Txapela (2) – Barcelona

February 23, 2014Leave a comment

I had wanted to take N to Ciudad Condal because it’s my favourite and I had been raving about it to her, but unfortunately there was a huge line up and I didn’t see my favourite salmon montadito. We were hungry since I got off school really late, so it was already almost 9pm. Typical Spanish time for dinner, but not so much for us! We wandered around Passeig de Gracia, and we walked in Txapela. I had previously blogged about Txapela here: Txapela, and while this one was also on Passeig de Gracia, we later found that they had two locations! This one was much smaller and more like a bar. When we went in, it was basically empty to my surprise..

Pintxo Gernika – Crab Salad

We sat at the bar and they had some pintxos already pre-made sitting in behind the glass counter. They looked pretty and appealed to us, so we got some. We chose the Pintxo Gernika, which was an imitation crab salad topped with mini massago. This was refreshing. I do find that the bread at Txapela to be much thicker than the ones at Ciudad Condal. It makes you much more full. Something about the fact that they were pre-made and with the lack of customers made me question how fresh the food was. I mean, the food at Ciudad Condal sits at the top of the counters too, but there’s a constant flow of people, so the food turnovers quite quickly.

Catalan Sausage Pintxo – Catalan sausage tartar with tomato and virgin olive oil and Pintxo Bidasoa – salmon roll stuffed with crab and mayonnaise

Another few also caught our eyes in the counter. N chose the Catalan Sausage Pintxo. She said it tasted like beef tartar but the seasoning was good. Not exactly sure what was on top of it though. We both got the Pintxo Bidasoa. I thought it looked a little like a carrot! No carrots in this pintxo, but smoked salmon! I’ve found a new love for smoked salmon since my time in Barcelona, so it was a must order. I find that the smoked salmon in Barcelona is not salty at all like the ones we have in Vancouver. Imitation crab salad was wrapped with the piece of smoked salmon. It was placed on top of a piece of lettuce and drizzled with mayonnaise and topped with some caviar. Again, I thought this was great, but I found it a little cold. It would’ve tasted much better if it was at least slightly warm.

Croquette Pintxo – Iberian Ham Croquette and Pintxo San Fermin – Crispy Chicken with “Chistorra” Sausage and Pepper

We decided to order some off the menu, which is on our placemat. I suggested N to try the Croquette Pintxo, since croquettes are very popular and typical in Spain, and most of my friends had enjoyed them. This was one filled with Iberian Ham. Came on top of a piece of lettuce as well. Again, it felt like it wasn’t really fresh. The croquette was just warm, and not hot. It felt like the other Txapela location had more people, so the food was much more fresh. N also ordered the Pintxo San Fermin, which had some mayo at the bottom, a crispy chicken on top, then a padron pepper, and lastly topped with a “Chistorra” sausage. She enjoyed it and said the sausage reminded her of those Chinese sausages you find at barbeque pork houses.

Kebab Pintxo – Marinated Pork Loin Brochette

For myself, I got the Kebab Pintxo. Wasn’t sure what sort of meat it was when I looked at the picture, but it turns out to be pork loin. It was marinated in a feisty and slightly spicy sauce. We both thought it was really delicious.

Overall, I found this Txapela location to be a little disappointing. Service was great since we were bascially the only diners. They even helped N change her Fanta at no extra cost when we found a fly had flew into the drink. The only issue for me personally, is how fresh their food is.

La Fonda (2) – Barcelona

February 22, 2014Leave a comment

I had visited La Fonda twice already, and this was my third time. I didn’t post another blog post for the second revisit since I had ordered pretty much the same items. It seems that whenever I have visitors, La Fonda is the place to bring them to. I guess it’s just because you can get a taste of some decent paella (which all tourists want to try!) and the menu is at a decent price. So when N came over, I took here here for dinner.

Beef Carpaccio with Lemon Vinaigrette – carpaccio de buey con vinagreta de limon

We started off with an appetizer, and got the Beef Carpaccio. They were thinly sliced and topped with slices of cheese and drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette. It was light and appetizing.

Black Rice – Arroz Negro

As for our entree, of course we got paella. It’s called Aroz Negro on the menu, which means black rice. It may sound odd at first, but it’s really normal rice but mixed with a squid ink sauce. You’ll find bits of squid inside as well so it’s lots of chewiness in this dish! This was 2 orders, since you have to order a minimum of 2 orders per table. We found this extremely flavourful and N really enjoyed it. You really get the seafood taste to it. I’ve had their Valencian Paella before, and I have to say this is much better even though you don’t get as many ingredients. I just enjoyed this flavour much more!

