It's fine to eat at a fast-food restaurant in Germany, but you'll find the German ones cheaper than the franchised American chains. You'll pay more than twice the price than we do here in the states. Stopping for a fast-food Bratwurst from a sidewalk vendor or a little Kiste or Stube will be more of a travel experience and most likely be cheaper but of a good quality. You'll be amazed at the beautiful, scruptios pastries and cakes in Germany and most of Europe.
Vegetarians will have a difficult time anywhere in Europe finding suitable meals. Most towns in germany have Italian restaurants where you can always get a Pizza Marguerita or a Spaghetti Marinara. Also Germany has many Chinese restaurants that serve one or two vegetarian dishes. Few and far between you'll find an eastablishment that serves only vegetarian food. I always find something tasty in the cafeterias or restaurants in the department stores. That goes for Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland.
Eating in a restaurant frequented by the locals is the ideal way to go and can be part of the evening's entertainment. What about a place with folk music, singing and yodeling? That's fun even if it's a tourist hangout.
also the german cold cuts are delicious. and the bread to die for. a sandwich instead of an expensive dinner is often the way the go. broetchen and some fresh butter is the best breakfast, and also pretty inexpensive.
Brotchen! My husband and I search bakeries everywhere we live in the U.S. hoping for a real Brotchen. We came close here in Texas at a health food store. But, there's no butter like the German
"Markenbutter." The "Irish Klee Butter" is as close as we can come. I got a chance to be help a bakery owner in Bad Kreuznach once. She asked me how to say Rye and the other kinds of bread in English so I went down the list in German and gave her the English version. Later I realized I had misinterpreted the main one: Vollkorn. I had said "Whole Wheat" but it is "Whole Grain." I should have known, because the bakery was in the "KornMarkt," the old Grain Market Square. For those who want to know the others: Rye is Roggen, Sunflower seed is Kornblumenkernen. Most of the breads in Europe are chewy, healthy and delicious.
bauernbrot. need i say more?
No, and maybe I better not say more about the German bread either. I miss it enough already. Maybe we should start in on the desserts. Yum!
now would be evil to the people that arent going there .
In spite of stirring up trouble, I am going to mention a few German special desserts: Bienenstitch (bee stings), a wonderful custard-filled goody; Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake); Marmor Kuchen (marble cake) and two that we all know and can buy at home- Apfel Strudel and Black Forest cake. Be sure and try an Apfelklosse mit vanille sosse (apple dumpling with vanilla sauce)
Most department store cafeterias or restaurants have an afternoon special of a cup of coffee and a slice of cake (torte) of your choice for a bargain price.
there are also a bunch of bon-frit kiosks all over the place. they use newspaper to make a cone and fill it with french fries. not healthy but really really good snack and really inexpensive. they generally add mayonaise, so be sure to tell them not to, if you dont like that.
The Brits like mayo and or vinegar on their fries too. In Germany and all of Europe that I have visited a McDonald's they charge for the packets of Catsup. Speaking of serving in cones of paper, at the October Fest I had popcorn served that way (but proper paper, not newspaper) and there was sugar on the popcorn. Now, I noticed the last trip to Germany that they also make popcorn with cheese or butter flavor.
When I first lived in germany in 1953 the Germans didn't know about popcorn. They didn't even eat corn (Mais, from the word Maize). They picked it before it was ripe and used it for cattle and pig fodder. My first landlady in Germany loved the popcorn I brought from the PX and every time I would leave the house she would ask me to bring her popcorn.
In reply to the German desserts, I've had all mentioned except the Bienenstitch which sounds wonderful and I hope to try it some day. I learned many years ago how to make a fabulous Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte for my husband. It takes about 3 hours, so I only do it for him once a year for his birthday. I've stopped ordering it when I see it on a menu because unless I'm in an authentic German restaurant, I'm usually disappointed.
The last time we were in Germany it was in early June and I was very disappointed to find that the hotels we stayed in and most of the restaurants only served some form of ice cream in the summer. If we went to a special place that served mainly cake and coffee, we could get delicious deserts. Is that the custom in Germany - to serve mainly ice cream in summer and the fabulous tortes in winter?
