I’m a little late with this post because I was on the road this week. I spent a few days in Osnabrück near Hannover. This region is quite unlike the agricultural region where I live. Osnabrück and the surrounding cities are much more modern and integrated into the international economy. As such, they have people from all over the world… if you count North Americans and British people as “all over the world.”
The advantage to this is the food scene. While still typically Northern European, in that normally spicy food is still nearly devoid of any kick, it can still be quite tasty and certainly fulfills any cravings for anyone that has been deprived of international foods for two years… like me.
I had a decent Indian lunch at Ashoka. The green bean and potato dish was particularly nice. The nan was a bit disappointing. It was more of a whole wheat pita than the nan I am used to. It was good, but not what I wanted. The tandoori chicken tasted like… chicken. Tandoori chicken usually has a unique taste the reflects the high-heat cooking technique and the spice rub, but this chicken seemed to be roasted in the normal European way with a spice rub just added on.
But dinner the following night at Arabesque was, in spite of the lack of spice, quite wonderful. Fortunately I was the beneficiary of a buffet dinner thrown by my gracious hosts. From full bodied and adequately garlic-laden hummus to properly marinated lamb I was in heaven. The dry curry overpowered the chicken, though. You can’t win them all. The rice was over-spiced, too. But the salad, the samosas and everything else was just great. I washed it down with a dark wheat beer. Not traditional… but yummy.
Ashoka
Herrenteichsstr. 1, 49074 Osnabrück
Telephone: +49 541 260505
Arabesque
http://www.arabesque-osnabrueck.de/
Osterberger Reihe 12
49074 Osnabrück
Telephone: +49 541 260 363
For more eating adventures, read Expatriate Eating Adventures: Volume 1.
Those places are great! There are quite a few places in OS that have pretty good food. I lived in Osnabrück for just over three years, and my wife is originally from the area.
Now if only we can find places like that here in Braunschweig.