Friday, October 23, 2009

Traditional Dutch Restaurant in Amsterdam

 
 
 

Haesje Claes

The restaurant is named after Lady Haesje Claes born in 1520 to a prosperous merchant family. She was the patron and founder of the public orphanage now the Amsterdam historical museum.

There are 8 chambers all with their own atmosphere and serving traditional Dutch dishes, I ate here on the 29/04/2009 and was lucky to get a booking because it was queens night and the restaurant was full, I had 2 herring with chopped raw onion and gherkins for starters, followed by a fish stockpot recommended by Jacqueline who was the waitress looking after me, It was a great combination, the herring were light and fresh as expected, and the stockpot, with a good selection of seafood including mussels, prawns, various pieces of fish and vegetables covered with a light covering of cheese and then all baked in the oven, a traditional restaurant with excellent food, service and atmosphere to boot. Highly recommended.

Spuistraat 275

1012 VR  Amsterdam

Netherlands

Tel +31 (20) 6249998

www.haesjeclaes.nl

 

 

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Great Driving Routes in Germany


 

Great Driving Routes in Germany

 

If wooden balconied half timbered houses covered in cascades of geraniums daisy's and bougainvilleas, with a backdrop of medieval fortresses, alpine vistas and fairytale castles have you yodelling for joy then you shouldn't miss the  Romantic Road, it runs from Wurzburg to Fussen (315km/195 miles) covering many of the great sights of Germany including Rothenburg and Neuschschwanstein.

 

The German Wine Road runs from Bockenheim/Palatinate to Wissembourg/Alsace 91kms/56miles. Beautiful little villages surrounded by vineyards.

 

The German Alpine Road is a top attraction running from Lindau to Berchtesgaden it is 450km of spectacular Alpine scenery interspersed with villages, fairytale castles and picture perfect meadows www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de

 

The old salt road runs 100km from Lüneburg to Lübeck, in the old days the horse carts needed 3 weeks to transport the white gold; you can cover it in a day. 

 

The Silver route covers 115km from Zwickau to Dresden, winding its way through rural and mountainous countryside; the traveller is rewarded by a ribbon of towns steeped in tradition.

 

Why not drive the Burgenstrasse, the (975km/605 mile) castle road covers 70 of Germanys legend shrouded and most romantic castles of medieval times.

www.burgenstrasse.de  

 

The German winestrasse or wine road is a great area to cover, the website below offers information about each of Germanys wine regions as well as a list of the nations festivals. Just be sure not to drink and drive.

www.deutscheweine.de

 

After a long days drive why not check into one of Germanys spa and wellness centres, the Germans have always considered treatments an essential part of Healthy living. The website provides a list of the nations spas as well as links to the spas providing English speaking staff.

www.deutscher-heilbaedervband.de  

 

Munich to Lichtenstein

You may cover some of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route which links some of Germany's greatest churches, abbeys and libraries from the exuberant southern German Baroque and Rococo.

 

Get in touch with nature at one of Germanys 100 nature parks, 14 national parks or 15 biosphere reserves; you might even see a bear

www.naturpark.de


 

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Innsbruck Traditional Dining in a Historic Castle



Weiherburg

I ate here on the 26/08/2008 with Buawon, Bao, Günter and a couple of his friends, the food was of a very high standard and the price was very reasonable. We also had a beautiful New Years Dinner here to see in 2009, The Weiherburg is steeped in history and is located at the lower part of the Nordkette and is easily accessible from the town, (Taxi 6.00 Euro). As part of the evening the restaurant owners Gary and Mark put on a excellent personal fireworks display which can also be enjoyed with the backdrop of thousands of fireworks going off in the surrounding mountains and towns, Excellent Food, Excellent Company, and an Excellent night.

Weiherburggasse 37

Innsbruck A-6020

Tel + 43 (0) 699 10018948

www.weiherburg.at  

Monday, June 8, 2009

Newly Opened Japanese and Sushi Restaurant in Innsbruck, Austria



Oishi Sushi-Bar

Japanische and Thai Specialities

This place is newly opened in June 2009 and I ate here with the Frau and her sister on the 04/06/2009 and had a mountain of sushi which was advertised for 2 people but was enough for 3, the sushi which was nearly 40 pieces including soup and salad was 38.00 Euro, for Sushi in the Germanic countries this is a baaaargain, excellent quality too. Highly Reccomended.

