Posts Tagged ‘local/traditional’
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
The Joint
Müllerstraße 1
http://www.altelinde-regensburg.de
Cliff
We found this place pretty quickly when we first moved here. It’s great, in my opinion, for a drop-in shady outdoor meal or snack. Don’t take it personally if you get the crabby old lady waitress who’s seemingly always there (perhaps whence the attitude?). If you’re lucky you’ll get the middle-aged guy with the butch haircut and the earring — he’s a good sport, if a bit more jokey than I’d like initially, and outwardly kind of gruff at first, but there’s a twinkle in there. The view from the Biergarten is quite nice, and even in the winter it’s not too shabby on the inside. And Tammy and Matthias did their wedding reception there — also lovely. They have beer varieties I like, food selections I like, pretty good schnitzel, and some of the best potato salad around — all good reasons to stop in. But our luck with larger (≥ 6 persons) parties has not been good. Read Sarah’s opinion for the details.
Sarah
I like Alte Linde a lot. I like it when it’s warm and breezy and you can sit outside and look at the river and the Dom. I like it for an impromtu schnitzel-and-potato-salad craving. What I don’t like is the attitude we seems to get when we try and plan ahead for a large party – which always seems to take place during soccer tournaments.
The first time I tried to snag a reservation there for about 8 people was during the 2006 World Cup and I went over there personally with a friend (to avoid language-related misunderstandings) about 3 days before we actually wanted the reservation. I was very clearly told that they were not accepting reservations for the night we wanted (the night of the Germany-England game), but to get there early and it shouldn’t be an issue. So Cliff and I went over about 3 hours prior to gametime only to see a sea of ‘Reserviert’ tent cards on a variety of tables. Maybe it was due to my language skills. Maybe he said ‘We’re not taking any more reservations for that night.’ I just know that we were less than pleased.
This most recent time, I was feeling braver and decided to reserve over the phone. A very nice man spoke slowly and clearly with me and confirmed everything that I outlined. Outside? Check. 10-14 people? Check. 8pm on the 20th? Check and check. Great! That was painless. Until we got there anyway. We saw 3.5 members of our party wandering around saying, ‘Um, there’s no reservation.’ Cliff went over to the guy with the big book and asked about the reservation under my name. And he responded with ‘Oh, you mean the one that you called about and postponed until Monday?’ Um, wie $%#¢&§@ bitte ?! I reserved it under ‘Sarah’ and I think that there’s a good chance that there’s more than one of those in Regensburg, so I can understand the confusion. I just don’t get the crappy attitude. Especially, as local expert Rainer pointed out, since the confrontation wasn’t necessary: they had a table of adequate size available. It wasn’t reserved, but it worked out just fine. Why annoy the source of of their income by trying to convince us that we had cancelled our reservation if there was ample room for our party?
That potato salad isn’t going to make up for the nasty attitude forever.
Tags: local/traditional reviews | No Comments »
Sunday, April 20th, 2008
Waffnergasse 6 – 8
Telefon +49 (0)941 / 28 04 33 – 0http://www.fuerstlichesbrauhaus.de
Cliff
We’ve been eating here for years (see here , here , here and here ) and yet have never posted a review of the place, oddly enough. It ranks up there in my opinion, though some say it was better back in the day, under the previous ownership. The Schnitzel Büffet days are a real trip. Fortunately, they don’t do those too often anymore. Their Strawberry-Mascarpone-Dampfnudel-Lasagne dessert was the motivation for me write this review. It’s awesome, but I’m not sure it really qualifies as a Dampfnudel , but hairsplitter though I may be, I’m willing to forgive the terminology for the sake of recommending the dessert. Maybe it’s one of those things that is better eaten without a meal beforehand — perhaps you’d make the trip extra for a cup of coffee (go fancy, get a cappuccino or something) and this dessert. It’s certainly lovely enough.
The venue is nice (see below), if a bit loud when crowded. It serves well for large gatherings and the veranda out back when the weather permits it is also a nice touch. Service is kind of hit-or-miss, but our Kellnerin
Sarah
I like this place, but I’m not very hard to please and am often (too) willing to overlook lackluster service when the food is really good. That said, they’ve stopped doing the Schnitzel Büffet every Monday as in the past – it happens intermittently with an e-mail notification beforehand – and my favorite item, the Münchner Schnitzel, is no longer reliably on the menu. So my patience is getting a bit thin with them. But the beer here is always very tasty, the prices are low-to-middling and the surroundings are very attractive. It’s kind of a crapshoot, but when it’s good, it’s very, very good.
