Some may have noticed that I have been absent for a couple of weeks now, that is because Husband and I went on a little holiday. More on that soon but what I had wanted to share with you before I went away, is a lovely dinner we had with some friends at "Auf dem Kreuz". I ran out of time before leaving, that is why you are only reading about this now. "Auf dem Kreuz" in Ulm is one of my favourite restaurants. It is located a little bit away from the main drag, it is the only restaurant in a residential area, so some may not have heard of it. In summer time, when the weather agrees, they set up the traditional beer benches and if you get in early you can enjoy your dinner outside, admiring the beautiful old buildings that surround you.
That's exactly what we did a few weeks ago, ringing and reserving and emphasising our preference for an outside table. We got everything we requested and were excited about the food. The menu is seasonal and changes weekly, sometimes daily. There are some staples though, like "Zwiebelrostbraten" (Swabian steak with onions), but the unique thing about this place, is that it not only has Swabian specialities on the menu but also whatever the chef seems to feel like cooking. It isn't unusual to find a Thai style, glass noodle salad on the menu, for example, or Lebanese style octopus with mashed white beans, all pretty exotic for this neck of the woods. I have been to this restaurant many times over the last few years and have to say, while the dining experience is generally good, there are times when the wheels do fall off the wagon, if you know what I mean. Like the time we decided to take a big group of friends on a Saturday night and ended up waiting over an hour for our food. Or the time we went on a Friday night and it took a good half an hour to get the waitress's attention to order dessert and then, after waiting another half an hour with no sign of said dessert, we decided to cancel and leave. These two incidents did occur on very busy nights but be warned, while things can run perfectly smoothly even on a busy night, Friday and Saturday nights can leave you waiting longer than expected. Having said that, the service is friendly and they generally do their best to look after their guests. There was that time, when Husband ordered rose instead of red wine and didn't notice his mistake when she presented the wine to us. He only noticed something untoward when she poured the wine in his glass to taste, and rather than rich red, he got pale pink. She very graciously changed the bottle for us without charge, even though the fault was ours. On the particular Tuesday night that we visited, all elements came together very nicely, that is to say, no wheels falling off any wagons, resulting in an extremely pleasant dining experience. We ate, drank and very merrily enjoyed the warm, summer evening.
Not that I wasn't enjoying the company of our friends, but I have to admit to eavesdropping on a conversation at a nearby table. I heard English and an Australian accent and that always gets me curious but our friends were talking too loudly and I wasn't really able to pick up on who she was and what she was doing in Ulm. Nevertheless, she was lucky to have such foodie friends that would take her to "Auf dem Kreuz" for dinner. I think, I have taken almost everyone who has visited me in Ulm here to eat. If I haven't been with you, it is because I hadn't discovered it myself yet or because they were closed (they are not open on Sunday night or Monday night, are only open for dinner and take an extended break over Christmas). On the night we went, our friends ordered the very Swabian dish of lentils with "Spätzle" (Swabian noodles). This dish is also served with a Wiener sausage and a big ol' slab of smoked pork belly.
Husband ordered the lamb cutlets with chanterelles, served with delicious looking roast potatoes that I didn't try because I was busy tucking into my lamb curry.
Yes, that's right, I ordered the curry. This is probably the only restaurant in Ulm, the Indian ones included, where I order the curry without fear. It was well spiced, easy on the chilli and very satisfying. I was also impressed by the raita that came with it.
There are some I have spoken to around these parts who find "Auf dem Kreuz" snobby, this is something I don't really understand (if you have eaten here, let me know how you found it), compared to some of my dining out experiences, this does not rate at all on the 'snobby' radar. Although, that could just mean that I am one of the snobs and therefore feel quite at home here. I find the atmosphere laid back and very relaxed. Overall, a very nice dining experience, one to visit if you are ever in the area.
I went raspberry picking for the first time last week!!! It felt like a holiday to be able to do this right in the middle of my working week. A friend and I decided it would be a nice idea and they were so cheap. On the way to the raspberry field, I noticed some other fruit growing in abundance at the moment. So abundant in fact, that you can find pears on the street and no one seems particularly excited by this, except for the foreigner with the camera. There are trees so full of plums they look like bunches of giant purple grapes. Everywhere you look, something seems to be growing. Here are some pictures of my mid-week holiday, the raspberries and one of the many ways they ended up being eaten.
The leaves sort of act like a shelter for the berries and you have to really crouch down and see what's hiding behind them to find the good ones.
The camera shy raspberry farmer, who wasn't too shy to hand feed raspberries to young raspberry picking ladies when he wasn't being photographed.
We ended up with 1 kilogram of raspberries and took home 500 grams each. They were also very delicious and I think my friend ended up eating more than made it into the punnet. They taste best when just picked. The whole experience was like a dream, raspberries being my favourite berry and all.
Other than cramming them into my mouth totally fresh, I also used them to top a lemon tart.
I haven't got a recipe for you, there are so many recipes for lemon tart out there or you probably already have one that you like best. My friend said she ended up baking something with her berries too, I'll try to post the pictures here so you can see where the other 500 grams ended up.