Open Monday to Saturday 11.30-14.30 and 18.00-23.00

Maximilianstrasse 33

Innsbruck

A-6020 Austria

+ 43 512 589416

Great Gasthof in The Austrian Tirol

 
 

Michaelerhof

I came here on the 07/06/2009 with the Frau and a good friend of mine, Hank who was over for a visit, we just stopped in for a coffee and had a Latte Macchiato (2.60 Euro) a Verlangerter Espresso (2.20 Euro) a Apfelsaft and Soda (3.50 Euro) as well as a slice of Michaelerhof Torte (3.00 Euro), the service was fine, but it it's the location that really stands out, this is a tradition Hof with beautiful woodwork and a great ambiance, we sat in the garden and enjoyed array of flowers with views to the snowcapped peaks of the valley and a light dusting of a spring shower intertwined with the warmth of the early summers sun, although we did not eat here Hank mentioned he had already had the pleasure and would recommend it for a visit.

 

Gnadenwald

Tel + 43 (0) 5223 48128

michaelerhof@aon.at


 

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Traditional Restaurant in Innsbruck at a Great Price


 

Gasthaus Buzihutte famous for its Wednesday ribs

The Frau and I and the Fraus sister finally made it here for the famous Gasthaus Buzihutte rib night on the Wednesday 22/04/2009, it was a wet late April night and the roads were dark and slippery, but we persisted up the lower mountain road and then finally the hairpin corner up to the restaurant, considering the weather it was reasonably busy and  we were offered a non smoking area which we had to ourselves, the deal was buy five portions of ribs and you get one free, therefore it is popular with groups of people to come here, we however were only 3 so we ordered 5 plates anyway and decided we would take what was left to the mann of the fraus sister who unfortunately was working and could not join us.

 

2 huge racks of ribs along with potato salad and sauerkraut disguised on the menu as salad and a big slice of schwarz brot made up each serving which was delivered on a wooden serving board, the ribs melted in your mouth so no need to gnaw at the bones to get your moneys worth here, I had a weizen beer, the frau a rose wine and the fraus sister a couple of cups of black tea, we struggled to get through the three of the six portions brought to the table and decided to wrap what was left together with the remaining 3 portions to be taken away, the waiter who had been attentive throughout our visit then brought the desert list and we could only manage one Topfenpalatschinken between  the 3 of us.

 

All up good food, good price, and a great little mountain hut up above Innsbruck, by the way in the summer this is a hugely popular place as a variety of walks can be started and finished here and it has a great terrace and southerly views over the valley, this means plenty of late afternoon sun.

 

The prices here are very reasonable so even if you need to catch a taxi, it can be offset by the savings on the dinner, alternatively you can catch bus A and get of at Berchtoldshof and then it is a 5 minute walk up the hill

 

Open Tuesday to Friday 18.00 – 01.00

Sat Sun and Holidays 11.00 – 01.00

Closed Mondays

Gasthaus Buzihütte
Berchtoldshofweg 14
6020 Innsbruck
Tel + 43 (0) 512 283333

www.buzihuette.at 

 


Monday, April 20, 2009

Traditional Tyrolean Cuisine



Waldgasthaus Triendlsage

Owned by the Triendl Family a lovely little Restaurant found while walking with the Frau from Seefeld

Beautiful Garlic Soup and spinach knodel

I also ate here on the 01/08/08 with my Mum and Dad and must say the food was excellent, Mum and I had the Tiroler Teller and Dad had the Grillteller all dishes were 13.00 Euro, great food, great service, great price, and a great atmospheric setting, we will definitely be going back.

Ate here again on the 03/01/2009 and had the Special Schnitzel which was enough for two and is a schnitzel with Speck and Cheese baked in a breadcrumb coating, we also had the Tiroler Teller again altogether enough food for 4 people we could barely squeeze down the Topfenstrudel that followed for desert, but we gave it our best. If you can still walk after the huge meals, the gasthaus is located in a beautiful part of the Austrian mountains and there are plenty of relaxing walks to help burn of the calories you have just added, or better still do the walk first and then you can justify the rewards to follow.

A-6100 Seefeld 259

Tel + 43 (0) 5212 2580

www.triendlsaege.at