A few photos from last night’s weekly market…

Last night, Bill came home a little bit early and we went to the weekly market. It was because there were going to be a couple of special vendors there. Also, we didn’t have anything in the house for dinner.

As it turned out, we bought a lot of stuff from the Mediterranean Feinkost, which specializes in delicacies from Turkey. We enjoyed some mulled wine and I got some photos, which I will share now…

I know there are villages and towns in our previous environs that have these kinds of events, but neither of our old villages in Baden-Württemberg had anything like what we have in Breckenheim.

I got a kick out of the young guy working at the Feinkost. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, and he spoke excellent English. He managed to get us to buy 78 euros worth of stuff! Bill bought a cucumber from the vegetable vendor, and we enjoyed the delightful mulled wines– red and white– from a local vintner.

I don’t necessarily enjoy Christmas that much, but I can appreciate the festive environs here in Germany, even though I know that come January, it will be bleak on many levels… starting with the weather and ending with the political climate. But, at least we have the holidays… for now.

dental

Sorry we missed you, Doc… part three of our 2023 Czech tour!

Monday morning, Bill went to get more goodies from the bakery near Hotel La Casa. I was kind of dreading the afternoon, as I was under the mistaken impression that we would be visiting our dentist. The weather was sunny and warm again, and I was wishing the appointments had been made for the morning, so we could get the cleanings done and be on our way to Czechia. But because they were made for 3:00 PM, we were committed to a third night in Tübingen. I would have rather hung out in that town all day, instead of heading for Stuttgart.

We decided to get to Stuttgart early enough for lunch. I wisely packed a short sleeved shirt in my purse, because I had a feeling I was really going to need it. Bill wanted to try a place called NOA Restaurant, which specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine. He made a reservation on OpenTable.de for about 1:00 PM.

We got to the restaurant, located on Tübingener Strasse, and took a seat on their terrace. I ended up really enjoying our lunch at NOA, which has a lot of colorful and tasty selections. I ended up having a Beirut Bowl, which had chicken, avocado, hummus, red beets, salad, fattoush, and almonds. It was dressed with mango chili dressing. I had a lavender lemonade to go with it, that really tasted like Sprite with lavender syrup in it.

Bill had iced tea and a marinated Oriental chicken breast filet with rice. It was notated as a NOA Favorite. I could see why. Bill really enjoyed the way the chicken was prepared. After lunch, we had time for me to have a beer, while Bill had coffee.

After lunch, we crossed the street and went into the Galeria store, which had signs up that they were closing. I was looking for a couple of items that they didn’t have. I was sorry not to find what I needed, but at least I got a couple of photos of an honest to God German going out of business sale… Actually, the location is closing, but I don’t think they’re totally going out of business.

After a few minutes looking in the store, we headed over to Dr. Blair’s office, which we found totally deserted. Bill was confused, as he was absolutely certain that the appointment was for October 2, 2023 at 3:00 PM. He searched his emails to see if there were any from Blair’s office. He found none.

To be honest, we were both kind of relieved… Neither of us really felt like having cleanings done, anyway. Still, if we’d known this was going to happen, we definitely wouldn’t have visited Tübingen. Hell, maybe we wouldn’t have even taken the trip at all. That would have been too bad, though, because so much happened during our visit to Czechia, and a few cool things happened in Germany, too. I guess it was just meant to be for us to be down in Tübingen when we were. We really have missed being close enough to visit whenever we want to go.

We visited a local public toilet in Stuttgart, where it’s free of charge to use the bathroom. I changed into my t-shirt, because it was pretty warm by that point of the day. We drove back to the hotel in Tübingen and walked to the Neckarmüller, where we enjoyed a little more time at our favorite Biergarten. I swear, I wish we had one like it up here where we live now…

When the sun went down, we walked back to the vacant hotel with a bottle of red wine, which we used to wash down the leftover Hawaiian pizza. Bill sent an email to the dentist’s office. It turned out our appointments were for October 5th, and somehow Bill missed the memo. So now it looks like we’re going to have to go back down to Stuttgart in December for our cleanings… or, alternatively, I can just join Bill at the local dentist he consulted when he broke a tooth a couple of months ago. He saw that dentist today, to check on the status of his healing, and the Wiesbaden dentist found two cavities that need filling. Jeez!

