Travel Hungry: Great Tastes From Stuttgart & Beyond

Japanese

Exploring Frankfurt: A Food Tour And More

Exploring Frankfurt: A Food Tour And More

Frankfurt (am Main) is a little over an hour from Stuttgart by train, which makes it an excellent location to visit for a day or for the weekend. We've been twice now to check out the city, and while it certainly has a more metropolitan feel than Stuttgart, we very much appreciate the historic charm of the old city and more international character of the food.

The first time we visited for a day trip on our own. The city is very walkable, and we enjoyed exploring and discovering new restaurants and shops. On our second trip this past weekend, we went with the intention of visiting our very good friends who recently moved to Oberursel, just 20 minutes by S-bahn north of the inner city...

Lunch Date at QQ Sushi

Lunch Date at QQ Sushi

This past week I wanted to catch up with a friend of mine at lunch. She really likes sushi, but doesn't often go out for it, so we decided to remedy that situation. There are a good handful of sushi restaurants in Stuttgart, including Kicho (which specializes in Japanese food in general), and your choice of restaurant mostly depends on how much you want to pay for quality. Since Stuttgart is about 700 km (about 440 miles) from the nearest ocean, it isn't exactly easy to get fresh fish here. If you want really fresh sushi (and a variety of rolls) then you have to pay for it. 

When I have a craving for good sushi at a moderate price, then I like to go to QQ Sushi Lounge. QQ has two locations. The first and original location is on Kanalstraße just off of the Charlottenplatz u-bahn stop. They have a small indoor seating area with some dozen or so odd tables, but the real reason I come here is for the nice outside patio space during the warmer months. Since the restaurant is located on a side street, it's a bit of a quiet oasis in the middle of the city complete with red hanging lanterns, winding green plants, and gorgeously panted wall murals...

Shopping for Asian Groceries in Stuttgart

Shopping for Asian Groceries in Stuttgart

Despite my love of dining out, I often cook at home. Not only do I enjoy cooking, sometimes it's the only way to get some authentic dishes from home (like American pork lo mien, Mexican  fajitas and tacos, New Orleans gumbo, and Texas chili) and some dishes that you can never find in a restaurant (like my mom's spaghetti). Lately I've been making an effort to try more Japanese dishes like the ones we ate on our trip to Japan. I've found a great Japanese-American blogger from the San Francisco bay area who writes on Just One Cookbook. So far, I've made tsukemen, soba noodles, and ochasuke, and I recently tried katsu curry (see some pictures at the end of this post). 

These recipes often require ingredients that can't be found in my neighborhood grocery store. The Edeka where I shop does have a small Asian aisle, but most products are from the standard Bamboo Garden brand (although Edeka recently started stocking panko breadcrumbs and miso paste -- I was impressed!). When I need more exotic ingredients, like real ramen noodles, soba noodles, chili bean paste, dried bonito flakes, mentsuyu (a soup base), and narutomaki (a kind of fish paste), then I head to the Asian market...

Recap: Beautiful, International Berlin

Recap: Beautiful, International Berlin

I've been to Berlin a few times now both for school trips and for pleasure. It remains one of my favorite cities that I've thus far visited, and I'd love to live there some day. The atmosphere is one of contrast between old and new, past and present, clean and rough. There's always something going on.

Its unique history post-WWII has allowed Berlin to reinvent itself in ways uncommon to other cites that are overwhelmed by their image. It has become a hotspot for the young, for artists, for immigrants, for foodies, for politicians, and for techies alike.

Recap: Unforgettable Japan Trip Part 4 - Kyoto, Hiroshima, & Osaka Eats

Recap: Unforgettable Japan Trip Part 4 - Kyoto, Hiroshima, & Osaka Eats

This last part of my four-part recap of our winter trip to Japan covers some suggestions of what to eat in Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka. This part was a little tricky to write because we ate a lot of informal meals over the holiday due to the shear abundance of available markets and festivals and the holiday closure of many more formal sit-down restaurants. We also only spent a day each in Hiroshima and Osaka, and didn't really have any meals specific to those areas (except one, which is noted).

That said, I was in heaven with the festival food, and discovered how much variety there is to Japanese cuisine; it's not all just sushi and ramen. I should note that I haven't done a very good job of recording all the candies and other snack foods that we saw on our trip, but I'm afraid my memory (and my camera's memory) have failed me there, and I'll just have to return in the future to blog about that!

Recap: Unforgettable Japan Trip Part 3 - Kyoto, Hiroshima, & Osaka Sights

Recap: Unforgettable Japan Trip Part 3 - Kyoto, Hiroshima, & Osaka Sights

After spending some time in Tokyo, we decided to board one of Japan's famous bullet trains and head down the coast. Since we had the time and wanted to see as much as possible, it made sense to use Japan's extensive train network to get around. There were many places that we wanted to see, and we ended up scheduling three days in Kyoto for New Years, as well as a day-trip to Osaka and a day-trip to Hiroshima using Kyoto as our base. We wanted to visit Kyoto in particular because it's known for the large number of temples in and around the city. Osaka became a destination point because it was another major city nearby, and Hiroshima made the list because we were interested in seeing a city that looms so large in American nuclear history. 

Recap: Unforgettable Japan Trip Part 1 - Tokyo Sights

Recap: Unforgettable Japan Trip Part 1 - Tokyo Sights

Japan has always been high on my list of places to see. So this past winter when we were given a three week holiday from school, my husband and I decided to make a trip to Japan. He had studied there in college and wanted to return to revisit some places and friends, as well as to go farther in his travels now that we had the means and travel know-how. I wanted to experience an Eastern culture and indulge in the delicious food!

We spent a total of eleven days (not including the grueling 14 hour flight with a layover in Seoul) in Japan, beginning in Tokyo, traveling down the coast to Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka, and ending in Tokyo. It was easily one of the best trips I've ever taken, second only to our honeymoon around the Mediterranean.

Grill Your Own Meal at Yakiniku

Grill Your Own Meal at Yakiniku

Last night I had the pleasure of trying out a new restaurant with a group of friends: Yakiniku. This Japanese restaurant in Stuttgart is named after yakiniku, meaning "grilled meat" in Japanese, and generally referring to the Japanese style of barbecuing your dinner at the table. (Although, in Japan they tend to call it Korean barbecue, and, funnily enough, in Korea they call it Japanese barbecue. Go figure.)

I first had yakiniku when Matt and I traveled through Japan this past winter, and I loved it so much that I looked for one in Stuttgart. I honestly wasn't too hopeful that I'd find a yakiniku restaurant in the area, let alone in Stuttgart, and so I was thrilled when I found this restaurant just a 15 minute walk from our house. 

Traditional Japanese at Kicho

Traditional Japanese at Kicho

Tonight we celebrated Matt's birthday at Kicho, a traditional Japanese restaurant just off of Olgastraße in the central district (Mitte). We discovered the restaurant about a year ago in search of good sushi, and were pleased to find a menu full of other traditional Japanese dishes. Tonight was our third visit, but our first one since our trip to Japan back in January. We both had a fantastic meal, and agree that it was our best one at Kicho yet. In fact, we agree that Kicho is probably the best Japanese food that we've had outside of Japan. 

Here's what we ate: