Hamburg Report

[cinghiale]

Though there's not much call for No. German recs, I thought I'd post from a recent visit to my old home of Hamburg:

Dinners:

-- R&B (Weidenallee, near Altonaer Straße). Hearty north German food, relaxed atmosphere. I had the classic winter dish Grünkohl: finely chopped, slowly cooked kale, which forms the base for Pinkel (a sausage designed for steaming) and Kasseler (smoked pork loin or chop). The sausage and pork were served with the Grünkohl as accompaniment, but I prefer it when everything is cooked together, resulting in a rich, stick-to-your ribs meal. Eva had Gänsekeule, a braised, quite large goose drumstick served with a berry sauce. Armin had duck. All very well prepared and moderately priced.

-- Rocco (Wohlwillstraße, corner Gilberstraße). Lively, moderately priced Italian. It's pretty comparable to what I get here in South Philadelphia. We were a group of 8 set on eating AND drinking, so things got pretty out of control as the evening progressed. However, their house antipasto selection was quite good. As Rocco told me that he had recently acquired black truffles, I was able to get him to prepare some tagliolini with them for everyone (at € 9 per plate). Curiously, no veal on the menu (upon my complaint, a dish was "produced", but, if veal, it was thinly sliced shoulder). Seafood appeared to be the best choice, and a stuffed calimari was the hit. Primo panna cotta with marone, a chestnut currently in season. Real friendly staff; many complimentary grappas, etc.

Lunches:

-- Le Canard (Elbchaussee 139 [near Hohenzollernring]), Josef Viehhauser's elegant Michelin * (Gault-Millau 18). The restaurant is located directly on the Elbe, although the view is an industrial panorama of Hamburg's shipping industry. The room is sleek and modern. Lunch prices are set at € 12 per plate, allowing one to eat as much or as little as desired. Armin and I each had the same courses: amuse was a ribbon of house-smoked salmon with creamed Gurken. First course was tuna carpaccio -- both thinly sliced and tartar-style -- with a basil oil dressing. Very good. (Other starters included quail, prawns and duck consommé with Maultaschen, which I would have tried but for my second course.) Second was, in fact, a delicious, crispy "Vierländer" duck, served with Spitzkohl, which is, I believe, Hispi cabbage. The duck was really terrific, apparently a specialty not only of Mr. Viehhauser, but also of another of Hamburg's *, Landhaus Scherrer, located just down the street. With two drinks, two glasses of wine, and water, bill came to € 95.

-- Suryel (Wohlwillstraße, corner Thadenstraße). Quite good, very affordable vegetarian (with a bowling alley in the basement that Olaf assures me makes for good parties). We all had dal soup, Olaf and Eva had salads, I had very tasty sage gnocci. As an aside, we wanted to go to Nil, just across the street, but they're not open for lunch. It would certainly be a good choice for dinner.

Bars:

The whole face of the Hamburger Berg (btwn Reeperbahn and Simon von Utrecht Straße) has dramatically changed in the last ten years. I once counted 40 dive bars in this 200 meter-long street. The Spar (now ex-Spar) signaled gentrification back then; now it's pretty hip. We did Barbarabar, a reggae-ish thing for kiddies, and Rosi's, more grown-up, at least musically. We skipped ex-Spar, crossed the Reeperbahn and checked out Hans Albers Platz: Mary Lou (too early) and La Paloma are still there, but the legendary Mitternacht is gone. We swung over to Geier for a pop, then back to drink for awhile in the old standby Comet. In need of fresh air, we took a stroll down the Herbertstraße, which does not, umm, welcome women tourists. As Olaf had said that the notorious Große Freiheit was starting to see some clubs open, we made our way there via Reeperbahn Kneipen. Many of the standbys still exist, as do the omnipresent sex clubs. The Große Freiheit is indeed changing, but the clubs are more in the nature of discos. In need of a watering hole, we concluded our night drinking Jever and whiskey in a Thai "Puff".

In spite of the trendifying going on in Hamburg's red-light district, it's still a port neighborhood offering innumberable choices for excessive drinking. But Hamburg also offers a diverse range of travel experience, from the very upscale choices in hotels, restaurants and shopping of the Innenstadt or, say, Eppendorf and Winterhude, to funky, East Village-ish nabes like Ottensen, where I stayed with my friend Olaf. This short report does not do justice to the spectrum of fun that can be had among the wrongly denominated "cool" northerners.

[Behemoth]

As far as the Reeperbahn goes, you skipped the part where you eat a tuna mini-pizza at 4am from the rather gross stand at the Hanz Albert's Platz, unwisely decide to go for one last beer before stumbling down to the fischmarkt for a smoked eel (or crabbensalat, pick your poison -- they are both excellent here) sandwich as you watch the sunrise, fall asleep on the first subway of the day back home where for some reason you think the best way to end such an evening is with a shot of aquavit out of the freezer.