Tags: grub , local (to us) stuff , local/traditional , Regensburg , restaurant reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
The Joint
Inh. Karin Przybyl
S-bahn: Neustädtermarkt or Albertplatz
Tel. 0351/ 56 33 126http://www.bauernstuben-kuegelgenhaus.de/
We stumbled around Albertplatz in blinding snow whipped into our faces by the wind and were really disoriented for a few minutes until we could look at map and re-orient ourselves. Then it became pretty easy. We headed toward this restaurant on the recommendation of a travel guide for the city of Dresden. We liked the layout of the travel guide, but I’m questioning the authors’ taste after tonight. This place wasn’t bad, but the service definitely was hit-or-miss, and the food didn’t wow us. It was fine, but we’ve come to expect better from restaurants recommeded by travel guides.
Beer
We both had the Pupen-Schultzes Schwarzes – suprisingly good dark bier! Milder and sweeter than expected, with no cringe. Sarah had some good advice here: when you’re trying out a new locale, order a beer from near the top of the list.
Sarah
Erdäppelsuppe — alright. This soup was kind of bland, and tasted like Fr. Knorr. But the cheese bits are nice touch.
Cliff
My Kartoffelsuppe mit Knoblauch (potato soup with garlic) was just OK — almost the same as Sarah’s but with garlic instead of cheese. For my main course, I had the Lammbraten mit grünen Bohnen. The lamb was nice and tender, but the beans were a little salty…not inedibly so, but definitely more than I expected. Potatoes roasted on a skewer with bacon wrapped around them were a treat.
Tags: Dresden , local/traditional , restaurant , Saxony reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 20th, 2006
The Joint
Sos. Bucium (langa statia Petrom)
http://www.inoras.ro/?section=local&instit=326&dom=3&or=1
Nelu told me that Romanians like their food sour, and he was not kidding. We had crusty, crunchy bread on which we spread olive paste and red pepper paste, and an appetizer of dill pickles dusted with paprika. I tried a Romanian beer brewed in Iasi that is quickly getting famous. It was very good.
I recommend this place to anyone visiting Iasi looking for authentic Romanian cuisine. It’s so hard to find traditional places like these among all the pizza/Italian restaurants!
Tags: Iasi , local/traditional , restaurant , Romania reviews | No Comments »
Monday, November 20th, 2006
The Joint
Singerstr. 28
Cliff
Rotkraut (sweet-and-sour purple cabbage) and it was excellent . Also, there was some paté which was quite nice — and apparently also made of goose parts (but that’s just a theory).
Franz Schubert was a big fan of this place. Nice atmosphere, but loud if full (or there’s a big party behind you) and little chance to escape the smoke.
Sarah
I finally tried Tafelspitz ! In spite of my previous forswearing of beef in German-speaking lands (they’re better at pork), I had to sample this famous Viennese dish. The verdict: meh. It’s not bad, it’s just not outstanding. I think I’m spoiled on American beef.
That said, this place is very small and old-fashioned, but was bustling. The service was nice, but a little rushed. And by the end of the meal, we all needed to get out of the billows of second-hand smoke. Normally, I don’t mind a little bit of smoke, but I think the Viennese smoke more than most.
Tags: Austria , local/traditional , restaurant , Vienna reviews | No Comments »
Sunday, November 19th, 2006
The Joint
Griesgasse 23
Cliff
Started off this trip through Austria correctly; that is, with a nice Schnitzel. This place had great big portions of traditional Austrian cuisine in what looked to me like traditional Austrian decor. Nothing fancy or high-falootin. And we were all happy with our stuff. I’d come back here again. The neon sign, nearly visible across the river, gave me doubts as we approached, but they were unfounded. Our waitress was friendlier than most, so that was nice too.
Sarah
This place was outstanding! We found it in the Frommer’s Austria that Carolyn brought us and we were not disappointed. It’s in the old city area, about a three-minute walk from the house in which Mozart was born. There might be more than one dining room, as the one we were in looked sort of small. The place was decorated with lots of murals depicting the history of the area and old dark wood and brass around the booths. The service was wonderful and the beer was worth writing home about.
But the best part was the food ! Big portions for small prices and the quality of the ingredients and preparation was outstanding. I had the Schweinebraten (pork roast) with Semmelknödel (bread dumpling), a dish I’ve had several times since moving to Germany and I can easily say this is the best permutation I’ve had yet. Don’t miss the Sternbräu if you’re ever in Salzburg!
Tags: Austria , local/traditional , restaurant , Salzburg reviews | No Comments »
Sunday, November 19th, 2006
The Joint
Waagplatz 2
Cliff
Started the trip off with…goose, since I’m a Michi…gander!
This place was nice and quiet on a Sunday afternoon, if a bit smoky despite there being only one other party in the downstairs luncheon room. The smoked breast of goose was very good, if a bit pricey. But hey – it was goose, so what was I to expect? The plum strudel and walnut ice cream afterwards was delightful.