Well, at least I got some pretty photos, right? And I also got beaned by a couple of huge chestnuts.

*These suckers were falling everywhere! I noticed Germans were pocketing them.*

Tübingen is always a pleasure to visit. And now that we’ve stayed down there for a dentist appointment that didn’t happen, we’d consider doing it again. But next time, I think I’ll probably try a different area, just because it’s more fun and educational that way. It also gives me more to write about in this blog.

Onward to part 4!

Baden-Württemberg

Lunch at Laf Laf in Tübingen

Glorious day! We couldn’t waste it, because winter is coming, my friends…

I woke up this morning feeling pretty “meh” about life. But we were blessed with absolutely perfect weather, with sunny skies and refreshing temps in the low 70s. I couldn’t very well let the day go to waste. Bill and I had been talking about going to the Stuttgarter Weindorf, but I wasn’t really in a wine drinking mood. Bill suggested a trip to Tübingen, which is always a spirit lifter for me. We got to the college town at about 1:45pm.

As we were walking to the main thoroughfare going through the city, I tripped and almost faceplanted in front of a whole bunch of Germans. Fortunately, I was able to save myself from falling, even though I cussed pretty loudly. For some reason, we crossed on the left side of the street instead of the right, which led us to pass a restaurant we’d never noticed before called Laf Laf: Taste the Middle East. I don’t know how long this fast food place has been in town. This was the first time I’d seen it and I was attracted not by signage, but by the smells of grilled food.

Bill was about to walk past when I said, “Hey Baby, come check out this menu.” One minute spent perusing the offerings convinced Bill we needed to try out this place. We proceeded to have an excellent lunch for about 22 euros.

Laf Laf, which also has a delivery service, runs like your every day ordinary fast food eatery. You walk up to the counter, order what you want, grab a drink from the cooler if you want one (all alcohol free) and enjoy. I had the Multikulti Bowl, while Bill had the Halloumi Bowl. We shared an order of Hummus Tapas. They also have a Hummus Bowl, which I imagine will really stick to your ribs.

It’s a little restaurant, very close to the big parking garage…

Bill stands at the counter, ready to order.

They have a nice outdoor seating area, but I only saw one indoor table.

More tables…

This is the Hummus Tapas. The hummus is smooth as silk and spread in a layer on the inside of the bowl, with whole chickpeas, pomegranate seeds, cilantro, mint, and a little balsamic vinegar and oil. It was heavenly and put me over the edge of fullness, but I just had to try it!

Bill’s Halloumi Bowl, which was vegetarian. It came with falafel, fried cheese, taboulleh, salad, and either yogurt or sesame dressing. He totally cleaned the bowl and pronounced it delicious.

Lemon soda for me. Bill had raspberry iced tea.

My Multikulti Bowl had crispy chicken, chicken shwarma, falafel, fries, kraut salad, pickles, garlic sauce, yogurt sauce, taboulleh, and yogurt dressing. I could have also had this with steak. I ate maybe half and Bill packed up the rest for later. I have a feeling he’s going to pig out on the garlic sauce later.

Sides of lavash.

After you’re finished, you bus your own table. As I mentioned before, this was a very cheap, filling, and delicious lunch. Everything was very fresh and it was such a nice change of pace. We will definitely have to go back and try some of the other stuff. I probably would have missed it if I hadn’t tripped and crossed on the other side of the street.

After lunch, we decided to hit our favorite Biergarten at the Neckarmüller. It was just perfect weather for sipping beer by the river and watching the antics of all the punters…

We ran into this on the way there… I’m not really sure what was going on, but we had to stop because some guy was taking pictures and I didn’t want to photobomb.