Again, La Fonda didn’t disappoint. This was my last time at La Fonda during my trip, but I’m sure I will visit again when I visit Barcelona again.

Cafe Granja Viader – Barcelona

February 20, 2014Leave a comment

Cafe Granja Viader was recommended by my Spanish professor. This cafe has so much history! The family business began in the 1870s and started as a farm. They are also among the first to start the dairy industry in Spain, and they invented Cacaolat, which you will see all over Spain. Cacaolat is basically the Spanish version of our Milk2Go. The cafe is actually located just inside the streets off of La Rambla, so extremely accessible. You’ll find locals eating here with their children, but tourists have also discovered this cafe and has been a popular destination.

The cafe still has such a vintage feel to it! Very basic furniture with the waiters dressed professionally.

Painters are hung around the wall. We came just when the second opening time began, and hence we got a seat right away. The cafe closes from around 2-5, abiding to the siesta. Therefore, many of my friends have found it difficult to visit here, or when it’s open, there are usually huge crowds.

Swiss Hot Chocolate

N had came to visit me in Barcelona, and I decided to take her here after she got off her flight. Another friend had suggested items to order, so I followed. First, we got a Swiss Hot Chocolate. This was basically the Spanish Hot Chocolate, but topped with a huge lump of whipped cream. The whipped cream was actually light and didn’t have that heavy milk taste that cheap processed whipped cream had. You need to realize that the hot chocolate in Spain is literally melted chocolate. It’s so thick! I don’t think they put any milk in it… The whipped cream really helped lighten the hot chocolate and give it a more milky texture.

Spanish Hot Chocolate

My friend suggested we order just a Spanish Hot Chocolate, and because the Swiss one had so much whipped cream, you could just scoop over half of it onto the one without the cream. This worked out perfectly. When we tried the Spanish Hot Chocolate by itself, we felt it was too heavy. They use dark chocolate, and hence it’s not too sweet. But still, imagine yourself drinking a cup of just melted chocolate… It’s quite something. We both agreed that we wouldn’t be drinking hot chocolate in a while… Extremely rich and smooth though!

Churros

We also got an order of Churros. The plate came with around 4 looped churros and there was one that was a bit different. It had a lot more sugar on it and had a slight cinnamon taste to it! The churros were fresh and surprisingly not too sweet. I did find that the churros were a little hard for my liking, so I ended up dipping it in the hot chocolate. It was the best way to eat it, especially since it got a little boring just drinking the thick hot chocolate.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Granja Viader! It’s a nice place to sip on some hot chocolate and grab a snack. I really felt like I had went back in time and was experiencing the true Catalan way of enjoying tea time.

To finish off with some Barcelona attractions, I attended the El Clasico 2013! For those who aren’t football fans, like myself, El Clasico is a football match between the Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The two teams are among the richest and best teams in the world, and Barcelona and Madrid themselves have always been rivalries in football. Also because of other political issues, like independence, the two cities are always heated when they compete. My friends luckily convinced me to attend, and it was the best decision! I’ve never been to any sports game in my life, let alone football being of any interest for me. However, it was so much fun, and the crowds were full of spirit. Never felt so excited watching a game! Camp Nou, the stadium is also the largest football stadium in Europe! It was fully filled and although our seats were almost the last rows, we still had clear vision of the game. And of course, Barcelona won!

Ciudad Condal (2) – Barcelona

February 20, 2014February 20, 2014Leave a comment

It was C’s birthday on the weekend, and as a foodie, she told me she hadn’t been to Ciudad Condal! Ciudad Condal is my favourite tapas spot in Barcelona, if you have read my previous post: Ciudad Condal. I told her it was a must and off we went with a few other friends! This time, we were smart and got a seat at the bar. Pictured above are just some of the salads they offer.

And here are some of the montaditos, seafood and other tapas.

My all time favourite Salmon Montadito! I just had to grab a picture of it!!

Here, I chose two Salmon Montaditos. Again, it was flavourful and the salmon was fresh! In the middle was an Imitation Crab Salad Montadito topped with a pickle and shrimp. This was surprisingly really good too! The downside is that it’s imitation crab. Barcelona seems to use this ingredient a lot, and you will actually find this vastly in grocery stores.

