While my blog is primarily about the meals that we eat at local restaurants, we really only eat out about once or twice a week. What do we do on the other days? Well, for the past few months we've put away our cookbooks and decided to try out HelloFresh. Since it's become such a big part of the way we eat, I thought it'd be worth a short blog post to share our experience...
After moving to Stuttgart, we perhaps ironically discovered not only German cuisine, but also African cuisine, most notably Ethiopian. I say "African cuisine" with the full knowledge that Africa is a huge continent with a great variety in its cuisine from coast to coast, and yet I'm still just starting to learn what that variety looks like. Thanks to several trips to Ambiente Africa in Stuttgart-Mitte, I'm continuing my adventure through Africa one dish at a time...
It could be because I'm American that I have a special place on my culinary palate for Chinese buffets. I remember going to one when my husband and I first started dating because we were young and didn't have much money; our local Chinese buffet located in one of America's never-ending strip malls was one of our few choices for a filling meal on a dime. Maybe it's that nostalgia or maybe it's the novelty of finding one in Stuttgart that influenced us to check out New Shanghai Restaurant today for lunch...
This past week a new colleague of mine threw a birthday part at Breitengrad 17, a Vietnamese restaurant downtown (déjà vu, anyone?). The restaurant has been on our list to try for some time, but with Takeshii's being one of our long-time favorites, we've usually just gone there instead. However, with such a great opportunity, we couldn't turn it down...
I was really excited to find out last week that someone recognized the high demand for street food in Stuttgart and decided to organize a weekly location for food trucks. The group called Gaumenfreude seems pretty serious about it, too, though it was only through a casual mention by a friend last week that I learned about it. Though it was too late for me to attend their first Thursday at the Karlsplatz downtown, I made sure to mark my calendar for the second and got my chance last night.
Because it's been so hot in Stuttgart lately, we didn't make our way down there until about 8 pm. I was immediately relieved to see that there weren't huge crowds or long lines (probably helped by the Sommerfest currently going on). I was also amused to see foosball tables, beach chairs, and a live band set up for the evening...
After the delicious tasting plate we had at the Stuttgart Street Food Market, we decided to check out Restaurant Ganesha to see if their other dishes were just as good. Now as a disclaimer, we actually went here about a month ago, and I've been holding off on a blog post because I hadn't quite figured out what to say. I think I'm finally ready for a summary.
Restaurant Ganesha has three locations -- one in the West, the East, and in Fellbach. We tried the Stuttgart-West location on Rotebühlstraße as it was closest to the friends we were meeting for dinner. My first impression of the restaurant was that it looks stunning. They have a gorgeous entranceway and interior with warm colors, large murals, and lots of plants. Because the weather was so lovely, we chose to sit on the patio out back and were quickly seated despite not having a reservation. This didn't seem to be a problem as the restaurant wasn't very busy, even though it was a Saturday night around 7 pm...
I mentioned Takeshii's a while back in my post on the Bohnenviertelfest, but I've been meaning to devote a full post to it for a while now. Finally the opportunity arose this past weekend when a friend of mine decided to host her birthday party there. Since Takeshii's is one of my neighborhood favorites, I couldn't turn her down.
We met for a late dinner outside the restaurant in the Bohnenviertel. The restaurant sits in a corner spot halfway between the Charlottenplatz and Rathaus U-bahn stations and up a flight of stairs. The interior is beautifully decorated with greenery and flowers all around, a stunning black bar, gold detailing in the ceiling and walls, and giant floor-to-ceiling photos of tattooed men that add just a bit of an edge to the space...
My first exposure to Turkish food was when I studied abroad in France as a college student. There was a kebab shop in the center of Montpellier that we went to a few times for the cheap, but delicious kebap sandwiches. From then on, kebabs were my mental model for "Turkish food", and while the prevalence of kebab shops around Stuttgart doesn't do much to dispell this myth to the casual tourist, I've since come to appreciate the variety of Turkish food (or at least German Turkish food) thanks to Sultan Saray.
I'm been to Sultan Saray on two occasions now and had a delicious meal both times. The rest of Stuttgart must agree with my tastes, because despite the fact that Sultan Saray has three different locations, I've found each one packed on most nights for dinner...
Since I've started blogging, I've been thrilled to find lots of other great blogs and bloggers who share similar interests as mine. And while the blogging sphere in Stuttgart is still rather small, I'm not alone. This past week, in fact, I got a message from the lovely M over at Kaffee und Kuchen. We'd known each other for several months now through blog posts and comments, and she asked if I'd be interested in a face-to-face meeting. I was happy to agree.
Being both foodies, I offered up a list of lunch places that I'd been wanting to try, and we quickly settled on Hüftengold. I'm actually a bit ashamed to admit that although I've lived two blocks from this tiny café for over two years, I've been to sit down. That said, I have tried their delicious shrimp curry and homemade caramel-stracciatella ice cream at the Bohnenviertelfest this past summer. I was excited to go back "for real" this time...
