Love Bites Abroad : Berlin

Adam and I took a 3 night trip to Berlin in between Christmas and New Years in 2013. We arrived early Boxing Day to an unexpectedly extremely quiet city. We were staying in the newer shopping district end of the Kurfürstendamm. Working in the retail industry myself, one would expect the biggest shopping street in Berlin to be a buzzing hive of activity on the busiest shopping day of the year, yet literally none of the shops were open nor were they showing signs that they were going to be open at all. 

We had stayed at my English family's house for Christmas and luckily enough one of my cousins had been to Berlin a couple of weeks before us and had kept a list of restaurant 'must-go-to's' provided by his hotel. We studied the list in anticipation and he suggested two in particular if we could get into them on short notice. These were The Grill Royal, an on-trend, upmarket seafood and steak house and Cantina, a pan-asian fusion, tapas style bar. We were lucky enough to get a reservation at both through our fantastic concierge at our hotel, for the second and third nights of our stay. He also recommended a restaurant called Keno for our first night which we happily took his advice for dinner that evening.

For lunch we strolled around the Christmas markets close to our hotel and our first taste of Germany happened to be traditional currywurst sausage. A kransky-style sausage with a spicy curry sauce and a sprinkling of curry powder. As we were rather hungry we devoured this fast but I can't say I would be rushing back to try another one as it tasted very processed and fake. We also treated ourselves to some deep fried garlic potato crisps which were so oily our fingers were smothered with grease instantly. They were also so garlicky after a couple of crisps our mouths were stained with the taste, let alone our breath, any lurking vampires would have been killed instantly.

Garlic Crisps

Currywurst Sausages

So Restaurant Keno was our dinner option for our first night - a traditional German restaurant which was close to our hotel.  As Boxing Day is still part of the Christmas celebrations in Germany they still had a Christmas set menu available as well as the a la carte. Feeling festive I chose the Christmas menu of mushroom soup, and roast duck with braised cabbage, potato dumplings and cranberry sauce, finished with a creme brûlée.  The mushroom soup was full of flavour and had a delicious garnish of parma ham. This infused the soup with flavour and melted in my mouth. Definitely something I will include when I next make a mushroom soup! The duck was delicious with the cabbage and the skin cooked to perfect crispiness, the potatoes were a bit stodgy for my liking. Adam devoured a vegetable soup, which was rather salty but had plenty of veges and a clear broth. He then ate veal meatballs with mashed potato in a white wine caper sauce. The sauce was really rich but complimented the meatballs well. We had great attentive service at Restaurant Keno and was a good way to kick off our Berlin trip.

Vegetable Soup

Mushroom Soup with Parma Ham

Veal Meatballs 

Roast Duck, Braised Cabbage and Potato Dumplings

Creme Brûlée

Our next dinner treat was Grill Royal. This high-end grill restaurant is located on the River Spree on Fredickstrzae. We we're greeted by the maitre'd and our coats were taken. My immediate thoughts were this is an refined chic grill restaurant with a vibrant atmosphere and high end diners. There were an odd mix of sculptures, artefacts and paintings adorning the dining room, surrounding the snug leather booths and mint condition white table cloths. The restaurant was oozing sophistication and encouraged people watching. We were initially seated next to a well dressed couple and their small child which seemed an odd mix with this type of restaurant. They left early and were replaced by two almost identical blonde barbie dolls who looked like they had never lifted a finger to work in their lives. 

The menu consisted of traditional grill style food, steaks and lobsters.  We settled for a starter each I had the a white fish soup, which consisted of a light frothy white wine broth with poached salmon and a white fish I can't quite remember, it was a sensational experience, the fish and the broth were delicate with a kick of white wine intensity. Adam devoured some snails, smothered in a thick garlic butter sauce which made the slimy experience of eating them much more appealing, they were some of the best snails I have eaten. For our mains I decided with a local Bavarian fillet, and Adam went for the American Entrecôte fillet. We shared four sides, which was quite a feast for two of us! We settled with fried broccoli and cauliflower in chilli and garlic, a smooth potato mash, coleslaw and something I wouldn't normally choose but must have been continuing with the festive spirit - some succulent sautéed brussels sprouts with bacon.

