LUNCH WITH FRIENDS
Dear Caroline,
This week was great! I got to try some new restaurants at lunch with my friends.
School is near Potsdamer Platz, which is a big transportation and shopping hub. There’s a mall and a whole underground market. One of them is called Manifesto Market. It’s so cool, it has 22 different restaurants with different themes, there’s something for everyone, kinda like Movenpick. I tried the Greek place, I was craving chicken. I didn’t expect how much food I got but it was enough for the whole day. I got chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, salad, Greek fries and pita. It was so much food.
Wednesday I joined some other students and we tried a typical German Pub with typical German fare. I didn’t realize how much pork is consumed in Germany. The whole menu except for a tiny little section was all different preparations of pork. Deep fried pork, pork sausage, pork cordon blue, pork stew, pork, pork, pork. Also they really like boiled potatoes. I chose the tarte flambé which is really just fancy pizza. The traditional way Germans do it is with a cream sauce like béchamel then add bacon and leeks and onions, then bake it. It was very good and crispy. One thing I find I retesting here is that when you ask for water you get bottled water. No tap water here, or maybe there is but I just haven’t figured out how to order it yet. In France I can just say “une carafe d’eau s’il vous plait” and they bring a pitcher of tap water. But I’m Germany I have not found its equivalent yet.
Tuesday was the best day. The girls and I went to a Vietnamese restaurant called Umami. I have never had viet food before so I was a little anxious I wouldn’t find anything I like. But I did! I got the prawn (shrimp) dumplings and the spring rolls. Vietnamese spring rolls are way better than the ones you get with Chinese food. These had beef inside and a whole bunch of veggies and were super tasty. The dumplings were great too. Perfectly steamed and not gluey as some dumplings can be.
After Umami we went to Rausch. The biggest chocolate shop in Germany. While I was sick I got a strange craving for chocolate cake and I spent my time off trying to find a place. This is what I found. It’s three storeys of chocolate. First floor is the shop and cafe. Imagine Laura Secord or Godiva but BETTER. Second floor is the factory where you can make a custom chocolate bar. Then the third floor is the deli where you can sit en enjoy some cakes and chocolate preparations. It was amazing. I got my chocolate cake. I chose the Mozart and it was delicious. After that I went and got a box of 12 truffles that I selected from the case. I just wish I had taken note of which flavours I chose.
All in all a great week. Looking forward to the weekend.