I love Hamburg. As far as the "cold northerner" stereotype, it doesn't seem to apply on the Reeperbahn after about 1am, several Astras and Udo Jurgens on the jukebox for the fifth or sixth time in the last half hour.

If anyone is interested I can try to remember the actual names of the places I like to go in Hamburg, not all of them are dives.

[cinghiale]

My fav late-night snack is either (i) the currywurst joint where Wohlwillstr. ends at Stresemanstr., or (ii) breakfast with the butchers in the Schlachterviertel.

Lemme have your fav bars, Behemoth. I'll be back in June. I usually stick to the Altona-Ottensen-St. Pauli-Eimsbüttel corridor.

Also, do you, or does anyone else, have info on the following restaurants? All come with respectable Michelin/Gault-Millau ratings:

Piment (no direct website; also Michelin *)

Poletto

Tafelhaus

Stocker

Allegria

Brook

Bereuther

As I plan to try several of them, any info would be appreciated.

[Behemoth]

Damn it. I just wrote this giant thing and my computer froze and lost it. Ugh. So here the short(ish) version. Until recently my husband and I were both broke grad students (I still am), so most of the places we frequent are mid-range...none of the places you listed though now I am curious.

Anyway, when we were dating, he lived in Eimsbüttel. In that neighborhood I would recommend Eiszeit, best homemade ice cream in the city. This is on Müggenkampstrasse. Schlüter on Stellinger Weg for fish, of course. There was also an excellent greek place (none of that German-style "Metaxa-Sauce" business, these guys do great seafood) right near there.

Drinking: On the Reeperbahn Sibersack for tradition's sake, but then we always ended up at Irmgard Kneuse (sp?) on Davidstrasse (I think) which kind of distills the whole lurid Reeperbahn scene perfectly for me, personally. I am really sorry Mojo Club closed, that was a great place to see music & go dancing.

Have you looked around Schanzenviertel bars?

1) Bar Rossi -- Shulterblatt & Max Brauer Allee, stylish crowd

2)Another good one at the corner of Schulterblatt & Schanzenstrasse, across from Rote Flora. Don't know name, big nice space.

3)Personal favorite -- also don't know name, also on Schulterblatt a couple of doors down from 2, right next to a neat little record store. If you are in a tiny, modern looking place with a big glowing frog near the taps, you're there.

There are a bunch more all around there, that whole neighborhood is worth spending time in. Also, good restaurants, basicaly I just walk in to whatever looks promising. Good sushi place on Susanenstrasse, forget name. This neighborhood is also fun during the day. Lokma is the only Turkish place in Hamburg I can happily be dragged into. Great Lahmajun, and I am an expert, just so you know.

This might not be your bag, but a nice off the beaten path neighborhood is Karolinenviertel. This is like the northern liberties of Hamburg right now (I saw you on the Philly boards ) There are a couple of nice cafes worth lingering in, plus lots of cool clothing stores with clothes made by the owners. By no means amatuer efforts, however. Some funkier stuff, but also a few very slick places. Most of the action is on Marktstrasse.

In Eppendorf, we went to a Lebanese place called Layali. Great mezze. I would just go for that & a glass of Arak and not bother with the main dishes, frankly.

There was a decent Afghani place (Hindukusch) near the university, and a good Italian place (La Fattoria) somewhere in there. May you never have to eat at the Mensa (shudder).

As far as traditional food, I had a great Aalsuppe at Alt Hamburger Aalspeicher and I always have to get my smoked eel fix at that big place on Spitalerstrasse. (I'm told its pretty famous, but I can't remember the name.)

I love just walking around between Gänsemarkt and Rathaus. There is a new art exhibition space right nest to the latter that puts on great shows. Great art bookstore on Grosse Bleichen, and also a funny little CD shop in the adjoining arcade that only sells the owner's favorite 12 records of the moment. Great quirky stuff like that, fun fun city to spend time in.

I will be there again in July, and want to explore Altona a little more. Apparently there is a branch of the gummi bear place I love so much in Flensburg, I need a bag of those creamsicle ones...

And while I have never gotten the hang of currywurst, that butcher breakfast sounds like a must. Thanks!

edited for duh.

Edited April 29, 2004 by Behemoth (log)

[cinghiale]

Thanks, Behemoth. Just saw yr post re: long-gone restos on the Philly board, too.

