice selection of regional specialities in a more up market atmosphere which also has it’s price tag and makes it a place for rather special occasions. Also the service is more than friendly and the salad bar is awesome, just saying.

http://www.landgasthofroessle.de/

Roessle – Landgasthof Hotel
Auf dem Graben 5
71111 Waldenbuch
Germany
Tel: +49 7157 7380

Alter Bahnhof @Bahnhofsplatz (Holzgerlingen, Germany)

July 23, 2013
@Germany, @Holzgerlingen, German, Sausage Salad, Swabian (Schwaebisch)
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Oh, I just have a salad!

imageA spontaneous invitation from friends brought me to the beergarden at the old train station in Holzgerlingen today, the town I went to high school in.

They offer the usual beer garden fare and as I wasn’t that hungry my choice fell on something “light” , ‘Schwaebischer Wurstsalat‘ (Swabian sausage salad) which was a slight variation to the sausage salad I had about a week ago in Freiburg. For the Swabian version they used slices of black sausage additional to the lyoner. The two types of cold cut sausage tasted good and were seasoned well but for my taste the blood sausage was too soft as I prefer it with a little bit more bite. The dressing was nice, slightly sour and a bit too oily. There were sour pickled gherkins that added extra flavor and the chopped red- and spring onions gave it all a sharp kick.

The beer garden at ‘Alter Bahnhof’ is self serviced and offers simple but good food to reasonable prices and is a nice hangout for a sunny afternoon and for those who prefer a less casual ambience there is the waited restaurant area only a few meters away.

http://www.gourmetbahnhof.de/

Restaurant und Biergarten Alter Bahnhof
Bahnhofsplatz 1
71088 Holzgerlingen
Germany
Tel: +49 7031 682796

Ristorante Pizzeria Romanella @Wolfsgangstrasse (Frankfurt a. M., Germany)

July 21, 2013
#Noodles, @Frankfurt am Main, @Germany, Italian, Pasta
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It’s Chanterelle Season

imageAfter a lovely weekend with my family I drove up to Frankfurt for a meeting the next day. There was an Italian restaurant on the other side of the road so to keep my evening hassle free I just made my way over there and sat down outside in this beautiful weather. At the beginning I was one of two tables but before I finished my dinner the place was packed.

They had a special menu with a lot of seasonal dishes under which some came with chanterelles as the main ingredient. As I didn’t have those for a few years now I started off with a ‘Salat mit Pfifferlingen‘ (salad with chanterelles) which came as a big plate full of fresh greens, drizzled with a balsamic reduction and covered with nicely salty parmesan shavings. I loved the warm center of pan fried chanterelles, bacon and onions but there was too much oil on it that made me feel a little greasy towards the end.

imageTo stick to the theme I made the ‘Tagliatelle mit Pfifferlingen‘ (tagliatelle pasta with chanterelles) my main. The dish was light and tasted awesome and my fear it would be as oily as the salad didn’t come true. The handmade pasta had a distinct eggy flavor and was on the spot al dente, covered with a thin creamy layer of oil and juices. The chanterelles tasted great and wonderful mushroomy, not like the stuff I’m used to from the supermarket in Singapore. Some cracked black pepper over all of that and I left smiling into my Sunday evening.

Great food, friendly staff, lovely ristorante in a quiet part of town. Nice.

http://www.ristoranteromanella.de/

Ristorante Pizzeria Romanella
Wolfsgangstrasse 84
60322 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Tel: +49 69 5961117

Thanner @Bergheimerstrasse (Heidelberg, Germany)

July 18, 2013
@Germany, @Heidelberg, Schnitzel, Western/International/American
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Vienna in Heidelberg

imageIt was my last evening in Heidelberg before moving on and a good old friend took her time to have dinner with me before I left. We met at ‘Thanner’ on Bergheimer Strasse which is named after a famous tv commissar and which was only 10 seconds walking distance from my hotel.

I ordered the ‘Wiener Schnitzel‘ (vienna schnitzel), a crispy breaded veal escalope that was super thin and all the fat had been rinsed off before. It tasted great and crunchy and a nice squeeze of lemon gave it an extra twist. The roasted potatoes were chopped chunky and panfried in butter together with some white onions and were a great side to the schnitzel.

‘Thanner’ is a lively casual place which colleagues and I visit quite frequently for drinks when in Heidelberg. I hardly tried their food so far but the schnitzel was so tasty that I might change that during future visits. The waiting team is super friendly too and so I surely come back when I have meetings here.

http://www.thanner.net/

Thanner – Bar, Restaurant, Cafe
Bergheimer Strasse 71
69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Tel: +49 6221 25234

Urban Kitchen @Im Alten Hallenbad (Heidelberg, Germany)

July 17, 2013
@Germany, @Heidelberg, Japanese, Ramen, Shoyu
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Leave Ramen to the Experts

imageI was now nearly one week in Germany and thought it would be a good idea to try out some Asian fair around here. Together with two colleagues I went to the recently opened ‘Urban Kitchen’ at the location of the old swimming pool in Heidelberg.

