Katzenjammers

The Hop Exchange  

24 Southwark Street

London 

SE1 1TY

For A's birthday, we usually go to a place near London Bridge at it seems to be the easiest place for everyone to get home from. I couldn't tell you exactly why Katzenjammers was chosen, and the fact that Oktoberfest was starting in a few days was coincidental timing - but I was happy to go somewhere to prepare for my Munich adventures. A similar group of us had come here before in its previous incarnation as a normal pub - I think I prefer its new German identity. One liter steins and a full selection of German beers were available, as well as my two favorite German dishes of all time - spaetzle and schnitzel. Both were executed somewhat well here - the spaetzle was suitably covered in cheese, bacon and onions, and the schnitzel was crisp and generous, but I think both dishes were a little on the salty side. Still, they paired well with generous quantities of beer so I find it hard to complain. I think A's birthday was suitably celebrated, and everyone wandered off into the night happy.

Herman ze German

19 Villiers Street
London
WC2N 6NE

P had the marvellous idea of getting currywurst one night - thankfully for currywurst lovers, Herman ze German has opened up close to Charing Cross/Embankment. It's a small space with hardly any room for eating - you can stand next to a thin counter on the wall or try and snag the bench outside - but currywurst isn't really sit down dining food anyway. The key to loving this is loving currywurst sauce - it drenches the sausage (your choice of several different types, I went with bratwurst) and a lot of the fries as well - so you better like the tangy, sort of ketchupy-spiked-with-curry-powder taste of it, or this would be a terrible meal for you. Thankfully, I am a big fan and P and I happily gobbled up our portions before venturing off for more drinks.

Dom im Stapelhaus

Frankenwerft 35
50667 Köln

For our last meal in Cologne, we went to Dom im Stapelhaus, another two-for-one offer on the Cologne Welcome Card. There's a special menu they give you when you use the card, which unfortunately isn't online, so I can't even tell you exactly what we ordered, except that both dishes ended in -wurst which was the only way we had the slightest clue what we were getting. There was another couple behind us that didn't know any German and we could here their panicked mutterings to each other as they tried to decipher the very long full menu. Anyway, we ended up with two sausage dishes, but the one above was the one I picked and it was slightly more interesting due to the sausage coming out as a meatloaf-shaped rectangle. Some really excellent fried potatoes with an oozing fried egg on top and a little pile of tart sauerkraut finished off the dish. The potatoes were what really got my attention - I think there were bits of bacon mixed in as well, so needless to say they were super tasty.

Bierhaus en d'r Salzgass

Salzgasse 5
50667 Köln

Another welcome two-for-one discount from the Cologne Welcome Card made dinner here incredibly affordable (and it wasn't even expensive in the first place). This bierhaus serves Päffgen Kölsch and we were quickly brought two Kölsch while studying the menu. We ordered Bergische Bauernmettwurst mit Sauerkraut und Kartoffelpüree (a local sausage served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes) and Schweineschnitzel (pork schnitzel with mushroom sauce and fries). The schnitzel was incredible with the rich mushroom sauce - Germans clearly are not into diet food. I liked the sausage as well, but the schnitzel was definitely the winner in this meal - it's hard to go wrong with tender pork cutlets, breaded and fried and smothered in mushrooms. 

Haxenhaus zum Rheingarten

Frankenwerft 19
50667 Köln

The marvelous Cologne Welcome Card gets you all kinds of discounts - to museums, restaurants and bars - and it also serves as a 24 hour public transport pass. For our €8 per person cards, I estimate we saved at least €50 between us. Haxenhaus zum Rheingarten is one of the places we visited along the river to get our free Kölsch. Since we were getting our beers free, we ordered the Flönzthaler (4 Stück) as a snack. Sadly A and I have no German skillz whatsoever and thus did not know that we were eating blood sausage, sandwiched between dry slices of pumpernickel rye bread. At the time, all we knew is that we both did not like this dish at all, and now that I am back home and translating what I ate, I am even more disgusted.

Brauhaus Sünner Im Walfisch

Salzgasse 13
50667 Köln, Germany

Embarrassingly, we only went inside Brauhaus Sünner Im Walfisch because of the enormous glass tubes of beer they had propped up in the window. You can order 3 or 5 liters of beer here, and it comes in a massive tube with a little tap at the bottom so you can keep filling your glass. Sadly, we were not brave enough to attempt such daunting quantities of beer and ended up just snacking on a Cologne specialty, the Halve Hahn. Contrary to its name, which translates as half a chicken, there is no chicken in this snack. Rather, it is just a roll with semi-mature Gouda cheese (and onions, though ours came without). The roll was warm and crusty and the cheese was good, but in the end, it's just a cheese roll. Probably best for late night snacking after too many Kölsch.

