BEST THINGS I ATE IN GERMANY

Food in Germany surprised me. I didn’t take to the things I purposely came to eat and I loved some really unexpected dishes. I chased salads and wine instead of my beloved beer and sausage. Here’s what clicked — and what didn’t.

Stawberry-Mozarella-Chicken Salad

Hands down the best meal I had in Germany was at the restaurant called Heiliggeist, in Mainz. Here’s the deal: it was so friggin’ hot during my trip, that I was always craving something light and cool for my meals. Salads, mostly. Now, German idea of a salad is usually a few gigantic leaves of lettuce with a quartered tomato and a few chunks of cucumber on top. Not exactly refined or creative. Which is why I was so, so, so excited when I got my salad at Heiliggeist – complete with finely sliced strawberries, radishes,  blobs of mozzarella and the most tender grilled chicken breast ever, all mixed with the traditional garden fare. Add to it the chilled yogurt-dill soup and freezing-cold Apfelwein, and this was the best dining experience of my trip.

Melon Pan

One of the main reasons I read travel blogs before my trips is to find out the best food spots in any place. That’s how I learned about IIMORI, Frankfurt’s French-Japanese bakery and restaurant. The place is supposed to serve an amazing buffet lunch, but I was a bit early for that. Instead, I grabbed a sweet curry puff (curry pan) and a green melon cookie (Melon Pan, sticking out on the right side of the top photo ) to go. That cookie was one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had! Sweet but not too sweet, soft and moist dough on the inside under that glistening shell, and a flavor like I haven’t tasted in a dessert before. My only regret was that I was already many blocks away by the time I unwrapped and tried my find, otherwise I would have gone back for a whole bag of them.

Pork Schnitzel

Schnitzel has never been my thing – I like my meat like it’s just been running around, be it beef burger or pork shashlik. All the schnitzels I have tried have been dry, hard, thin, low on meat and high on breadcrumbs. That is, until I ordered a salad with pork schnitzel at a restaurant hidden away in Wispertal (Whisper River Valley), near Rhine. It was soooo good! Hearty comfort food done right, with a salad (well, giant chunks of veggies) and TWO tangy, creamy sauces on the side to boot! Of all the traditional German specialties, this was the one I liked the most.

Plain Pretzel

What is it with German things ending in a -tzel? I always thought that pretzels were one of the worst iterations of bread – at least in the US and Russia they are. I’d never even think to buy a pretzel unless dying of hunger. So there I was, in a Munich supermarket, loading up on #sanctioned soft cheeses and hard salamis, when I hit the check-out counter and realized that I have no bread to go with them. Which was basically  the equivalent of dying of hunger (ok, I was really hungry, and too lazy to go back and look for something better). Surprise — German pretzel is a total bready awesomeness that goes well with sausage, cheese, and by itself.

And in the interest of full disclosure: German Classics That Didn’t Quite Hit The Spot

Thank goodness for the schnitzel and the pretzel, otherwise I would be short on good things to say about my German food experience and might not be allowed back into that awesome country ever again. It’s not like the things I ate were bad, but that I didn’t like the local treatment of things I usually love: pork, sausages, potatoes and cabbage. Most of those dishes were pretty basic, bland and heavy (sorry! I ❤ you, Deutschland!).  I’m sorry, but a huge roast sausage with ketchup and some curry powder  does not impress me. Maybe it tastes better when sitting by the fire in the dead of winter?

You know what? That’s right, I’ll blame the damn heat.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever had in Germany or is there a German dish you want to try?