The candy store was selling craft beers and beer glasses full of gummi bears. We didn’t stop in there, but we did visit Vinum to pick up some Georgian wine.

The Biergarten was lively today.

Obligatory Bill shot…

These guys were having a lot of fun. Right after I took this picture, they started doing flips off of their boat into the water. I got video of some of their jumps, including one where a guy got “pantsed” right before he did his flip into the Neckar River. He basically ended up mooning everyone sitting in the Biergarten!

A good time was had by all…

And if you love beer, you can be beer royalty…

One of these days, Bill and I are going to try punting…

Maybe we’ll do it sooner rather than later.

But we’ll be sure not to be unauthorized users of the Parkhaus, since we don’t want to be punished…

Today was a perfect example of why Tübingen remains one of my favorite towns in this area and why we’ll miss it when we eventually leave. I pined for Tübingen during the five years we were back in the States. It really is a great town!

Maybe tomorrow, we’ll hit the Weindorf… we’ll see.

Baden-Württemberg, Böblingen

“Meat night” at Göktas in Sindelfingen… my second buffet experience in Germany!

I’ve been wanting to try Göktas, a Turkish restaurant in Sindelfingen, for at least a year now. Ever since someone in one of the local Facebook groups recommended it, I’ve been intrigued by the place. On Christmas Day, the folks at Göktas offered a “meat night”. Basically, it was a big buffet offered for the low price of 14,90 euros. I had wanted to go on Christmas; their Facebook photos of the food looked so good! But then I decided I’d rather enjoy the holiday at home in my nightie.

Well, the meat night went so well on Christmas that Göktas offered another one tonight. I don’t know if they did it because of Epiphany or just because their other buffet was so successful. But now that I’ve finally tried the place and enjoyed the food, I can see why so many people– mostly Turkish– flock there.

Bill made reservations for 6:30pm. The buffet started at 5:00. By the time we got there, it was pretty packed and all of the tables were reserved. I can’t say the interior of the restaurant is anything fancy. When we walked in, it was obvious that Göktas is the kind of place where people come in for a casual lunch. Turkish pop played over the sound system and there was a very extensive buffet set up with chicken, beef, rice, and plenty of salads. No alcoholic beverages were available, but there were plenty of non alcoholic beverages including ayran (a yogurt drink), hot tea, sodas, water, and juice. This restaurant also offers breakfast and there’s a bakery in the back dining room.

A table was quickly cleared for us and we simply helped ourselves to the colorful feast before us. Not only was the food delicious, it was also a very nice change of pace. I made a mental note to try different restaurants in 2018… something other than Italian, Greek, and German.

Things were swinging tonight!

Bill tries to figure out what to do.

Very fresh bread, grilled chicken breast, chicken wings, rice, grilled peppers, and salad… The chicken was especially good. It had that “cooked over the fire” taste. My only complaint is that the food wasn’t very hot. I always get nervous when I eat chicken that isn’t either chilled or hot.

And beef, pommes, and tabbouleh (buckwheat with mint)… We only managed one plate each, though there were plenty of choices, many of which were meatless. We washed our dinner down with Coca-Cola…

After dinner, we had tea and a couple of rolls. One was basically like unsweetened fried bread and the other had some kind of soft, mild cheese in it. The tea was pretty strong and unsweetened. Bill later figured out that he was supposed to dilute it with hot water to taste.

Many tables were full like this one… with many people enjoying friends, family, and lots of food. Most everyone there was Turkish and some were dressed elaborately. It was definitely interesting from a cultural standpoint.

I would recommend Göktas if you’re looking for something different… inexpensive food that is very well-prepared. I might not recommend this restaurant if you are looking for quiet, intimacy, or high frills dining. It’s strictly a casual place for family and friends and it’s somewhat chaotic when a buffet is offered. It’s also very kid friendly; lots of young children were there enjoying the extravaganza.

