Momos, Berlin 07-2018

Who doesn't like dumplings? A lunchtime special of 14 dumplings for €7.9 seemed like a good reason to try the Mushroom Magic (broccoli/shiitake/tofu and mushroom/potato) however even though they were fried reasonably, the skins were thick and pasty, the fillings were heavy on potato and quite indistinct and the sauce (which I spilt everywhere) couldn't save it.

Mrs. Robinson's, Berlin 07-2018

It's not a reference to the Simon & Garfunkle MILF song. It's a modern Asian restaurant in Berlin with an Australian manager (named Hamish - and a great dry wit to match Hamish Blake) that was recommended to me by a very food-loving person.

It seems that the restaurant has changed somewhat since its inception and the Berlin Food Stories blog post, the difference being higher prices and different menu items (for example the Szechuan G&T I read about was not an option, with only London's dry gin served).

- Oyster & fried green tomatoes (fermented limequat & green chilli) €10 - slightly salty oyster, tangy and fried crisp tomato and a tart (almost tamarind) sauce. A good combination;
- Fried label rouge chicken & roe (creme fraiche, tobasco honey) €13.5 - the chicken was excellent, crisp, crunchy, tender and the other ingredients added some depth, complexity and a variety of flavours;
- Wood-grilled octopus & dry aged beef fat skewer €13.5 - tender charcoal-kissed octopus. I'm not sure the beef fat added much (maybe to the cooking but not so much the flavour?. I ate it anyway;
- Grilled Tiergarten crayfish, brown butter (shio koji, burnt lemon) €22.5 - small little crayfish served in a divine creamy butter sauce. The mix of oil, butter, salt and lemon was incredible;
- Lamb spare ribs, pine, green curry & hay (fermented green strawberry & plums) €31 - very expensive dish of reasonably tender lamb ribs that didn't have much flavour to them. The sauce was thick and much too salty;
- Plum, lavendar takoyaki pancakes (taga tairo kushu 10 year barrel-aged sake, clotted cream, yubeshi) €19 for 2 - obviously takoyaki from the shape and maker but not actually the tako. It was like a modern Asian version of afternoon tea replacing the scones. The plums were sweetly soaked, the sake was surprisingly sweet and easy to take, but overall the dish didn't leave me that wowed (especially for the price).

It's quite an expensive restaurant (especially for Berlin standards) but not outrageous. However I can't help having felt underwhelmed somewhat. The flavours and creations just can't match those from Melbourne's Longrain or Chin Chin. Maybe that's just what my body is used to.

Factory Girl, Berlin 07-2018

Luckily there's a good brunch place in Mitte and it was discovered by accident after walking home late with a belly full of Cocolo ramen and just noticing that the cafe looked quirky and cool. For a Sunday lunch it was surprisingly easy to get a seat (albeit on a shared table, but no issue with that).

The decor includes some little figurines made by tape and placed in front of cactus on the table. Go figure.

The coffee was reportedly very good and smooth. The chai latte smelt very sweet and was made from powder. They also lathered on too much cinnamon. However after scraping this off, the underlying beverage was smooth, slightly spiced and not as sweet as feared.

- Sway Norway (herbed creme cheese, mashed beetroot, salmon, caramelised onion) €9 - a relatively standard open sandwich. Interestingly the bread was spread with half creme cheese and half beetroot spread;
- Drummers on the Highway (3 scrambled eggs, fried breasola, sausages, caramelised onion, oven baked potatoes, sriracha cream sauce, avocado, baby leaf, cherry tomatoes, dark sourdough bread) €14 - a very large offering without any surprise flavours. The sriracha cream (or mayo?) was a thinner lighter but equally spicy version and added some extra needed power.

A good breakfast with some nice drinks. It would be better if they had some smoothies, but baby steps. I also didn't get to try the Coco Anjela (which was described by another diner as deconstructed cheesecake).

Cocolo Ramen, Berlin 07-2018

There weren't many options for late night food after arriving on Saturday night. Well of course that's if you exclude the wurst and kebabs. Luckily a friend recommended a ramen place that wasn't too far away. He actually said the best tonkotsu in Berlin is at Hako Ramen, but unfortunately I won't have the opportunity to get out that far.

Even at 2245pm, there was a short queue and in the end had to sit outside next to a bunch of young French smokers. At least the staff are all Japanese.

- Gyoza €5 - quite expensive for 5 pieces fried together. Small amount of filling too;
- Tonkotsu ramen (poached pork, pork belly, egg) €10 - the best parts were the thick slabs of delicious chashu and pork belly. Really excellent. However the noodles were cooked until soft (they didn't offer a choice, although I could have asked I suppose, but wanted to see how they would naturally serve it) and the broth had ok flavour but not very thick and could have been more "porky";
- Wantan (shrimp dumplings, poached chicken, vegetables) €10 - a chicken-based broth with obviously less flavour than the tonkotsu. It wouldn't be my choice of ramen (and it wasn't) so wouldn't recommend it.

There's shichimi and sesame seeds to grate on the table although no pickles or garlic. Given more time and a slightly larger belly, I would definitely have ordered kaedama €2 (and requested extra hard). They also have calpico to drink (which is a nice touch). I'd try the tantan next time for a change just to see if I liked it more than the tonkotsu.

It's not the best but don't get me wrong - it's decent and serviceable and I'd eat it happily again.

