Dishola: Reviews by the Dish

, Berlin, DE

Berliner on 02/23/07

I thought the Vietnamese person brave enough to introduce the crispy baguette sandwiches known as bánh mi to Berlin would get rich. Vietnamese food here bears no resemblance to what you get in the States. The "phô" is more like chicken noodle soup, without a trace of star anise, let alone the green platter that comes with it, and the rest of the stuff is all unknown to my reference books. But the two young guys who've opened YumMee near the corner of Oranienburger Str. and Friedrichstr. are quite gung ho about it, and I've now been down there several times to cheer them on. Not the best bánh mi I've had by a long shot, but then, it wouldn't be. One thing they get right is the bread: crispy, but not gummy like most German baguettes. They're hesitant to put on the crunchy stuff -- marinated daikon radish, marinated carrots, cilantro -- and the green chili mentioned on the menu is really bell pepper. "We're afraid of freaking out the Germans; we want them to get used to bánh mi first," one of the guys told me in a perfect California accent, although neither has ever been to the States. Nor do they use Vietnamese mayonnaise, which is a shame. But they're talking about adding pâté and tiger prawns to the menu, and they've got a small internet cafe for tourists in the back. Get rich? Hey, I'd be happy if they'd just stay in business.

Nikolaistraße 6, Görlitz, DE

Berliner on 02/13/07

The Silesian kingdom of heaven is yours, usually for ten or eleven Euros. All you have to do is to go to Germany's easternmost city, Görlitz, to get it. It's available in all of the city's best restaurants, and all of its best restaurants are mind-bogglingly cheap. This may be due to Görlitz' position on the Polish border, or to the fact that although it's riddled with medieval and Renaissance buildings, all of which have been eye-poppingly restored, nobody ever goes there. Oh, yes, the kingdom. It's pork and dried fruit. Ham, Kassler, and pork loin (Kassler is a specially-smoked pork chop developed in Berlin), stewed with apples, apricots, and prunes. You get a couple of huge dumplings to soak up the goodness with, and if you've been smart, you've started off with the appetizer of smoked herring mashed together with onions and hard-boiled eggs, so that a bottle of one of the local beers is a welcome addition. That appetizer, though, will add another three Euros to the bill, and the beer will be 1.50, so the damage at Destille will be €15.50. Fortunately, the old city wall is just outside the restaurant, providing a nice walk in the greenery to settle your stomach. Or, if the folks at the restaurant are in a good mood, you can go downstairs and see the ancient Jewish mikveh. Or you can just walk around, knowing that the kingdom of heaven is available on earth in Görlitz.

Rathausplatz 1, Nürnberg, DE

Berliner on 02/13/07

Yes, it's a touristy thing to do. No, they don't really serve anything else. And I've just discovered that they're owned by the same people who do the Bratwurst-Glöcklein in the Handwerkerhof, which is right across from the train station, making it the lunch of choice when changing trains on my way to or from Austria. But come on: you're not going to go to Nürnberg and not have Rostbratwurst, are you? Tiny finger-sized sausages, seasoned with sage and the distant ancestors of our American breakfast sausages, but cooked over a beechwood fire and served with good old mittelscharf German mustard, and, therefore, far superior to Jimmy Dean's. Plus, you get your choice of potato salad or Krautsalat, which is cabbage salad not too unlike coleslaw, and since they're both good, you can get a side of whatever you didn't order with your sausages for a Euro or so. There are baskets of great rye rolls and huge pretzels (Brezl'n) at the table, but the eagle-eye waitress keeps tabs, so yes, you do get charged. If only the beer -- Tucher, about the only bad beer in Bavaria -- were better. And the busloads of tourists weren't there. Still, on a nice day you can sit outside, smelling the beech fire, and invigorate yourself for a nice tour of downtown Nürnberg with the native sausages.

13 rue de Charonne, Paris, FR
(014) 700-3457

Berliner on 02/13/07

If you're expecting up-to-the-moment French gastronomy, go elsewhere. In fact, go elsewhere anyway; this place is jammed too often, although the recent expansion hasn't hurt the food at all. This is mom-and-pop French comfort food, served in huge portions at reasonable prices. And this is the dish I keep ordering, usually after the rabbit terrine, another dependable standby. Maybe it's the challenge of finishing the gigantic bowl of potatoes au gratin, with its thick layer of cantal cheese melting into it and some of it crisped on top. It always defeats me, though. But yeah, the steak au poivre, the centerpiece, with its green and black peppercorns and cognac reduction sauce draping it: what could be better on a cold evening, with the pavements slick with spring rain? And where do they get these perfect steaks, anyway? Everyplace else I've been in France, I've gotten at least one unchewable bit. Not here. I guess it's just something that happens when you've been in business pretty much forever. That and the connection with the mysterious monastery somewhere in Bordeaux that provides the house red. How can it be so good, and so cheap? I'm not saying Chez Paul is cheap, but I do get out of there for 30 Euros or so each time I make the pilgrimage. But, like I said, don't you bother: it's old-fashioned, and you'll never see the chef on TV. And I want to make sure I get a table, okay?