Fish Soup

Snails

I have to say my medium-rare Bavarian fillet was one of the best pieces of steak I have ever had. It was oozing tenderness, full of flavour and melted in my mouth. It was perfectly cooked and along with the mash and the red wine jus it was a masterpiece of a meal. Adams Entrecôte was not in the same league as mine, although his steak was larger than mine, it was not as tender and involved a few more chews. We settled on a sticky toffee pudding and a custard tart for dessert. Neither was anything to write home about and I'm even surprised we managed to fit it in! 

On our final night we made our way to Cantina in the trendy area of Mitte for some 'Fine Asian and Ibero-American cuisine.' Part of the experience is actually finding Cantina which is located at the bar of the trendy cocktail bar Tausend. Our taxi kindly dropped us outside a wooden door underneath what was a railway arch. We knocked politely, waited a couple of minutes and was greeted by the Maitre'd who asked if we had a reservation and under which name. We advised our details and then had the door shut on us, only to be greeted another minute later by the same lady who confirmed our booking with a big smile and invited us in. The bar had a very confident - trendy air to it, the decor was dark but lit with a huge circular eye-like sculpture at one end of the room. I had the feeling you kind of had to be in the know about this place, with the secret door, and sleek 'coolness' of the staff, it was almost a little intimidating. We were taken through the bar and led into a small tunnel into Cantina, a small room with limited seating. Our reservation was for 6pm and we could only get a seat at the bar, which actually turned out to be a fantastic experience as we were able to watch the chefs work straight in front of us.

The service was very suave, tight jeans and pony tails were the attire of most of the waiters. We drank cocktails and dined on some of the most delicious food, the whole experience of Cantina was a real treat!  The head chef was directly in front of us preparing sushi, sashimi, and ceviche. We spotted some male Latino-looking diners on the other side of the bar devouring the ceviche and asking for more of the sauce after they had finished, then smacking their lips in desire. This along with another female couple who asked to see the Head Chef to thank him for the ceviche thoroughly promoted our decision to get this immediately.  We started with some Spanish pimentos de pardons (grilled peppers) - one of my favourite Spanish tapas. These were not as good as expected, slightly overcooked and not enough flavour so we quickly moved on to our next dish satay chicken and lime skewers with a chilli, coriander and red onion garnish, these were moist and succulent pieces of meat with a a delightful kick. We devoured our ceviche in absolute pleasure, the tender calamari, squid, and raw fish pieces, enveloped in the juiciest sweet and sour sauce, and decorated with chilli, coriander, red onion and corn was a sensational seafood experience.

Pimentos de Padrons

Chicken Satay Skewers

Ceviche

The dining experience even got better after this, our main dish to share was a white tuna with foie gras on a spinach risotto. This main dish was heavenly. Drizzled in a pesto oil and garnished with fresh herbs every mouthful melted in your mouth and the spinach risotto was so delicious I have vowed to attempt to re-create this in the Love Bites Kitchen!  The tuna was a moist mouthful of goodness and complimented the dish well. We finished on sushi and sashimi that was prepared and handed to us by the Head Chef right in front of us. The small bites were so fresh and delicate it was the perfect end to our meal and by no way could we squeeze in dessert!

Tuna Foie Gras and Spinach Risotto

Sashimi

Sushi and Sashimi

Cantina was the perfect way to end our culinary Berlin experience. We had dined on traditional German food, the most delectable steaks, and a fresh and intriguing Asian-fusion food. We had spent a lot, feed ourselves to our hearts content and drank ourselves silly. Berlin was a wicked experience through and through. I can't wait to go back to try out even more of the culinary treasures this place has to offer!

Love Bites at Noma: Part One

Love Bites recently had a very exciting thing happen; I was invited to take a reservation at Noma, one of the most talked about, curiously fascinating restaurants of the last few years.  Noma is located in Copenhagen, Denmark and has been the number one restaurant in the world for three years running (2010-2012) out of eight years of being on 'The List' (http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners/noma/). It is currently ranked number 2 in 2013 on this list to restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona, Spain (meeh never heard of it!). 

