Tag Archives: Casa del Sabor Argentinian Steakhouse

Hessen, Sundays

A Sunday steak…

On Saturday afternoon, I got a sudden surge of ambition and told Bill that I wanted to go out and have lunch on Sunday. For some reason, I thought of Casa del Sabor in downtown Wiesbaden, an Argentinian steak house. Bill and I have enjoyed several visits to this place, which is rather popular with Americans. The restaurant is rather small, but it’s well decorated, and offers delicious steaks, burgers, salads, and other dishes. Service is friendly, professional, and delivered in English, if you need it!

Below are some photos from yesterday’s sumptuous repast. Bill and I both had 200 gram Argentinian rib-eyes. They also had Australian entrecotes. I was under the impression that rib-eyes and entrecotes were the same, but that’s not quite true. They are very similar cuts of meat that come from different ribs, though, and nowadays, people tend to use the terms interchangeably. I had baked potatoes as a side, as well as pepper sauce. Bill had rosemary potatoes and pepper sauce. The baked potatoes usually come with sour cream, but I asked them to leave it off. I used the krauterbutter on the potatoes, instead.

Excellent steaks
Super cute scene from our window seat…

As you can see, yesterday’s weather was absolutely beautiful. It was clear and sunny, and lots of people were dining outside. We had a nice booth in the corner, which was very comfortable. At one point, an elderly German lady came in and asked our waiter where the Comeback Restaurant was. I surprised myself by understanding her question, which the waiter couldn’t answer. Bill and I have eaten at the Comeback Restaurant. I did answer in English, but the point is, I understood what she needed… You’d think after ten years, I’d be fluent in German.

The steaks were delicious. I remember when we lived in Germany the first time, we almost never ordered beef because we didn’t like what was available here. Nowadays, the beef is quite good. I don’t need to eat more beef, of course… but when the mood for steak strikes, it’s nice to be able to have a good one in a restaurant.

I wouldn’t have minded taking a walk yesterday, since the weather was so fine. Unfortunately, I’ve still got some lingering fatigue from my recent viral illness, so I told Bill I wanted to go home. We ended up watching Spaceballs, a 1987 Mel Brooks comedy movie that I had never seen before yesterday. I fell asleep about halfway through it. Whatever that sickness is that’s going around is NOT a joke. It took me two full weeks to get out of the active phase. Fortunately, I’m not coughing so much now, and my voice is mostly back.

Yesterday was also Germany’s election for a new chancellor. The CDU candidate, Friedrich Merz, was the winner. People are upset because the far right AFD party came in second place. It marks a rise of far right political ideology in Germany. I know people are upset about the election, but I was glad that the AFD didn’t win… but then, I don’t know much about German politics. I wish I knew less about American politics, which is a true shitshow right now.

Anyway… Bill and I are now tentatively planning to visit Italy next month. We will explore an area we’ve never been to before, and perhaps consider whether or not we want to buy property there. This blog could get very interesting soon.

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A weekend at home and in the city…

Saturday morning, we got up later than usual. The weather is changing inexorably to autumn, which means random rain showers and cooler temperatures. I’m mostly happy to see the weather change. It kind of matches my mood these days.

Saturday, we stayed home, listened to music, and drank wine. Bill finally broke out the electric pasta maker I got him last year. He made homemade bread and fresh Fettuccini Alfredo. Here are the photos… I have created a cooking monster.

This all started with me telling Bill I wanted fresh bread…
Then I reminded him of the pasta making equipment I bought him.
Including a drying rack…
We have a hand cranked pasta maker in storage…
But this one has a motor.
Makes easy work of flattening the pasta dough…
We also have ravioli stamps.
The pasta dried…
After Bill cut it with the machine…
It turned out beautifully.
He’s determined.
And we have success!
He’s probably a better cook than I am, now.

We drank lots of wine all day and enjoyed each other’s company. I think we’ll have to make fresh pasta more often, especially as the weather gets colder.

Yesterday, the weather was kind of crummy, but Bill wanted to venture into Wiesbaden to catch the last day of the annual city fest. It was very well attended despite the weather. I’m sure it helped that it was also a Sunday shopping day in Wiesbaden. I got lots of pictures. My favorite attraction, of course, was the Shetland ponies. They had quite a few people selling crafts, lots of food, wine, beer, and agricultural exhibits. There was also a car show going on in the Market Square.

These horses were giving people a ride. They seemed very relaxed. I love the way they smelled.
These ponies were so cute.
I wanted to take them home with me.
I think they may have been the ones Bill and I saw in a pasture near our home.
Kids were having fun in the straw…
These horn players were almost Olympic.
Kids were helping process the apples… into juice or wine? I don’t know.

To be honest, for several reasons, I’ve been feeling a bit down on Germany lately… but one thing I do like about living over here is that there’s always something to celebrate. The Germans will have a festival for anything. And the ones up here in Wiesbaden are kind of different from the ones near Stuttgart. They tend to be less focused on beer and more on wine.

