A few months ago, I met with several local Facebook friends at Patrick’s Stop, an excellent Jamaican restaurant near Böblingen.  We all enjoyed fabulous Jamaican Jerk Chicken, with the exception of one person, who had fried chicken.  To be honest, I prefer my food less spicy, so I was envious of my fried chicken eating friend.  I knew that Bill, on the other hand, would love the jerk chicken because he loves food with a kick.

Ever since that first experience in April, I’ve been trying to find an opportunity to get Bill to Patrick’s Stop.  We did visit one Saturday a couple of months ago, but the restaurant was inexplicably closed for some reason.  I later read on Facebook that they’d had some kind of plumbing problem that day.

This afternoon, we were on our way to the Ludwigsburg area to return oodles of spent beer bottles.  It was getting a little late for lunch and I was feeling hungry.  As we approached the big exit for Böblingen, I asked Bill if he wanted to try to visit Patrick’s Stop again.   He was game, so off we went.  For those who aren’t aware, there are a bunch of road projects going on in Böblingen right now.  We had to negotiate several detours before we finally reached our destination, but we were happy to find the place wide open for business.

Patrick’s Stop is located near a shooting club, so there’s plenty of parking.  There’s also a lot of noise from people firing weapons.  I was surprised Bill didn’t comment on that.  Ever since his time in Iraq, he’s been more sensitive to the sound of gunfire and other sharp noises.

Obligatory shot of bearded Bill waiting for beer.

Anyway, we walked into the restaurant and it was mostly empty, though there was great reggae music blaring from the sound system.  We sat down at a table and an adorable waiter came over to take our order.  Bill ordered an export and I had my usual hefeweizen.  Since today is Saturday, they had Jerk Chicken on the menu (they offer a couple of dishes every day and a special each day– Saturday is Jerk Chicken day).  Bill got the Jerk Chicken and I had the fried chicken.  Our waiter came back with two hefeweizens.  Bill is easy to please, so he just went with it.  If he’d wanted to, he could have had a Red Stripe like a couple of other gentlemen who appeared to be regulars.

My fried chicken.  This was soooooo good!  It came with a side of mild sauce that reminded me of barbecue sauce– or maybe the jerk sauce without the spicy kick.  I actually liked the chicken fine without the sauce.  I’m glad I tried it, though, and the sauce was on the side.  It was delicious!

I thought Bill was going to love the jerk chicken and he really did.  It was very smokey and the sauce had a nice kick to it.  Actually, it was a little too spicy for my taste (I’m a wimp), but Bill said it was rather mild.  Both dishes came with coconut rice and beans, plantains, and a tasty slaw.

 

It’s hard to believe there is a dearth of decent Mexican restaurants in the Stuttgart area, yet we have the fabulous Patrick’s Stop for Jamaican food.  Bill was still licking his lips as he finished his lunch and said, “That was outstanding!”  I have a feeling he’s going to want to go back on a different night– maybe we’ll come one night when they’re serving curried goat.  Lunch was reasonably priced at about 26 euros for both of us before the tip.

We went on to Heinrich’s to dump our bottles and pick up a few more.  We bought less beer than usual today, though I did pick up a few bottles of wine– two from Washington State and two from Italy.  I also noticed, as we were checking out, that Heinrich’s has genuine ginger beer.  They do have the alcohol free soda kind, but they also have the alcoholic kind used in Moscow Mules and enjoyed by Brits.  They also had some interesting liquors produced by Rogue Dead Guy (the beer company)– flavored gins and vodkas.  I was shocked to see Tito Vodka from Austin, Texas also for sale.  Alas, Bill has tasked me with doing some online liquor shopping from Master of Malt, so that’s what I’m going to do right now.

Check out the ginger beer on the shelf!  Should have bought some.

Spotted in the toilet…  Good to know Heinrich’s has one.