Grilled Cuttlefish

We finally got the correct Grilled Cuttlefish! This was absolutely amazing. The seasoning was perfect and the cuttlefish was so tender!

Grilled Steak with Apples and Foie

I got this randomly and didn’t think much of it, but it was one of the best pintxo I’ve had! It was around two pieces of grilled steak, with alternating pieces of cooked apples, and topped with foie gras! Like holy! This was heaven. I didn’t know cooked apples could work so well with the rest of the ingredients. Sadly, I’ve been back another two times, and both times they did not have this pintxo again. Not sure why…

Deep Fried Brie

We saw in front of us this weird looking nut coated bar on a stick and we asked what it was. Apparently it was brie! The chef would pop the stick in a deep fryer when you order it, and then they would place it on a slice of baguette and topped it with a strawberry sauce. Strawberry sauce and cheese? Yup, it worked! Such an odd combination but it was actually pretty good! Loved how when you cut the bar apart, the cheese would ooze out! It was nutty and cheesy, but sweet at the same time because of the sauce!

Veal with Padron Peppers

Again, I got the Veal with Padron Peppers, which I had gotten at Cervecería Catalana. It was quite the same, with the veal cooked perfectly and lightly seasoned with salt.

Pumpkin Cake with Sweet Port

Since it was C’s birthday, we ended dinner off with some sort of dessert. We didn’t imagine the cake to be a stick, but this was delicious! It was more like pumpkin spice, since the pumpkin flavour itself wasn’t too strong. It was also not really a cake, but more of a pastry. We found that pouring too much of the sweet port made the cake too bitter and alcohol-tasting. Otherwise, great dessert!

Rosa Negra – Barcelona

February 19, 2014March 6, 2014Leave a comment

We had finished our Spanish History tour led by our professor to show us significant spots around the city. It was one of our classmate’s birthday, and she invited us to join her for dinner at Rosa Negra. I had actually never been to this part of town, which is one of Barcelona’s main street, Laietana. There were so many cool restaurants and shops around! Rosa Negra is a Mexican restaurant and had some of the best Mexican food I’ve had. The place is really colourful, hip and cool – perfect for young crowds. There are two floors, and downstairs is a bar. When it gets crowded, many people grab a drink while waiting for a seat.

Raspberry Margarita

They have amazing drink deals, and we all got some Margaritas for only 3, 50 euros. K got the Raspberry Margarita.

Passion-fruit Margarita

For myself, I got the Passion-fruit Margarita. We all agreed that the passion-fruit flavour was the best! We loved how the rims of the glasses were topped with some salt and sugar. It was mixed with a spice too so gave it a little heat when you licked it.

Grilled Chicken with Guacamole Taco

Onto the food! A few of us decided to share some dishes, which got pretty messy, but this way we were able to try an assortment of food. We got the Grilled Chicken with Guacamole Taco, which was our least favourite. The chicken was a little dry since it didn’t have any sauce other than the guacamole.

Seasoned Slow Cooked Pork Burrito

The Seasoned Slow Cooked Pork Burrito was by far our favourite! It was sliced in half, and even then, each portion was bigger than my fist! The flour tortilla was filled with the seasoned slow cooked pork, which was super juicy, moist and flavourful. It was also filled with beans, rice, cheese, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, coriander, and sour cream. The portions were just perfect so you got a bit of everything in each bite. I would suggest sharing this if you want to try other dishes because it’s huge and fills you up really fast!

Sauteed Mushroom and Onion Quesadilla

The sauteed Mushroom and Onion Quesadillas came in a set of three, and were all filled with melted cheese. The cheese was melted perfectly so it was stringy. It was again full of flavour and it came with a small side of salsa (diced tomatoes and onions).

Ceviche

Last but not least, we ordered an appetizer, which was the Ceviche. I was in love with this dish! It had diced fish and shrimp, and they were cooked in a lime juice hence giving it a bit of acidity. It was mixed with mangoes, tomatoes, onions, coriander, ginger and topped with a slice of avocado. This was great because it opened up your appetite! We broke the avocado a bit, and you would scoop some of it with your tortilla chip so it would be like a guacamole, and then scoop some of the fish. I loved this dish!

Overall, I was extremely pleased with the food and drinks at Rosa Negra! Prices were quite reasonable and most of us agreed that the food was up to par with authentic Mexican restaurants. Who knew we would find such great Mexican food in Barcelona! I ended up coming here again as you will see in later posts! Perfect place for a chill, fun night with friends. It gets packed around dinner time though!