I got the sense that on a normal night, you’d order what you want at the counter and pay before you sit down. Tonight, we ate and paid after we were finished. The whole experience took less than an hour, too.

I think the buffet at Göktas is much less chaotic and obnoxious than the “American buffet” at Restaurant Waldachtal was. It’s also slightly less expensive. I would highly recommend making reservations, especially if there’s another “meat night”. It’s obvious word has gotten out about this special event, so if you want a table, you should prepare in advance. We parked in the lot behind the restaurant, but there is also some street parking available.

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Middle Eastern eats at Yaz Eine Prise Orient…

Bill and I had to go see Dr. Blair for dental cleanings this afternoon. As is our habit, we both neglected to eat before we visited. Consequently, we were both hungry when we were finished with the dentist. It was about 4:00pm, though, which means that a lot of restaurants are enjoying a “pause” between lunch and dinner. Fortunately, Dr. Blair’s office is in downtown Stuttgart and there are a number of restaurants near him that serve food all day. Today, we decided to stop at one that has always intrigued us, Yaz Eine Prise Orient.

I know Bill was excited when I suggested Yaz. He’s been interested in trying that place since we first arrived in 2014. He’s always been overruled by my desire to eat somewhere else. I have to admit, every time we’ve passed this restaurant, which also has a flagship location in Düsseldorf, it has smelled good. It also looks like a relatively popular place, although it was pretty empty when we stopped in this afternoon. I see on their Web site that they plan to expand the chain.

When you first walk into Yaz, you may be a little bit confused about what to do. There’s a big menu on the wall, like what you’d see in a fast food place. However, the servers told us to sit down wherever we wanted. We selected a table by the window. I liked the comfortable banquette seating against the wall.

Bill enjoys the menu.

As we perused the menu, which is rich with options for vegetarians and vegans as well as meat eaters, I found myself listening to the dance music that was playing. It was kind of exotic sounding. I don’t normally like dance music, but it seemed to fit well in Yaz. Bill got up thinking he had to order at the counter, but the waitress told him she’d come to us.

The counter kind of confused us at first.

Yaz offers a full bar as well as an interesting menu with a number of different choices. You can have a yufka (which appears to be a wrap), tajine, teller, or a salad. They also offer soups, snacks, and desserts. Prices are very reasonable and portions are large. Although we were both hungry, we decided against getting any of the grill specialties. Instead, we had burgers.

Bill had a kofte, which was much like a cheeseburger, except it was made of meatballs and came on sesame seed bread. It included grilled onions and mushrooms and barbecue sauce. It also came with optional cheese, which Bill included, and a side of potatoes with mustard sauce and barbecue sauce.

Bill’s excellent burger. I probably would have liked it sans fungus.

I went vegetarian for once and had a delicious falafel burger. It was served on the same sesame seed bread and came with lettuce, tomato, hummus, mango sauce, pomegranate seeds, and grilled onions. I took mine without cheese. Our sandwiches came with an additional side of fresh bread that was delicious.

This was an excellent sandwich. I am definitely not someone who ordinarily eats vegetarian, but I was very happy with this. I would order it again. Yaz offers several options for vegans and vegetarians. I also enjoyed the dips that came with the sandwiches, especially the sweet, spicy mustard. The barbecue sauce tasted strongly of harissa.

After we ate, I went to use the ladies room. Unfortunately, it was closed. There was a sign on the door asking the ladies to use the men’s room. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. Germans have no problems with unisex bathrooms!

Tonight’s dinner came to a very reasonable 24,50. Bill rounded up to 30 euros, which seemed to please the waitress. We were done and out of there less than an hour after we arrived. I imagine Yaz is very popular at lunchtime.

The sign at the entrance to Yaz. It kind of shows you what they offer.

Outside the restaurant.

Overall, we were very happy we stopped by Yaz tonight. It was a refreshing change of pace and any time I manage to go meat free and enjoy it, I feel good. I would definitely recommend Yaz to anyone else who enjoys Middle Eastern food, especially if they happen to be in Stuttgart at a time when other eateries are “paused”.

