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BrewDog in Wiesbaden!

We had beautiful weather again yesterday, so Bill and I decided to go to Wiesbaden and have lunch at the new BrewDog restaurant. BrewDog is a Scottish craft brewery that claims to be the #1 craft brewer in Europe. Bill and I both like beer very much– that could be an understatement, actually. Bill is a big fan of India Pale Ales (IPAs), too, so he was especially interested in trying the place, which is situated in what used to be a Maredo outlet.

Maredo is a well-known German steakhouse chain, and if you search this blog, you’ll see that Bill and I have visited them a few times, although I don’t think we ever went to the one in Wiesbaden. Looking at their Web site, it appears that they closed a lot of locations. Stuttgart used to have two of them within view of each other, but now it looks like there’s only one. And I remember going to one at the Bonn-Cologne airport back in 2012, and it looks like it’s no longer open, either. There is still one in Frankfurt, so I guess we could go there if the spirit moved us.

In any case, I’m glad to see that there’s a new restaurant in Wiesbaden and it offers unique offerings, for Germany, anyway. Wiesbaden is actually pretty well served by different cuisines, but sometimes one can get stuck in a rut eating Italian, Greek, and German food here, and drinking hefeweizens, pilsners, and the like. BrewDog’s menu is very American friendly, but it also offers vegan choices. And, according to its official Web site, it’s a child friendly place every night until 9:00pm. It’s also dog friendly, as are a lot of German restaurants. We didn’t see any four legged guests yesterday. In fact, when we got there at about 12:30pm, there weren’t many guests at all. The door was wide open, but I didn’t see anyone enjoying lunch. I even wondered for a minute if they were open. It was busier as we were leaving.

We took a seat at table near the front of the restaurant, enjoying plenty of social distance. The barkeep checked our COVID vaccination statuses, but that formality will probably go away next week. The beer menu included a lot of BrewDog’s offerings on tap, but there were also bottled beers. Not too many of them weren’t of the IPA variety, though, which later turned into a problem when Bill’s co-worker saw us and decided to join us for a round. She ordered a pale ale and sent it back, because it was too bitter. I don’t mind IPAs in small doses, but like our friend, I would probably choose a lager or weizen over a bitter brew. I did enjoy my “Elvis Juice”, though, and afterwards, I had a Kokosnuss Porter for dessert.

For lunch, I had a Patriot burger, which was 100% beef with cheddar, pickles, onions, bacon, baby gem, and barbecue sauce. It came with pretty good fries. Bill had a Buffalo Chicken Burger, which was buttermilk fried chicken, hot sauce, honey glaze, gorgonzola cheese, and honey gem. It also came with fries. I was pretty happy with the burger, especially for Germany. It’s been nice to see the burgers get better in this country since our return in 2014. I almost went with the Chuck Norris, which was buttermilk fried chicken on a bun with avocado, red onion, cajun mayo, and coriander. I decided against it because I’m not a big fan of coriander. Next time, maybe I’ll try it… or maybe I’ll get brave and try one of the many vegan selections offered. They also have snacks, chicken wings, bowls, and salads, and for kids, there’s even a “Hoppy Meal”.

I really liked the interior of the restaurant, which offered views of the exposed bricks of the old building, which was perfectly located right near the main square in Wiesbaden. We probably should have sat outside, given the location. It was such a nice day, and the place is primely suited for people watching. There was a Muslim wedding going on out there yesterday! But I also enjoyed the music they were playing indoors. All told we spent about 53 euros before the tip. Food is not too expensive, but the beers were a bit pricey, as were the gooey looking desserts. BrewDog is Lieferando friendly, although I think their delivery area is fairly limited to downtown Wiesbaden. They don’t deliver to our neighborhood, for instance. You can also get beer growlers and canned beer to go there.

One word of caution for anyone with mobility issues. The restrooms are located upstairs, just as they are in a lot of European restaurants.

Below are some spring photos from our lunch date and stroll around Wiesbaden. It was a real pleasure to get out and about! And, on another note, I was glad to see Nora again, Bill’s colleague!

Jeans store near us supports Ukraine.
Flowers everywhere!
I love the blue flowers.
A wedding!
Old stationwagon getaway car.
Great place for IPA lovers, but the prices aren’t cheap.
Patriot Burger
Buffalo Chicken Burger
Round 2… a porter and a heavy malt.
Nice interior
Chocolatier across from BrewDog.
Outside was picking up as we left.
I never get tired of photographing this church.
These bushes reminded me of Ukraine with yellow and blue flowers.
Goofy German ads.