I didn’t see anything that was tempting on the menu so I gave their ramen selection a shot. They had some weird toppings on sale but the fact that they were offering miso and shoyu versions here made me curious. I ordered the ‘Shoyu Beef Ramen‘ and it actually looked quite nice with it’s dark broth and big slap of grilled beef on top. Taking my first slurp of the soup brought me back to reality and that Germany is rather a rookie in the art of ramen cooking. Sadly it was pretty tasteless, not salty whatsoever and probably not cooked for very long. The noodles were dreadful boring strings with no flexibility and springiness and tasted awful floury. All other toppings were quite okay, the snow peas were al dente and the steak even though a little out of place tasted pretty nice and beefy.

‘Urban Kitchen’ is a nice and lively place and my soup was okay and maybe a good choice for a light lunch or dinner but it was definitely nothing anywhere close to the mighty ramen. I kinda knew but still hoped for a decent copy of the real thing.

http://www.myurbankitchen.de/index.php

Urban Kitchen
Poststrasse 36/7 (Im Alten Hallenbad)
69121 Heidelberg
Germany
Tel: +49 6221 9986793

Bootshaus @Neckarufer (Heidelberg, Germany)

July 15, 2013
@Germany, @Heidelberg, Steak, Western/International/American
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Steak at the river.

imageAfter my Germany trip had kicked off with the beautiful wedding of my beautiful sister I had to face reality and go to Heidelberg for a week’s work. On Monday evening then I went together with a colleague to meet some friends that just had moved back to Heidelberg from India. We met for dinner at the ‘Bootshaus’ and were lucky enough to get a seat outside on their little terrace overlooking the banks of the Neckar river.

I had their ‘400gr Rumpsteak‘ which was fantastic. The meat was very lean but still had a very strong beef flavor and was nicely juicy. The charred crust of the steak was super crisp from the broiling and added a nice new texture to the humongous piece of meat. The kicker was their garlic/herbal butter that was extremely creamy and tasted heavenly together with the beef. The side salad was good but drowned in dressing and the roasted potatoes were perfect crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. I loved this steak but I wished I had remembered that a German medium always tends a little more towards well done.

I liked this place a lot as it was particularly nice on this scenic sunny afternoon sitting on their terrace, overlooking the river and enjoying great quality food served up by their very attentive and friendly waiters.

http://www.dasbootshaus.com/

Das Bootshaus
Schurmanstrasse 2
69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Tel: +49 6221 25396

Eiscafe Venezia @Schwarzwald City (Freiburg, Germany)

July 13, 2013
#Dessert, @Freiburg, @Germany
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Sweet Spaghetti from Venice

imageI was in Freiburg im Breisgau for the weekend and since it was an extremely hot and sunny day we were looking for something cooling, so my two lovely friends brought me to ‘Eiscafe Venezia’ in the middle of town to enjoy something which I only have seen in Europe.

We ordered ‘Spaghetti Eis‘ (spaghetti ice cream) which I, at least didn’t have since I left Germany five over years ago but probably for much much longer. The “spaghetti” were made of super soft and fluffy vanilla ice cream that obviously melted away. Hidden underneath was a layer of cream which awesomely half way froze so I had delicious little cream bricks as a bonus and this all was covered with a very fruity yet not too sweet strawberry sauce sprinkled with white chocolate shavings as a visual parmesan substitute.

The place itself is nothing too special but for a quick sweet cold fix on a hot day I also didn’t pay to much attention to be honest, ‘Spaghetti Eis‘ on the other hand, just what I needed.

Eiscafe Venezia
Schiffstrasse 7
79098 Freiburg
Germany
Tel: +49 761 33518

Kanonesteppel @Sachsenhausen (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

July 12, 2013
@Frankfurt am Main, @Germany, @Sachsenhausen, Hessian (Hessisch)
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A Green Welcome

imageMy first stop in Germany was my place of birth, Frankfurt am Main which has a very traditional and regional influenced cuisine to offer. The part of the city where most of the old ‘Ebbelwoi/Apfelwein Wirtschaften’ (apple cider restaurants) are located is Sachsenhausen on the opposite bank of the Main river facing the business district. One of those is ‘Kanonesteppel’ which we chose for today’s lunch.

I ordered my favorite Hessian dish ‘Fleisch mit Grie Soss‘ (meat with green sauce) which came with four big slices of boiled beef fillet that was wonderfully tender and lean and fell apart when touched with a lightly sour aftertaste. I really liked the boiled potatoes as they are different to the floury potatoes you mostly get in Asia but these were solid and had a great potatoe-y taste. All this was covered under a layer of this heavenly green sauce mixed together from seven different herbs, sour cream, boiled egg and some other herbs and spices. The sauce was cold and gave the dish a lovely refreshing lightness that I nearly felt sad when I had finished it all up. I normally would have washed that down with the local ‘Ebbelwoi/Apfelwein‘ (apple cider) but I had to drive to Freiburg later that day.

Frankfurt is known for it’s fancy bars and clubs but what I almost always do when I’m there is go and visit Sachsenhausen and it’s ebbelwoi restaurants cause I love the local dishes and also recommend them if you want to try some real authentic German (Hessian). I want more.

http://www.kanonesteppel.de/

Kanonesteppel Apfelweinwirtschaft
Textorstrasse 20 Grosse Rittergasse 49-51
60594 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Tel: +49 69 66566466