Tapa Tapa (Arenas) – Barcelona

February 16, 2014February 16, 2014Leave a comment

I took a Spanish history class at ESADE, and it was one of the best classes offered there! Truly learned so much about Spain and coming from a country with such a young history, it was so interesting to actually finally understand some of the European history. One our our assignments was to visit an assigned site in Barcelona. For my group, we were assigned to visit the Olympic Museum and then check out the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, which was the stadium that was renovated for the 1992 Summer Olympics. For tourists who are only in Barcelona for a few days, the Museum is definitely not worth your time as it only gives a timeline of the history of the Olympics. However, the stadium is worth a visit if you are going to see Montjuic since it is on the way up the mountain and also free. Not anything impressive, but it’s pretty cool to know how the Olympics really changed Barcelona from a city of nothing to one of the top tourist destinations! The Barcelona Olympics is said to be one of the only Olympics where the investment and costs actually benefited the city more than any other host city in Olympic history. It’s almost difficult for any city to repeat the dramatic change that occurred.

Anyways, after an afternoon researching for our assignment, we headed back to Plaza Espanya on the bus. Next to the Arenas, which is now a mall, but a bullfighting arena in the past, is Tapa Tapa. There are around 3-4 Tapa Tapas around Barcelona, and it’s known to be catered towards tourists.

We chose to settle here anyways to grab a snack. The menu barra really caught our eyes since it was a pretty good deal. I believe the menu was only 8,60 euros, which is really cheap! An amazing deal, since most of their tapas are at least 3 euros anyways. I’ve been to other Tapa Tapas before as well, and I realized that they do not offer this lunch menu. I think it’s because the Tapa Tapa at the Arenas has less traffic, especially tourists. The other locations include Maremagnum at Port Vell and on Passeig Gracia, which constantly has tourists. Since it’s a tourist spot, they also offered an English menu to make things easy.

I think what attracts tourists to Tapa Tapa are the colourful pictures of their menu that’s always placed outside. For foreigners, it’s always great to see pictures to know what they’re ordering.

For our menu, we were given a choice of water, soda, or beer. I ended up choosing a sparkling water. It’s called “agua con gasse” in Spanish. I find that Europeans drink sparkling water a lot more than Americans. It’s not something very common for us. This one was called Vichy Catalan, and the bottle was really cute!

Potato Omelet

We each ordered the set menu, but chose to share some of our food, so hence there are lots of food pictures! To start, we all chose the Potato Omelet, which is a typical Spanish tapa. I actually ate this quite frequently at school, since it was an affordable item at the school cafeteria. It would come in a sub with the potato omelet inside. Potato chunks are mixed with egg to form this little cube. It’s usually served cold and placed on bread that has been brushed with tomatoes.

Lettuce with Goat Cheese Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing

My friends ordered this as they were huge fans of goat cheese. I still haven’t been able to acquire to this taste, so it was only okay for me. Came with some croutons, and the vinaigrette dressing really made the salad tasty!

Three Cheese Risotto – Gorgonzola, Emmental, Brie

Some of us also got the Three Cheese Risotto. I loved this one! It was very creamy and cheesy since it had three types of cheese. For people who aren’t into very strong cheeses, this dish may be a little strong for your liking. Since I’m not into blue cheeses, the Gorgonzola really hit my taste buds. However, since it was mixed with two lighter cheeses, it wasn’t as strong.

Three Cheese Croquettes

This was by far one of my favourites! Ever since my first time trying croquettes, I have been so into them! These were purely just cheese, and hence extremely cheesy when you bite into them. The outer layer was also deep fried, but not too oily.

Crispy Shrimp

These were great to snack on! Reminded me of popcorn shrimp back at home. It came with a garlic mayo. The outer layer wasn’t too thick, and the shrimps were still fresh.

Trio of Mini Hamburgers with Cheese, Onion and Mustard

This was also one of our favourites. They were actaully hamburgers without the burger. So essentially the beef patty only. On the left, the patty was topped with mustard. The mustard was so delicious! Not the cheap American yellow mustard on hot dogs. This was grainy mustard with mustard seeds still in it. My absolute favourite! In the middle was a patty topped with melted cheese. This was also quite good, but the cheese cooled down quickly, so wasn’t as cheesy anymore. Lastly, on the right was a patty topped with grilled onions. I didn’t expect this to taste anything special, but the seasoning they used on the onions and after being grilled really made it a great patty!