We have nice weather again today, but today is the first day of the DST time change. It’s already 1:19pm, and I am not dressed. I don’t know if we’ll go out or not. I did just send Bill out to drive my car, which hasn’t been out in weeks. I have heard the weather is going to be crappy again next week, so maybe we should make an effort to go out. We’ll see.

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A late winter lunch date at Restaurant L’Opera in Hofheim…

The weather has gotten markedly nicer over the past few days. Once we got rid of the Saharan dust cloud that affected much of Europe last week, the temperatures went up and the sun came out. It’s been a little windy, and that has brought a chill, but overall, the weather is definitely improving. Bill decided he wanted to go out, and I agreed. I suggested going to Hofheim, because someone in the local Facebook group posted that there was going to be a cake sale to help refugees in Ukraine. Other options included visiting a new Hofladen (farm) near us, and going to an open house hosted by a guy who sells wine and wine barrel furniture.

We never did find the cake sale in Hofheim, but we did stop by a little Italian place called Restaurant L’Opera. I remember we dined there early in the pandemic. It was probably in 2020. I also remember we sat outside that time. I think the same guy who waited on us that day, took care of us today.

I decided i wanted to go to Restaurant L’Opera because someone else in the Hofheim Facebook group had written a post gushing about the food. I remember liking it the first time we went, but what I had that time wasn’t particularly high end fare. Today, we sat inside and enjoyed two excellent dishes.

Before we visited the restaurant, we stopped by the restroom at the nearby mall, where it costs 50 euro cents to pee. That’s no big deal, since I have a whole, huge bag of euro cents that need to be spent. It would have been nice if the door on the stall I used would have locked. Some lady almost barged in on me.

I took a few photos around the town, where a lively market was happening. They were shutting down a couple of hours later, as we were heading back to the car to go home…

Bill and I spent about 80 euros on our lunches– two glasses of really excellent red wine, a large bottle of San Pellegrino, Tagliata for me, and Spaghettini with salmon and zucchini for him. Then, a creme brûlée for dessert for Bill, and a dreaded lava cake for me. I’m kidding about the “dreaded” part. The cake was very good, but everybody does lava cakes. It’s gotten to the point at which a regular layer cake is a novelty!

Hofheim was happening!
Nice little market was going on.
My baby loves the sun!
Downtown is so charming.
Bill is thrilled to be out with his wife.
That would be goofy me!
Playing with my camera while we waited.
I loved the water glasses.
Everyone got a different one.
Tagliata with rucola, balsamic vinegar, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and sliced potatoes with rosemary.
Bill’s spaghetti with salmon and zucchini.
Specials of the day. One patron ordered the pasta with truffles. The aroma filled the tiny restaurant
Lava cake!
Creme brûlée.
Lava in the cake.
We were warmly welcomed.
Nice old facade.

It was so nice to get out today. Pretty soon, some of the COVID rules will be going away. The waiter reminded us that as of tomorrow, the 2G rules will expire. I suspect the masks will go at some point. I hate the FFP2 masks so much. They are uncomfortable and suffocating… like a quilt over the face. I hope to do away with them soon. Especially since people are still spreading COVID. But I can stand them for a minute or two as I go to a table. It’s harder going up and down stairs with them.

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A few spring photos…

I took these this morning on our walk… A male mallard was enjoying the creek that runs through Breckenheim. He was a little shy, and I was juggling Arran and Noyzi, so please forgive the lack of artistic merit in these!

I also managed to catch a rather epic play session between Arran and Noyzi. Arran still growls at him a lot, but I think they’ve developed a wary respect for each other. Nice to see them playing, anyway. It’s especially nice to see Arran playing, since he’s officially an old man with the rancid farts to prove it.

I love running into water fowl. I especially like ducks a lot, and we see them very occasionally here in our village. I like creeks, too. The one in Breckenheim is often polluted, though, which is a real shame. I guess it just goes to show you that even rule abiding Germans can be disrespectful to Earth when no one is looking.

Could they be bonding at last?

And last but not least, I made a new video for my YouTube channel. I haven’t shared it anywhere else, because it seems like a pointless exercise… but I think it turned out okay.

I woke up yesterday and felt like trying this… it was a mood booster. I needed one, because I was not in a great mood over the weekend.

My vaccination site is officially back to normal. There’s no more pain, itching, or swelling, and the redness is minimal. I don’t look forward to feeling yucky when I get the second shot, but maybe it will turn out okay. Either way, the first shot wasn’t a problem. Glad to have it behind me, especially now that Germany is officially relaxing the rules for vaccinated people and those who have recovered from COVID-19. I’m ready to reclaim some of my life.

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