I was hungry, but not in the mood for fest food or the crowds. We wandered around looking for someplace to eat and finally ended up at Casa del Sabor, an Argentinian steakhouse. We ate there a few months ago and I really enjoyed the rib eye steak I ordered. This time, I decided to try a cheeseburger. This was an act of bravery on my part, since burgers can be iffy over here…

I decided to have an apple, mint, and lime drink… Alcohol free!
Bill had a Dunkelweiss… also alcohol free.
The bread and these dips were probably my favorite part of the meal. That garlic spread is addictive!
Bill had a fried zander filet…
The cheeseburger was okay. I would have liked it more if the patty had been handmade instead of pressed. But at least it was all beef.
Bill’s sides… rosemary potatoes and spinach. He especially love the spinach.

The cheeseburger had tomatoes, onions, cucumbers (not pickles), lettuce, ketchup, and mayo on it. I don’t usually put mayo on burgers, but I think Germans often do. I had to cut it in half and struggled to finish it, mainly because I went to town on the bread. I was really hungry when we came in and both of the spreads, but particularly the garlic, were delicious. I like Casa del Sabor. We’ll have to go back and try some of their other stuff, if only so I can have more of that garlic spread.

I was feeling kind of tired and listless and the weather was getting worse, so we decided to go home. I relaxed for awhile, then joined Bill for more music and wine. I went on a buying binge on Saturday and got a few albums by classic bands from my youth… the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and Chicago. Sometimes I miss being young, but I am grateful I grew up at a time when there was so much fantastic music.

So begins another week here in Deutschland… Columbus Day weekend is coming up. I usually plan trips for the long weekends, but I am not feeling very inspired to this year.

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Argentinian steak in downtown Wiesbaden…

Our good luck with the weather continued today, so Bill and I decided to go to Wiesbaden for lunch.  I had noticed an Argentinian steak house when we had lunch downtown a couple of weeks ago, so that’s where we headed.  Lots was going on in Wiesbaden today, including an Easter market and a craft fair.  I didn’t inherit my mom’s gifts for needlework or crafting, so we just cruised through there. I also got a few pictures of the beautiful Evangelical church downtown.  We didn’t enter, because services were going on.

German churches put most American ones to shame.

I was surprised by how crowded this market was.  Lots of people were looking for bargains on sewing materials and fabrics.

Bill got a kick out the sign warning against pickpockets– “Langfinger” (long finger).  I guess that’s one way to describe petty thieves.

They had rides…

 

Lots of kids and dogs were out and about, enjoying the sunny weather.

 

You could even get a balloon animal if you wanted one.  A lot of shops were open, as today was a Sunday when businesses could operate.  It was a beautiful day for retail shopping and plenty of people were taking advantage.

And they were also selling/demonstrating cars.  We are about to be in the market for a new set of wheels, but none like the ones on display today.  Incidentally, we did notice that there were Fords for sale.  I remember Trump claimed that Germans don’t sell American cars.  Not true… but a lot of what he says isn’t true.

Casa del Sabor Argentinian Steakhouse is located in sort of a restaurant row.  As I mentioned before, I noticed it when we ate at La Cantinetta a couple of weeks ago.  I wouldn’t have minded having lunch at La Cantinetta again, but I wanted to try someplace new.  Besides, I had a feeling we’d be easily sucked into a big, long meal.  I love long lunches, but we had other things to do today.

Although the sun was shining, we decided to eat inside, because neither of us wore sunscreen or brought sunglasses, and the sun was very intense today.  We had a nice view of Scotch and Soda, a rather popular bar.  We’re going to have to try them next.

Bill decides on lunch.  We both had beer today.

The waiter, who spoke excellent English, brought out very fresh bread and garlic aioli.  Bill loves garlic, so this was a hit with him, especially.  I also enjoyed it, but had to be disciplined about eating too much of it before lunch arrived.  

Bill had grilled chicken with a mango sauce.  It came with rosemary potatoes and onions.  He enjoyed his dish very much…

But I was especially happy with my 200 gram rib eye, which was Argentinian beef.  It was cooked to medium and was excellent.  It’s not often I get steak in Germany, unless I know where the beef comes from.  German beef tends to leave a lot to be desired.  This steak was the real deal from Argentina, and it was outstanding.  

I also got a baked potato with sour cream and garlic.  I don’t usually like sour cream very much, but I did enjoy it today.  I think the garlic helped.

Besides steak and chicken, you can also get burgers, fajitas, and even a couple of vegetarian dishes, as well as fish.  I noticed they had fresh fruit juices, too, and a variety of exotic cocktails and shots.  We were too full to consider having dessert, especially since the place was filling up as we were finishing lunch.  We’d definitely go back.  Next time, I’ll try the fajitas.

Need a haircut?  Wiesbaden’s AVEDA has English speaking stylists and they even take VAT forms!

A Feinkost in downtown Wiesbaden we are going to have to check out.

 

After lunch, we went by post and bought some gardening supplies, skin cream, and eyeliner.  Then we gassed up and hit the commissary for our monthly stockup on American stuff we can’t live without.  Actually, we buy most of our groceries on the economy, but sometimes we need Cheetos and stuff…

On post, they were warning about DUIs… This car was apparently wrecked while someone was driving drunk.

 

I almost opted out of the commissary run, but I need to get out more.  I’ve been such a hermit these past few weeks, and it’s time for us to start exploring again like we did last year.

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