When booking my trip to Copenhagen in November 2013 as a gift to my good friend Katie for her 30th birthday I decided to see if there were any reservations left for Noma for the weekend in January we were going. Of course there wasn't but there was an option to put ones name down on the waiting list. 'What have I got to lose?' I thought, so name and contact number went down and was soon to be forgotten.  On Tuesday 7th January the week that we were going to Copenhagen, I received a phone call from a strange number. I do not know what posessed me to answer it as I am not one to usually answer random calls or blocked numbers, so the fact that I was at work, getting a call from a strange number and deciding to answer it was against all my normal proceedings in such situations.  I answered and heard a foreign voice unveiling that they were calling from Noma.... and my eyes grew to the size of oranges! The lady on the end of the line advised a table had become availabe and as I was on the waiting list she wanted to know if I wanted to take the booking. Oh my days!!!! Was this actually  happening?!! This was totally unexpected and I started freaking out... I didn't know how much the restaurant would be, both Katie and I were feeling very poor after the festive season, and I needed to check with Adam and Katie if they were keen before I  volunteer us for a foodie adventure but also potentially a bankrupt situation. I frantically asked the caller a few questions, found out the cost of the meal (1,600 Danish Krone each for 20 courses) - not bad I thought however having no idea what the Danish Krone was to the Pound she quickly advised about £180 there or about. Not wanting to lose the reservation I asked her to send me the confirmation but that I needed to check with my other diners to see if they would be available. I immediately ran down to Katie's desk and proceeded to tell her the tale of the recent event, I was so excited I was shaking. My whole body felt giddy with excitement and my nerve endings were tingly. This was for real. Katie was keen, Adam was keen and due to a bit of financial shuffling the reservation was officially confirmed. Love Bites was going to Noma!

We discussed items of food we were not inclined to eat during the taxi ride on the way to the restaurant, my items being insects, and fish heads, Katie's being liver, and Adam was down for whatever. After seeing a documentary last year of Noma creating its first pop-up restaurant at Claridges Hotel over the Olympic period in London, I had some idea of what to expect from the restaurant itself. I had an inkling insects would be involved (eeek!), and lots of fresh earthy type dishes, not my usual choice of food but hey this was a once in a lifetime experience so I was going to be eating what ever was on my plate or 20 plates! 

We were driven through the city centre and across one of the bridges to Christenholm, where Noma is located on the wharf in a warehouse type building, far away from prying eyes and providing the ideal base for creating foodie masterpieces.

After getting the obligatory photo for Love Bites outside the restaurant we were welcomed at the front door not just by the Maitre'd but also by a handful of chefs which was rather exciting. They were full of smiles with hands behind their backs as our layers were taken and we were guided to our table. On entering the restaurant I was intriuged by the environment. The decor had a very earthy, rustic feel to it with its grey wooden beams,  light grey wooden panelled floors, concrete walls and black wooden tables and chairs. Some chairs were draped with an animal fur throw and simple candles and foliage in plain white vases decorated the tables. The decor was simple, but inviting and to some extent warming, the colour scheme neutral and calming creating an intriguingly suave atmosphere.

There felt like there was a hive of activity between the diners, and the chefs / waiters. I say this as the chefs themselves would bring out each dish and present it to you with a nice air of enthusiasm and intrigue to what they were serving you. The kitchen was situated at the entrance to the restaurant in between the actual restaurant and the wine bar in the following room. You could watch the chefs prepare the final step of the meals to be served which made quite a fascinating but fun experience and a  more informal atmosphere which is nice. We were informed by the Maitre'd that there is also another kitchen above the visable restaurant in which a whole other dozen of chefs are doing the pre-preparing of the food (moreso the bits they don't think we need to see!) which was equally fascinating.

Back at our table, after engulfing the surroundings and buzz, the Maitre'd began by informing us on how the evening would play out; we would be dining on 20 courses throughout the evening, a selection of dishes for appetisers would be served at quite a fast pace and at a more slower speed the  main events would be unveiled. With that our Noma experience began....

Stay tuned for Part Two of Love Bites Noma experience with a gallery of pictures in the following post.