Bäckerei Merzenich

Wallrafplatz 4

50667 Köln

Merzenich is a bakery chain - we saw several when we were walking around Cologne. While we had a couple of sandwiches there that were completely ordinary, we also had a couple of really amazing specialties. First up is the Schinken-Käsebrötchen, a glorified ham and cheese roll. It's basically a yeasty roll smothered in a blanket of cheese and bacon pieces. What's not to love about that? The other spectacle was the Käse-Kirschkuchen, which was a cake, split in half and filled with vanilla cream and cherry jam, and then covered in powdered sugar. It sounds disgustingly sweet, but surprisingly I found it very balanced, with the mild vanilla cream and tart cherry filling. If I had more stomach space I would have tried more things, but alas. The picture of bunny pastries is only up because I thought they were adorable (and very appropriate for Easter, obviously). 

Fassbender

Obenmarspforten 7
50667 Köln

We happened to wander by this place and the lime-green display windows full of pastries and chocolates caught my eye. We walked in, thinking we'd have a quick look to see if there was anything that particularly cried out "Eat me!" and of course, as soon as A saw the cheesecake, he was a goner. We snagged a great table in a room that reminded me of the grand hotel tea rooms of London, and quickly settled on cheesecake along with hot chocolate and coffee. The cheesecake was nothing like A's Platonic ideal of a bricklike New York-style cheesecake, but it was delicious in its own right. If I had to guess, I'd say it was made of ricotta and it had a light citrusy tang to it. There were nutty chunks in the crust, probably hazlenuts, and a very thin layer of lemony glaze on top. Everything else in the display case looked so lovely that I'd be happy to spend a gluttonous day trying a little bit of it all.

Brauhaus Sion

Unter Taschenmacher 5-7
50667 Köln

Another brewery, for another brand of Kölsch. Brauhaus Sion apparently does tours, not that we went on one. Instead, we popped in to the restaurant part for some Kölsch, but we couldn't resist getting a sausage as well - they serve a meter of sausage here (meant for four people) but we went with the more modest Baseler Kalbsbratwurst. This came on a mound of what the waiter said was cabbage, but tasted more like cabbage and mashed potatoes, mixed together? Whatever it was, it was incredibly good with the sausage, which was almost crispy on the outside. Plenty for the two of us to share - look at the size of that thing!

Früh am Dom

Am Hof 18
Köln 50667

Früh am Dom seems to be one of the biggest and most popular breweries in Cologne. It's located right next to the cathedral, which is pretty convenient, and since it's mentioned in pretty much every guide to Cologne, A and I started there for our first meal and our first Kölsch. Thankfully the menu was partially translated into English, so we quickly ordered two Kölsch and Schweineschnitzel mit Pommes Frites und Salat and Frische Bratwurst mit Bratkartoffeln und gemischtem Salat (Pork Schnitzel with chips and salad and fresh sausage with roasted potatoes and mixed salad). The salads were quite tasty, with a tangy almost coleslaw-like dressing, but the meat and potatoes were what we were really there for. Both dishes were great and reminded us why we like German food - it's hearty and savory and no nonsense, perfect for blustery cold evenings. The great thing about the brauhauses is that they keep bringing you more Kölsch; as soon as you finish one glass, it's replaced with another, unless you put your beer mat on top to signal that you're done. The Kölsch pairs perfectly with the food and with conversation.

Altdorf Biergarten

301 W Main St.
Fredericksburg, TX
78624

After climbing a big granite dome in the Hill Country, A and I drove to Fredricksburg to immerse ourselves in quaint German tourist-ville. After downing Texan wines and beers and trying a ridiculous amount of salsas, spreads, fudges and jams at this cool gourmet shop, we decided to try some sausages as well and popped into Altdorf Biergarten. We ordered the sausage sampler, and from left to right above there's a cheesewurst, a bratwurst and a Texan sausage that they make themselves. The Texan sausage was my favorite, followed by the bratwurst. I think the cheesewurst, which was filled with gooey yellow cheese, was just too rich for me to enjoy after the first bite.