Cafe Stilbruch, Jena 12-2017

After a night out of Christmas market, gluwein and sausages, Saturday brunch was the perfect way to prepare for the drive to Nuremberg.

I'm not sure what the competition around is, but I expect this would be up near the top. Not only did I have it listed as a place to visit, a friend living locally recommended it as her favourite brunch spot in the little town.

- Jena pan (smoked pork chop strips, potatoes, sauerkraut, stir-fried together in a pan) €8.9 - a giant pan mash of all the said ingredients working their magic to create salty smoked meat, sour cabbage and filling potatoes into a lunch;
- Jenaer Beastly Weather tea (raspberry blossom, fennel, liquorice root, aniseed, St. John's wort, bean paring, peppermint leaves, blackberry leaves, rose hip paring, milfoil, thyme, nettle, chamomile blossom, horsetail herb, elderberry, dandelion, thymine, rosemary, calendula blossom) - this tea was fruity with elements to fight the winter and lift the spirits from depression;
- Crepe...

It was a good breakfast and very popular with the locals on a Saturday morning.

Jena Christmas Market 12-2017

It's a small town not known for much other than Carl Zeiss. The Christmas market had two areas which were smallish but contained everything needed. In fact I'd argue it had almost everything Nuremberg did (other than the singing) and in a smaller area with much less people.

The Jenaer bratwurst is a tasty long thing in a bread roll. It was actually more satisfying than the Nuremberg equivalent of which they are famous.

Additionally the quarkballchen is something I didn't find in Nuremberg at all. These little sweet fried donuts of goodness are definitely worth the effort.

Brothaus Cafe, Nuremberg 12-2017

I had a hire car from Europcar in Nuremberg. As I didn't want to pick it up from the airport (since I arrived after 10pm), the most convenient place to get to from the airport, stay at a cheap Airbnb, and pick up the car early the next day was at Schoppershof/Nordostbanhof only a few stops on the U2 line. After a very comfortable sleep, breakfast nearby Europcar was essential.

There's a big shopping centre which I'm sure has a few pickings but the bakery Brothaus Cafe nearby piqued interest. Out the front you can see enormous wheels of bread around 2kg which I would have been delighted to take with me. Sadly not on this occasion.

The cafe does some cold tiered platters which I assume are a more traditional type of German brunch. Luckily they also have a wide array of sweet and savoury breads including sandwiches. In the end the carbohydrate overload of an excellent (but soft based) pizza with cheese, tomato and anchovies, a croque madame of even more cheese, and a pretzel proved enough. The ham and salad ended up being take away with the heavily laden seed crust adding to the grain flavour of the bread. Excellent.

Unfortunately the coffee was bitter and terrible. You can't win them all.

Hackteufel, Heidelberg 11-2012

It seemed most appropriate to find a nice German bistro in the gorgeous streets of Heidelberg. All I really wanted was somewhere to try local cuisine. The region is apparently known for three things - black forest cake, wild boar and schnitzel. Wild boar was something I felt the need to try before leaving town.

I had read to try two of Hackteufel's popular dishes. Sauerkraut-Orgie for the hungry, Apfelstrudel for the sweet and luckily they had a Wild Boar dish also.

- Sauerkraut-Orgie - smooth mildly spicy sausage, slices of a pork loaf with chestnuts, lovely pork belly with crispy skin, a warm mess of fried pickled onion with some pork bits, and the standard thick starchy dumpling;
- Odenwalder Wildschweinsmedaillons - slightly chewy wild boar with delicious sauteed mushrooms, sweet cranberries, salad and a dumpling;
- Apfelstrudel - satisfying without being special, served with really great vanilla icecream and smooth vanilla custard.

I wouldn't say that any of the dishes were exceptional, but they were all hearty and filling. True to my previous opinion, German cuisine isn't known to be spectacular, more industrial to serve purpose and this certainly did that.

I would eat at Schnitzelbank at first choice, but since this is only open at night, Hackteufel is a safe choice for lunch.

Next time I would order any of the pork dishes since it is the most local. Of the meats I tried, the pork belly was probably the best and so Pork Roast Bavarian-Style looks like a good option for next time.

Chocolate Company, Heidelberg 11-2012

The Chocolate Company (or ChCo for short) is a Dutch-based company with a few select stores in Netherlands, Poland and Germany. I had read an online comment about the quality of their chocolate brownie and thought it would be a good way to top up my calorie count for breakfast on an icey morning.

Luckily they also have a large selection of chocolate products to buy for yourself or to gift to others. I ended up spending nearly €70 on a couple of enormous 800g chocolate blocks, a few smaller samples and their specialty of spoons for flavoured hot chocolate drinks.

I tasted a sample of the Schwarzwalder (Black Forest) which is a specialty of the region. This was fantastic, with a lovely 65% dark chocolate riddled with some candied cherry and hazelnuts soaked with aniseed flavour. One of the most unique chocolate blocks I've ever tried. Naturally an 800g block of this was on the shopping list.

The Chocolate Brownie is a heavy smooth dark chocolate riddled with a base of walnuts. A little too much for breakfast, but would be perfect to share for a late night treat. They recommended having it at room temperature although I tend to like warm generally.

Next time I would order the Chocolate Brownie warmed up to eat in and a Schwarzwalder bar to walk around with. Delicious.