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.