I am not what most people would call a foodie. I have been blessed with the ability to appreciate good food when I taste it and enjoy most terrible food anyway. So although you may question my judgment if you know that I drink the water from canned tuna before I eat it straight from the can, you can trust me when I say that Germany has some really, really, really good food.
Let's start with the schnitzel. For those of you who, like me, only know schnitzel because it fits in with "doorbells and sleigh bells and ___________ mit noodles", it's easiest to describe by calling it chicken fried steak with pork instead of steak. Of course there are lots of ways to serve it. We tried three or four, I think: on a big slice of bread with a fried egg on top (a la maier), plain with fries on the side, with a capsicum and paprika gravy, and with a mushroom gravy. All of these were very good. Here are two varieties I got for takeaway for our evening in Koblenz. The third plate was a plain brat for Big E.
We also tried a few different kinds of bratwurst. I can't recall if they had any specific names to differentiate them, but one we had at a homestyle kitchen restaurant called Essighaus in Heidelberg's old town had some perfect blend of spices... maybe some rosemary and thyme and allspice or something. Anyway, after a long day of pushing a stroller up and down cobblestone roads in the freezing cold, that really hit the spot.
Practically every train station (not stop, but station) that we visited had at least one little shop selling cold sandwiches on buns or fresh bread or a salty cheese-encrusted roll with cheese and tomatos or cold cuts or cucumbers and cream cheese, or hard boiled eggs, or any number of other variations. I could live off those.
We generally made our own breakfast and lunch from food we bought at grocery stores for pretty cheap. Most stores we found resemble ALDI (which they also have), and had quite reasonable prices. This is in contrast to the hotel breakfasts which were not complimentary and generally ran at least 15 euros per person! So instead, we bought a lot of fresh bread, a variety of cheeses (edam, gouda, and emmentaler--known to us as swiss cheese), mandarin oranges, apples, peanut butter, jelly, and lots and lots of sliced ham! On Easter morning, we had a store-bought loaf of some tasty sweet bread to celebrate. By dinner we were generally cold and hungry and ready to try something authentic, so we ate out most evenings. We also had a mid-morning snack of strudel on the morning we left Heidelberg, and Rachel couldn't resist having some fresh-baked apple strudel a la mode at the restaurant Stadt Berlin our last night in Friedrichsdorf. If you're ever in Friedrichsdorf, eat there! The food was amazing and the host was one of the friendliest, most easygoing people we met there, which was saying something given that we showed up that particular night with a group of about 25 hungry people.
I already mentioned Essighaus in Heidelberg. We also ate in a former hospital turned restaurant called Heiliggeist. Rachel had a nice big pizza, and I had a really tasty orange-flavored penne dish with shrimp in it.
Let's start with the schnitzel. For those of you who, like me, only know schnitzel because it fits in with "doorbells and sleigh bells and ___________ mit noodles", it's easiest to describe by calling it chicken fried steak with pork instead of steak. Of course there are lots of ways to serve it. We tried three or four, I think: on a big slice of bread with a fried egg on top (a la maier), plain with fries on the side, with a capsicum and paprika gravy, and with a mushroom gravy. All of these were very good. Here are two varieties I got for takeaway for our evening in Koblenz. The third plate was a plain brat for Big E.
We also tried a few different kinds of bratwurst. I can't recall if they had any specific names to differentiate them, but one we had at a homestyle kitchen restaurant called Essighaus in Heidelberg's old town had some perfect blend of spices... maybe some rosemary and thyme and allspice or something. Anyway, after a long day of pushing a stroller up and down cobblestone roads in the freezing cold, that really hit the spot.
We generally made our own breakfast and lunch from food we bought at grocery stores for pretty cheap. Most stores we found resemble ALDI (which they also have), and had quite reasonable prices. This is in contrast to the hotel breakfasts which were not complimentary and generally ran at least 15 euros per person! So instead, we bought a lot of fresh bread, a variety of cheeses (edam, gouda, and emmentaler--known to us as swiss cheese), mandarin oranges, apples, peanut butter, jelly, and lots and lots of sliced ham! On Easter morning, we had a store-bought loaf of some tasty sweet bread to celebrate. By dinner we were generally cold and hungry and ready to try something authentic, so we ate out most evenings. We also had a mid-morning snack of strudel on the morning we left Heidelberg, and Rachel couldn't resist having some fresh-baked apple strudel a la mode at the restaurant Stadt Berlin our last night in Friedrichsdorf. If you're ever in Friedrichsdorf, eat there! The food was amazing and the host was one of the friendliest, most easygoing people we met there, which was saying something given that we showed up that particular night with a group of about 25 hungry people.
I already mentioned Essighaus in Heidelberg. We also ate in a former hospital turned restaurant called Heiliggeist. Rachel had a nice big pizza, and I had a really tasty orange-flavored penne dish with shrimp in it.
I think that's about all I have to say about food. Oh, it was very nice, but also a little strange at first, to be able to drink the tap water. We can't do that here in Qatar.
1 comment:
I so agree about the food. An apartment neighbor made us the most delicious golash and dumplings and we are loving the cheeses.
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