To finish off your meal, there’s coffee! It’s popular to finish your meal with a cafe! We really enjoyed this since they let us choose any type of cafe. Usually, it’s strictly coffee. They let us choose and we chose the Cappuccino. It came with plenty of foam and topped with a bit of coffee powder. Not shabby!

So even though many people say Tapa Tapa is just for tourists, I think the lunch menu at the Arenas is quite worth it. I’ve been to the other locations and don’t think it’s as worth the money you pay for, and agree that they are quite touristy. Our service was attentive, and sitting at the bar was lots of fun! You get a taste of typical Spanish tapas at a great value.

Bits and Pieces of Berlin

February 15, 2014Leave a comment

After Munich, we took a midnight bus to Berlin. The bus was around 8 hours long and it was a pretty terrible ride. Bus smelt like beer and the chairs were extremely uncomfortable. But the price was definitely a fraction of what we would pay for a flight. If you’re looking for a hostel, I would suggest the Cats Pajamas Hostel! Extremely cheap and one of the cleanest and friendliest hostels I have ever stayed at. We hadn’t done research for Berlin, but we were recommended to take a biking tour of Berlin. Our friend recommended us Fat Tire, which I would definitely recommend to everyone. It’s a great way to explore the city without going by foot. It was also fun to ride a bike around the city, and it was pretty safe even on large roads. Only downside is it’s a bit difficult to take quality pictures since you only pause for a bit and you also want to listen to the guide explain the history. Anyways, our tour included a lunch break where the tour guide took us to this restaurant near a park. It had outdoor seating with heaters and was a fun way to grab a snack. Of course, we tried some beer from Berlin. I wish I remembered the name of the beer, but it’s been way too long. I just remember it to be really good! Especially after biking on a cold day.

We also grabbed some food and I got the sausage in a roll. I believe the beer garden was called Der Schleusenkrug and it was in the Tiergarten, which is a beautiful garden. The beer garden had a barbeque and grill stall, which is where we got our food. I thought this was just okay. The bread was a bit hard, and the sausages weren’t the most amazing I’ve had. It was also quite pricey since it was in the garden, but the atmosphere made it fun!

On our way back to the hostel, I was getting hungry and stopped by a bakery in the metro station. It’s sort of like seeing a Dunkin Donuts or something and this shop had a variety of German pastries and desserts. I picked up an Apfelkuchen, which is basically an Apple Cake. At first, I thought it would be more of strudel, but the texture was crumbly, so much more like cake. It was topped with slices of apple and almonds. I quite enjoyed this!

For dinner, we had wanted to go to Burgermeister, which was one of the top restaurants in Berlin. To our surprise, it was more like a stand and the seating was outside under the metro bridge. Apparently the stall used to be a public washroom…Interesting…Anyways, it was pouring rain, and there was a huge wait and was probably impossible to find a seat. We ended up resorting to look around for food nearby. And guess where I suggested after a cold rainy day… Vietnamese food! Yes, in Berlin of all places… We found Saigon and More just across the street and settled there as they had free wi-fi. Of course. I had the Beef Pho and honestly, it was great to have some warm soup with an Asian flare. But really, this was probably worse than any 24 hour Pho restaurant in Vancouver. I mean, it satisfied me for the time being, but the noodles were not the typical pho noodles, and they were cooked pretty al dente which is odd for Vietnamese noodles. The soup was also flavourless, which is a big differentiating factor for pho. Prices and service were decent, but definitely not very authentic.

After dinner, we stopped by a bakery and I picked up a Berliner Pfannkuchen. I chose this after doing a quick search on Google to see what were some common German pastries. This is a traditional Northern Germany pastry and is very similar to a doughnut but without the hole in the middle. instead, it’s filled with a jam filling. It’s also topped with sugar or icing sugar. I thought this reminded me of those Asian doughnuts you get at the Chinese bakeries, except it was filled with a jelly. Not bad!

Doner Kebabs are extremely popular in Berlin. Some even say that the doner kebab was invented in Germany because there were so many Turkish living here. Doner kebabs are essentially a Turkish dish made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. The meat is usually lamb, beef, or chicken. Some people also refer to it as a shawarma or gyros. The meat is sliced off the rotisserie and is put inside a pita bread. Inside, it’s also filled with a variety of veggies, like cucumber, onions, tomatoes, chopped lettuce, cabbage. Sauces are also an important part of this snack and can include hot sauce, garlic sauce or a yoghurt sauce. I have to say, I was really impressed with the Doner Kebab here in Berlin. The pita bread was soft, and the mixture of ingredients was just perfect!