I lived in HH from 1985-1992 in St. Pauli. So, I was close to Karoviertel and Schanzenvierel. I used to love the Karoviertel for breakfast at Kaffee Klatsch, shopping, drinking. But when I was there in December, I thought the neighborhood had declined a bit. Still some funky boutiques, but somehow kinda in decline.

Schanzenviertel, on the other hand, still seems pretty vibrant -- and ethnic. I was witness to all of the anarcho disruptions surrounding the Rote Flora, having lived one block away. I think that gave the neighborhood some added life, and it seems to have taken root. I spotted Rossi last time, so I'll check it out in June. Likewise for Lokma, as I am soooo tired of the same ole boreks, döners, and "pizzas". Did you ever buy wine at Scarpo Vino on, I think, Susannenstr.? Loved that store: shoes in the front, wine in the back. Also, I've been to Mutter in the Stresemanstr. (Ecke Lerchenstr.) for all-night drinking. Do you know if Subito is still open, just up the street?

As for Univiertel, I thought the Mensa wasn't so bad . Even though I worked at the Max Planck Institute, I never spent much time there.

I, too, enjoy the city center -- Rathausmarkt, Gänsemarkt. Have you been through Rödingsmarkt, sorta between Rathausmarkt and the Hafen? Great galleries, lotsa lofts, etc. Some nice bars and restos.

On my return, I'll give you a full rundown on Altona, where I'll be staying with my friend Olaf (actually, it's Ottensen where the two sorta merge). Beware the Hippy factor in Altona. You know, that anachronistic, very German, ultra-laid back, molto tie-dyed kind of Hippy-dom? It's rampant in Altona, and the cafes, bars, and restos sorta fit in the scheme. Olaf always grimaces when I point out the varying degrees of '68er fashion. Still, really great architecture, cool shops.

Thanks again for the tips, Behemoth.

[Behemoth]

Did you ever buy wine at Scarpo Vino on, I think, Susannenstr.?  Loved that store:  shoes in the front, wine in the back.  Also, I've been to Mutter in the Stresemanstr. (Ecke Lerchenstr.) for all-night drinking.  Do you know if Subito is still open, just up the street?

As for Univiertel, I thought the Mensa wasn't so bad  .   Even though I worked at the Max Planck Institute, I never spent much time there.

I, too, enjoy the city center -- Rathausmarkt, Gänsemarkt.  Have you been through Rödingsmarkt, sorta between Rathausmarkt and the Hafen?  Great galleries, lotsa lofts, etc.  Some nice bars and restos.

Beware the Hippy factor in Altona.  You know, that anachronistic, very German, ultra-laid back, molto tie-dyed kind of Hippy-dom? 

That wine store is the best. I think I may have been to Mutter, is it on the corner of Juliusstrasse & Stresemann? If not, uh, there's another good one.

I don't know about Subito (?)

Max Planck Hamburg...You do meteorology? I used to cut through that buliding to get to the subway at Schlump.

I have been around Rödingsmarkt a little, but haven't seen any galleries. Are these smaller places? Anything good? I have been to that big exhibition hall on the Harbor a few times. Did you ever see that ambient noise machine in the basement of Gallerie der Gegenwart? I love that thing. I realize this isn't quite the forum for art geekery but maybe we can convince our fellow eG-ers that this city is worth the trip. It's kind of like the Philly of Germany...It gets forgotten by tourists between Munich and Berlin, but has a lot to offer and is a great place to live.

As for the german hippies, I find them sort of funny. But then again, I lived in West philly for 7 years

Edited April 30, 2004 by Behemoth (log)

[cinghiale]

maybe we can convince our fellow eG-ers that this city is worth the trip. It's kind of like the Philly of Germany...It gets forgotten by tourists between Munich and Berlin, but has a lot to offer and is a great place to  live.

Yes, yes, yes! I make this comparison all the time. Both (i) are similar size, (ii) have many small, diverse neighborhoods, which can change dramatically over a few blocks, (iii) integrate their waters in a pretty resident-friendly manner (Delaware/Schuykill & Elbe/Alster) and (iv) tend to be overlooked by travellers in favor of cities with bigger reps. I know this doesn't necessarily make the most compelling case, but Hamburg has 8 Michelin * restaurants; Berlin has 8, and Munich, 4. So, it's definitely a fine-dining town. There are also so many solid neighborhood restaurants. Throw in the availability of hard-core drinking establishments (also very Philly-like), and you've got yourself a terrific city to live in or visit.

In addition to your suggestions, I'll definitely be trying Piment and Poletto and will report back in June. I'm still open to more recommendations, if anyone out there has any.

BTW: I worked at the MPI für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht. Yes, I'm another eG lawyer.

Edited May 3, 2004 by cinghiale (log)