I came to Düsseldorf expecting all sausages, sauerkraut and fried tatties, but I’ve had some surprises.
We’ve experienced Italian (courtesy of Buon Gorno), pepper steak which seemed to use most of the world’s pepper supply, along with fried potatoes that weren’t quite fried enough and what seems to be the ubiquitous bowl of free salad that nobody quite wants. Steak at Block House is more expensive and thicker and comes with a baked potato whether you like it or not, and you will have salad even if you’re allergic to it….
Sausage stands are the best value in town, as you’d expect, at 2 or 3 euros for an enormous one cased in a roll far too small for it. Also widely available is something which sounds like Frickin Deller but couldn’t possibly be, as that would be too disrespectful to our Nick. What it is is a large slab of meat, burger stylee, but one that actually tastes of meat, which is the surprise element. Greasy, yes, but delicious nonetheless. If you’re on a budget, this is the place to go.
There aren’t many curry houses in Düsseldorf, but Hacksaw managed to find one, not too unreasonably priced. They’re not quite the curries you remember fondly from back home, but interesting nonetheless. I had something claiming to be chicken curry with mushrooms but which was in fact a very spicy mushroom sauce.
Inevitably, we try a “traditional German eatery” in the form of zum Brauerei von Schussel. The service is bizarre. We order four starters of the same hearty soup variety, but only Phil is lucky enough to get his, and the waiter glosses over the omission and brings the mains. I had sausages, sauerkraut and mash and I can’t say I’m taken with it. The sausages are more sour than the kraut and it’s a difficult eat. Dessert involves ice cream drenched in a local tipple called Killepitsch, which I have to say is foul….
Surprise winner in the eating stakes goes to a Chinese restaurant called Rosengarten. I order something called duck with shrimps, thinking I know what I’m getting, and also an accompaniment of chicken fried rice. The dish arrives and is an impossible marriage of fish and fowl, welded together in a way I’ve never come across in the many Chinese restaurants I’ve visited. I’m glad to make its acquaintance, as it’s absolutely delicious. Rice comes in a bucket, and I insist on the use of the term bucket as it’s vast. If there was a hole in this bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, it would make sense, as its contents don’t seem to dissipate. It’s then I notice that it’s boiled rice. Surely I ordered fried? The penny drops. This is not to be the last rice I’ll be seeing and, sure enough, a minute later the fried article arrives. Another menu trick….
Drinks-wise, I find myself disappointed by Düsseldorf. The huge tankards of beer I’ve come to associate with Germany don’t seem to be in evidence. Instead, everywhere we go we’re served 0.2 or 0.3 glasses and barely wet our lips with the contents. Zum Franz on Berger Street, however, becomes a favourite haunt and we’ve been there several times. The aforementioned Schussel brewery has another novel approach to drink serving: you get served one whether you want it or not, and the waitress is prepared to use violence to get her way. I’m quite sure if we dared challenge her we’d end up in a headlock, so we attempt to pay by waving a note hopefully at a more respectable managerial person.
But for sheer joy, cocktails every time. Ola Mexico are doing special deals on certain nights in which you can have half the western world of spirits in a glass. Not cheap, and I can only afford to drink one because Mr Colclough kindly pays, but it puts you in a happier frame of mind 🙂