Another well known snack in Germany, and especially Berlin is the Currywurst. Well, actually currywurst was invented in Berlin, and hence so famous. I don’t have a picture here, but my friend ordered it and we were a bit disappointed. Currywurst is a fast food dish, and as the name says, it has pork sausages (wurst), and they are cut into slices. Then they are topped with lots of ketchup or tomato paste, and topped with lots of curry powder. The curry powder was what disappointed me. I thought that it would be a curry sauce. I’m not a big fan of just having curry powder sprinkled on my food, so I wasn’t a huge fan of this dish. However, it seems to be a popular snack for everyone else. I also thought it was cute how this stall was called Checkpoint Curry, since we were literally just across the street from Checkpoint Charlie!

And to finish the post off will be a beautiful piece of the Berlin Wall. A must see when visiting Berlin. Compared to Munich, Berlin is a city with so much history. In my eyes, Munich is a much more modernized city and was extremely clean. It’s also known to be a wealthy city. Berlin, on the other hand has much more culture and history behind it. Sometimes, walking down the streets, I can feel the city to be a little saddening and cold, and after seeing the Berlin Wall, you can really get a sense of all the struggles and pain people went through. I mean, you will only get a sense of it, and can never really understand what happened back in the days.

Bits and Pieces of Munich during Oktoberfest!

February 10, 2014Leave a comment

Oktoberfest is a pretty crazy time of the year for the Germans. I didn’t really know about this event until I was trying to plan possible trips during my exchange. I was on exchange for the winter term, and Oktoberfest was an even that screamed a must go! Honestly, I’m not a huge beer fan, so it wasn’t a super appealing event for myself, but what better time to go when I’m young. Plus, visiting Germany was on my list! Oktoberfest is the largest annual fair in the world that takes place in Munich and lasts for around 17 days. People from all over the world come to attend this festival and it is a way to celebrate the Bavarian culture. It actually occurs in the end of September and lasts til early October. At first, I imagine the place to just be for beer. However, it’s a place for the young and old. Families attend in their German traditional outfits, with the females wearing dirndls. You can totally get a gist of their culture, and if you’re not in for the beer, no worries. It’s basically an area of amusement parks with assortment of rides and games, stalls for crafts and food, and last but not least, the beer tents. For myself, I found it pretty weird that one day I would sit next to a grandma, and another, a crying baby. And they are all drinking beer! Well, not the baby, but everyone around the baby is…Definitely an event where they don’t exclude anyone!

On the first day that we arrived, we didn’t get into the city center until around noon. It’s nice that this event is quite close to the city center, so it’s easily accessible. A tip for this event is that you must arrive very early! People basically stay at one beer tent from day to night, so if you don’t arrive early, you basically cannot find a seat. There is also an option to secure a seat by reserving online ahead of time, but it is of course pricier. So by the time we arrived at the event, there was no seats left at any tent. We ended up exploring the festival grounds and grabbing some lunch. First off, I grabbed a hot dog! Something about the sausage just tasted so much better than those hot dogs back at home..I guess it’s the authentic German Wiener!

Another popular item we found at many stalls were chocolate covered fruits! They came in white, milk, or dark chocolate and you could choose from a variety of fruits. This one was a mix of bananas and strawberries covered in white chocolate. Completely satisfied my sweet craving! These are quite pricey though, and everything at the fair is basically priced up.

In the evening, we were recommended to visit the Hofbrauhaus am Platzl, which is one of Munich’s oldest beer halls, dating back to 1589! It is owned by the public Royal Brewery in Munich, which is owned by the Bavarian state government. The beer hall is crazy! It’s basically like the tents at Oktoberfest again, with lines of tables and benches and people who look to drunk to be drinking any more. I’m not sure if this is what it’s like on regular days without Oktoberfest. The place is really hectic, and there are no reservations. You basically scout around and find yourself a seat. Service is also pretty bad here, and I wouldn’t blame the servers as they have to deal with all these intoxicated, obnoxious people. First thing to note is their beer. They only come in a litre, and is referred to as a mass of beer. You would think that a mass will last these people all night, but the locals around us told us they can drink aruond 6-8 litres….Yup. That’s how the Germans do it. Anyways, I’m not a big beer fan, so I can’t really comment on the taste and such. But being someone who doesn’t drink beer often, I actually really enjoyed my beer. There’s a lot of foam on the top, but it’s actually something the Europeans prefer, and you will find most beers to be poured with the foam on top. However, something about the taste of the beer is really different from cheap beer. It’s a lot easier to drink, and doesn’t have that bitter aftertaste. I can see why German beer is so well recognized as one of the best.

Half of the diners had some dishes in front of them, while half were here really for the beer. It was dinner time for us, and we were not crazy beer drinkers, so of course we ordered some food! There were some Germans from all over Germany here in Munich, and they gave us a few suggestions on what were typical German dishes. First, in the far back was the Roasted Pork Knuckle. This was really good! The outer layer had a crispy skin, and inside, the meat was tender and flavourful. It came with a side of potato dumplings, which we all enjoyed a lot. It’s got a nice chewy, bouncy texture compared to regular mashed potatoes. To the right was an order of Half Roast Chicken. This was by far our favourite. I’ve never had a roast chicken with such tender and moist meat! The skin was also roasted so it was a little crispy. This came with a side of mashed potatoes, which were just average. Lastly, we wanted to try authentic German Wieners. We were told to try the Weisswurste, which are white sausages, but they were sold out. We ended up getting normal wieners, that didn’t taste too different from typical American wieners. It came with mustard and a side of mashed potatoes.

The next morning, we got up early to find a seat in the tents at Oktoberfest. However, we made a pit stop for breakfast. It was some sort of fast food bar with salads, buns, and typical German snacks. We didn’t really know what to order since everything was in German, but most of the items were some sort of meat. Totally fine with me! We saw some locals order a bread roll with some sort of meat in it, so we asked for it as well. It’s called Leberkase which is a type of sausage that is baked in a mould and cut into slice. It reminded me of spam basically. It was put inside a bread roll, and had some sweet mustard inside. It was actually really good, and cheap, filling breakfast!

After grabbing breakfast, we headed over to Oktoberfest. We found a tent called Ochsenbraterei, which I later found out is famous for offering ox dishes, as the tent is named. The first picture up top, is what the tent looked like inside. Each tent is decorated differently, and apparently specialize in different aspects. You’re also supposed to find different types of crowds in each tent. We found our tent to be quite family-friendly, with ages of young to old. At Ochsenbraterei, they serve beer from the brewery Spaten. Many other tents also serve this beer, so it is quite popular. Again, it was very easy to drink. It felt sort of weird to be drinking a litre of beer when it wasn’t even noon yet though…

K had the Munchner Leberknodelsuppe mit Schnittlauch, which is a liver dumpling soup with chives. It was actually really tasty and the liver dumplings just reminded me of sausages. Next, we shared 2 orders of 1/2 frisches Wiesen-Hendl, which is the Roast Chicken we had the other night. We found this one to be a little more salty compared to the one at Hofbrauhaus. Still, it was moist and tender! Lastly, we had an order of Kartoffelknodel 2 Stuck, which are German potato dumplings. These were our favourite! Extremely chewy and sticky and the sauce was so delicious! Keep in mind that the food inside the tents will be much more expensive than outside. A mass of beer will also cost almost 10 euros.

Lastly, during our time in Munich, we actually didn’t do too much exploring, since Oktoberfest took up most of our time. The other reason was because Munich was freezing cold! Okay, well maybe Vancouver is currently colder than Munich during the time I went, but a 1 degree weather in Munich with no car and long walks out in the cold wasn’t the most surreal experience. Hence, we ended up spending our time in a coffee shop most of the time. The other problem was we had a day in Munich, which was their holiday and everything was closed! San Francisco Coffee Company was our hiding spot most of the trip. It was basically a Starbucks for us, and it was interesting that it was named San Francisco… Not sure if this is actually an American company. It was perfect for us to warm up and the fact that there was free wi-fi and plenty of comfy seats made it perfect to catch up since we were social media deprived. Here, I have a basic Jasmine Green Tea.

On another day, I tried their Matcha Latte, which I found a little too sweet. Not bad though!

And lastly, a picture of some of the stalls at Oktoberfest. These heart shaped gingerbread cookies were everywhere. Girls would wear them around their necks. They’re called Lebkuchenherz, and they are decorated with icing and have love messages written on them.

And that is all for Munich! I wish I had explored the city more, but it was definitely a wild few days.

Every Day is a Food Day

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