Decor images thanks to http://spacecph.dk/project/noma/

Kiwi Crew Christmas and New Year 2012: Prague and Budapest

Over the Christmas and New Year period of 2012 a group of us Kiwi Expats descended upon Prague in the Czech Republic and Budapest, Hungary for the festive celebrations.

 

Amongst the excitement of embracing these two European cities for the magnificent architecture, culture and history, (and to be away from work for ten days!) I was certainly eager to see what each country's cuisines would have on offer.

Both countries cuisines involved a lot of pork, stews, sausages, dumplings, and cabbage. We devoured two traditional Czech meals when in Prague, plus various treats from the local Christmas markets. Our first meal consisted of plenty of meat and a varied range of potato / bread / doughy-like dumplings. These dumplings were much larger than I had experienced before (compared to those in Poland) and were very stodgy and did not come with a gravy or sauce much to Adam's disappointment. Others came with different fillings and looked more-so like cakes rather than traditional 'dumplings'.

As mentioned previously pork took up a lot of the menu.... Pork knuckles, pork schnitzel, pork tenderloins, pork stew and so forth. Three of our team members gorged into the pork knuckles which in each plateful there was enough for two or more. These knuckles came bone still in-tact and with assorted condiments, chili (which got the better of Newdick) gherkins, and cabbage and peppers. The first night we ate out in Prague I tried one of the weirdest flavour combinations I would have thought possible; pork tenderloins stuffed with smoked salmon on a bed of spinach in a blue cheese sauce. Whilst the waiters were too busy providing enough beers to cater for the table they managed to forget the blue cheese sauce for my meal. After almost finishing my plateful one of the waiter's finally realised what we were asking for and brought the sauce over. The interesting mix of flavours of this dish really worked well together. The salmon complimented the pork and the blue cheese sauce moistened each mouthful, it really was a surprisingly tasty dish!

 

The Czech food tended to be stodgy and very hearty. Washed down with numerous beers or beautiful Argentinian Malbec's we eagerly ate ourselves silly.  The Christmas Markets in the Prague town square enlightened our palettes even further with a mixture of sweet and savoury treats. We snacked on deep fried dough covered in a garlic and tomato sauce smothered in cheese, doughnut styled coils, spiralled around a stick covered in cinnamon sugar, and of course spicy hot dogs and lots of mulled wine.

 

Speaking of Christmas Markets this must bring me to discuss Budapest! They had hands down the best food options at the Markets in the Vörösmarty Square. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I love a market atmosphere, people wandering around, tasting what is on offer, lines of people waiting to get their hands on some of the best snacks cooked before your eyes, it just presents some of the fun of take away food. Especially when its crispy cold outside and you settle into a nice warm stew followed by some hot wine whilst you are bundled up in a woolly hat, scarf, gloves and embracing the winter air. We almost ate in these markets everyday because the options were so good! From slow cooked beef stew served in a soft wholemeal bowl of bread, to straight out of the oven pizza, to the mouthwatering hot dogs served with gherkins and cabbage which you had to wait at least twenty minutes to get. Even at 3am on the way home on New Years Day Adam and I tucked into a hot dog from a closing market stall, this place definitely rocked!

Apart from gorging on the Christmas Markets every day we also experienced some other goodies that Budapest had to offer, Ring Burger being one of them. Whist burgers aren't a traditional Hungarian food the burgers at this place do deserve a proper mention. They were slightly smaller than expected but with a good variety of options all served with a side of fries and the juiciest meat pattie on offer I would definitely recommend this place to others.  We also dined out on other non traditional feasts, the Hummus Bar which was extremely tasty and felt a lot healthier than what we had been eating that we almost went twice! And on our last night Eataliano also hit the nail on the head with a brilliant Italian pizza and pasta menu.

 Whilst the Central European adventure had to come to a close at some point, I have to say I was ready to get back to a meal of lots of vegetables and less stodge.  The food experience of these two beautiful cities was definitely going to be missed but I fear the size of my waistline would not be so forgiving if I lived on these cuisines all year round! I will however definitely be dreaming of those delicious treats that the Budapest Christmas Markets had to offer until I can get back there again!