Sunday, October 09, 2011

Dining out

So Mariko and I have decided that every Friday night will go out to eat. We want to be able to try new restaurants and experience more of what Braunschweig has to offer. I won't talk too much about our first attempt, suffice to say though it was expensive for soggy onion rings and bland schnitzel strips... not fun.

However our second attempt was MUCH better. Our original goal was to try one of the Mexican restaurants here in town, and it was rather simple to find (as I've been scoping the city out). However we looked at the menu and saw two problems... First was the price. It was a little more expensive than we would have liked to spend, each meal costing between 10-14 Euro per plate. Secondly, and most important, it wasn't safe for Mariko as they had molé!

So with that option removed, we had decided on walking back home and choosing something along the way. And as luck would have it we spotted an Italian restaurant almost immediately... it was about 3 building over from the Mexican place. We checked out the menu: It was safe and prices looked decent! Our restaurant had been decided!



Now the name of the place was amusing to Mariko and I, and it was called 'Noodle House No. 1' (yes it sounds like a Chinese buffet). But the inside did not match with the name at all. It had a cute little cafe feel to it, complete with candles on the table. The restaurant was fairly full, most of the tables were occupied and most of the tables were couple, so it looked like a good date place to go to (which is always a good sign). Knowing that meals tend to take some time, Mariko and I settled in and just relaxed while we waited for our food.

Our meal came out after some time and looked great! Mariko ordered Spaghetti with Olive oil, Garlic and Pepperchinis. She enjoyed the bits of roasted garlic throughout the pasta and the olive oil gave it a pleasant taste. I ordered Spaghetti Carbonara, which is one of my favorite pasta dishes. Their carbonara was different the others that I have tried, primarily being that the sauce was thicker and clung to the noodles more than the others that I've tried. But I really enjoyed it non the less.

We were getting quite full near the end, and we both almost finished our dishes, leaving only a few strands of noodle on the plate. While we were finishing up the manager was speaking to the table next to us about dessert and we heard him mention something that sounded very good, so we both figured that sharing a dessert was in order. When we were ready the manager came to our table to tell us the dessert options (it changes daily based on what they have for ingredients), we decided on the Guava Souffle! And yes it was as yummy as it sounds.  
The Souffle had a very sweet taste, but near the end just a little bit of savory to mellow it out (there was fresh cheese in with it)... and oddly enough the black pepper sprinkled on top worked well. Though the raspberry syrup drizzled on it was a little sweet for my tastes, Mariko was a big fan.

We easily finished the dessert and were very happy about the entire experience. We sat for just a little bit longer, enjoying ourselves and watching the light rain outside (which helped us just relax inside). Finally we got our check, and the price was just about 2 Euro or so more than we paid for the above mentioned bad meal. Another surprise however was after we had finished paying, the manager asked if we wanted to have a shot of schnapps.... gratis, aka free! We both said yes and he brought us out shot glasses of schnapps (we are thinking it was plum) and a large dollop of whipped cream in the glass. It was a little difficult to drink as the whipped cream was effective at stopping the schnapps, but it was fun to figure out. Mariko was enjoying watching me use my finger to get the whipped cream out of the shot glass (I couldn't think of any other way really).

So with dinner finished, and a free shot of warm schnapps in our bellies, we set off back home at a leisurely pace. We were very happy with our find and I am sure that we will be returning.

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