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Eating vegetarian in Tübingen at Die Kicher Erbse

I was feeling kind of icky this morning, but when I noticed how nice the weather was today, managed to get motivated enough to get dressed and venture out. It seemed like perfect Biergarten weather, so I told Bill I wanted to go to Tübingen. I guess I was thinking we’d go sit by the Neckar River and sip suds like we usually do when we go to Tübingen. But Tübingen was pretty crowded today, so I made the executive decision to look elsewhere for entertainment.

Last week, when we were in Ludwigsburg, I noticed an accordion player in the main square playing impressive classics. He was doing a mean rendition of Vivaldi. Today, I’m pretty sure we ran into the same guy playing his accordion in Tübingen. I guess he gets around. We also passed a group of Chinese people doing some kind of synchronized movements. It’s a Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditation and moral philosophy with Qi Gong exercises. Bill says they’re called Falun Gong. They were handing out pamphlets. Bill said the group is pretty heavily persecuted in China because it’s considered a cult there. They were interesting to watch, if anything. I still don’t know much about them, but they were out and and about today.

Lots of people in the big city today!

I had actually been thinking about a couple of pretty interesting restaurants for dinner. One local Facebook friend recommended that we try Japengo, which looks like a really cool place. There’s also a well-regarded African restaurant in Tübingen that I know intrigued Bill. But then we rounded a corner near Vinum, our favorite booze store, and I smelled something delicious and familiar…

But first, I had to take a picture of this cool window with the wildflowers in the window box.

And a profane and bedazzled t-shirt on sale at a place called Hot Couture…

which curiously had a closed sign in English…

And fun graffiti.

We ended up having a delightfully tasty vegetarian Middle Eastern meal at Die Kicher Erbse, a tiny hole in the wall in the old town where you can pick up falafel, hummus, salad and börek. I remembered eating at this little place the first time we lived in Germany. In those days, we lived close to Tübingen and used to visit the city all the time and we stopped at Die Kicher Erbse at least once.

I was honestly drawn into the restaurant today by the aromas that came from it and, from what I could see sitting there while we ate, Die Kicher Erbse is a very popular place. There’s nothing on the menu that costs more than 5,50 euros and getting food is quick and easy, though seating is in short supply. We noticed a lot of fit people stopping in. I also noticed that they sell some ingredients for certain Middle Eastern dishes.

The falafel and börek plate. Börek is a pastry filled with spinach and mild cheese. It was delicious! I also loved the hummus and the minty yogurt dressing on the salad. I couldn’t finish this plate, though.

Bill had a falafel plate with bread. We drank sparkling water and I had orange nectar, though they also had housemade Ayran and other non-alcoholic beverages.

There was a line forming as we were leaving. I think they close early. Don’t go there looking for beer because they don’t sell alcohol. However, if you want hot mint tea, that’s your place!

I tried to get another shot of the front door. A few people were sitting outside, enjoying the light but filling food. We really need to eat Middle Eastern more often.

On the way back to the car, we stopped by Die Kelter for a drink. It was pretty nice there today, since the weather was perfect. I had a good time watching the wait staff trying to arrange furniture outside for the evening bar crowd. It took them several tries and several incarnations to get it right.

I had a raspberry mojito, which was much like a regular mojito, except with fresh raspberries. Bill had a small Baisinger beer.

Here’s an obligatory shot of Bill smiling after I cracked a filthy joke. It might have had to do with the woman who very brazenly changed her baby in front of us. I’ve kind of learned to look the other way when stuff like that happens.

This was not the final arrangement of the outdoor furniture. They rearranged it at least one more time before we left.

But everyone was having a good time anyway. We stopped after one drink and came home to our dogs, who were happy for a chance to stroll around the yard again.

All in all, we had a lovely afternoon in Tübingen. We should go there more often. It’s always a pleasure to visit.

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: Middle Eastern food