Eat Like Ushi

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.

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.

I've never thought of German food as particularly exciting. It really does tend to be just lots of fried and roasted meats. Although generally quite simplistic in flavour, they do these things surprisingly well.

Thus when I saw the Tripadvisor number 1 in Heidelberg was a German cuisine place, I was curious. There isn't a lot of information out there to compare for this city, which is surprising as it is a gorgeous classic city very near the enormous transport hub of Frankfurt.

Schnitzelbank gets easy full marks for atmosphere - a rather small cosy bar with mainly communal tables. On my Tuesday night during a cold evening seating was easy to find amongst mainly Germans eating, drinking and making new friends with whoever sat near them.

The wintry special of Gluh-wein was a very sweet version and easy to drink.

Schnitzelbank had to have gotten schnitzel right or it would be laughable. Luckily the schnitzel was a really tasty 1/2 inch thick pork fried in a crispy and nicely uneven textured surface. It was a real difference from the complete uniform breadcrumb versions I've had in Austria and Slovenia. This was more like a fish'n'chip style coating with a slight taste of having been fried with some butter. The pork itself was a little chewy but the flavour especially with lemon made up for it. This came with crisp fried potato pieces which were a decadent man's fries. The healthy part was a pickled spinach in a buttery mash.

I was tempted by the Apple Strudel dessert but the barman didn't seem that excited by it, recommending instead a dessert of Stewed Raspberries in a hot wine sauce with vanilla icecream and cream. Very very sweet; a little too much for me.

Next time I would order any of the 3 schnitzels that give Schnitzelbank its name. I chose mine as it is the classic version and I particularly wanted the fried potatoes. I'd also try the Apple Strudel just to know.