Sarah
This is one of the restaurant offerings in the hotel K & K . I had the small sauerkraut and bratwurst, and for the price I expected something a little more impressive than what I got. The kraut kind of lacked seasoning and the brats tasted like the ones I just buy from the grocery store here. But the dessert was wonderful and the location of this place is pretty unbeatable.
Tags: Austria , local/traditional , restaurant , Salzburg reviews | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
The Joint
Fam. Kirchmair
http://www.humlerhof.com/
Cliff
Sarah
We stopped here for lunch on the way home from Italy. It was close to two o’clock and most restaurants in these parts (especially in small towns like this one) close between lunch hours and dinner hours. So we were pretty surprised that this place was open. They had a salad bar set-up, which is really unusual. Unfortunately, many of the offerings were kind of wet – drippy lettuce, asparagus swimming in marinade, etc. Cliff and I had the same thing and as he mentioned above, the homemade Spätzle was really good, Schnitzel and sauce were nice, too bad about the canned mushrooms. I personally think the most impressive thing about this place was the view!
Tags: Austria , Brenner , local/traditional , restaurant reviews | No Comments »
Monday, September 25th, 2006
The Joint
Piazza Brà, 14awww.liston12.it
Cliff
My buddy Brian and I have very similar tastes in food. I thought he’d flip out over an authentic (as in, in Italy ) carbonara sauce, especially since he’d never had one before (right Brian?). It’s very, very high on my Top 5 All-Time Favorite Pasta Sauces.
Unfortunately, Bar Liston 12 is right at the top of my All-Time Worst Dining Experiences in Italy (granted, it’s a short list) due to the lousy noodles, rather cartilaginous pork (was that ham? bacon? sow’s ear?) and beaten raw egg yolk they purported to be Spaghetti Carbonara. It was just disgusting; almost as much as the fact that we paid exorbitant prices (something like €4 for a glass of Coke!) and stormed out of there in frustration and resorted to the special on cheeseburgers at the McDonald’s in Affi.
They were a much better deal, especially with regard to our satisfaction.
Sarah
What. A. Nightmare.
This place is along what I can only assume is one of the main tourist-trappy areas of Verona – right on the circle surrounding the Arena. They serve sub-Stouffer’s quality food at obscenely inflated prices. We had tried to go to another place nearby, highly recommended by a friend who is something of an Italy-expert. Unfortunately, after a comedy of errors while trying to find the B&B, then trying to find parking in Verona while coping with the Italian style of driving, we showed up between the end of their lunch hours and the reopening for dinner.
It was raining. The trip through the city had been terrifying. We were wet, miserable, tired, stressed and HUNGRY. We just stumbled back to the main drag (in an effort not to get lost and overstay our parking) and decided to just eat something and get back out of the city before dark. The only thing that stands out about this place is the awfulness of the food. My ‘Lasagna al forno’ tasted like it came out of a can. A Chef Boyardee can. It is such a bummer that the worst Italian food I’ve ever had in my life was in Italy . But I feel like it’s my own fault.
It’s alright. We went home and made better food (puttanesca sauce with penne) than this joint could ever dream of serving.
Tags: grub , Italy , local/traditional , restaurant , Verona reviews | No Comments »
Thursday, April 20th, 2006
The Joint
Basilio Badillo #331
Cliff
Had the daily special, and it sure was. $150 MXN for a big filet of Mahi-Mahi in a garlic-and-oil sauce with soup or salad and a choice of dessert and coffee afterward. We were the only table there. The best part, other than the food, was our host. Very pleasant and helpful. We’d love to go back to them; maybe even later this week.
Sarah
This place was pretty outstanding. There was a prix fixe menu for $150 MX. We all had the Aztec chicken soup, which was lovely with crunchy strips of fried tortilla and bits of fresh avocado. I had the other entree option, a chicken parmesan. I didn’t have the highest of hopes for this, but it was the non-fish alternative and I was rewarded for it. The chicken was very lightly breaded, the marinara-flavored sauce was pleasantly salsa-y in texture and instead of the shell of melty cheese I expect with this dish, there were crumbles of fresh Mexican farmers’ cheese. The dessert was the most wonderful creme brulee I’ve ever tasted. As Cliff mentioned, the host was very charming and answered all questions with a smile. $150 MX was a bargain.
Tags: local/traditional , Mexico , Puerto Vallarta , restaurant reviews | No Comments »
Bar none, this was my favorite dining experience in Iasi. Nelu kindly took me on a night-time driving tour of the town, which ended here. I’d been looking for an authentic Romanian restaurant to try ever since I arrived on my first trip to Iasi back in November 2006. I am so glad he showed me this restaurant.
For the main course, I had mutton with polenta and sheep’s cheese. It was excellent. The sheep’s cheese adds a great tangy flavor to the polenta and also compliments the flavors of the mutton.