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Restaurants serving foods other than traditional German foods

I don't think I am going to enjoy traditional German foods. Where can I go to eat in restaurants offering other types of foods, ( salads w grilled chicken or salmon or shrimp or steak).
Where can I shop in large German cities for fruits or other foods?

Posted by
7524 posts

Where can I go to eat in restaurants offering other types of foods?

Anywhere and everywhere. German food has become difficult to find in Germany IME, which has perplexed and disappointed me to a certain degree. Same answer to your grocery question.

Posted by
3245 posts

The world, and the cities in it, have become cosmopolitan with regard to food, music, art, clothing and other things.
You can now find almost any type of cuisine in both large and smaller German cities. And, yes, they even have vegetarian restaurants in what once was meat-and-potatoes Germany.

Posted by
6359 posts

Where can I go to eat in restaurants offering other types of foods, ( salads w grilled chicken or salmon or shrimp or steak).

As noted above- just about anywhere. This is like asking where you can find Italian or Chinese food in the US. Oh, and you can find those even in small towns, too. My little Bavarian village had Italian, Greek, Mexican and Chinese, in addition to traditional Bavarian.

Blockquote
Where can I shop in large German cities for fruits or other foods?

I would suggest a grocery store, supermarket, or food market.

Posted by
17612 posts

Most mid-level restaurants, even the “traditional” ones, will offer a “Fitness Teller” ( healthy plate) with a grilled chicken breast or other protein, and salad. Or just go to an Italian restaurant——they are all over.

Posted by
3974 posts

Where can I shop in large German cities for fruits or other foods?

In every supermarket, e. g. Rewe, Edeka, Lidl, Aldi and others. Some of them are called discounters but a recent price testing based on food basics showed that there was not 1 Cent difference.

In most German food restaurants you will also find salad variations. You will also find a lot of grill restaurants and steak houses, some of them as a chain with branches, e. g. Block House.

As fast food I recommend to try a Döner Kebap whcih is a quarter round bread with choice of meat and salad and a dressing. If you prefer a salad look at dean&david branches.

Worth a try are also various sausages from a grill, e. g. Thüringer Rostbratwurst.

Posted by
419 posts

My wife and I have a great meal at an Indian restaurant at least once per trip. They normally have vegetarian dishes as well as beef, lamb, chicken. Many years ago, before my first visit to Germany, I was worried I wouldn't like the food. I was very, very wrong.

Posted by
2090 posts

Salmon, chicken, and steak are all traditional German foods. But you can find pretty much anything in the major cities. Indian, Asian, British, American, Moroccan, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, etc. The salads are a bit different. Ranch is not a thing. Pickled foods are a bit more common, as are veggies you probably don't encounter as much (cabbage, beets, turnips, shallots, etc). I usually get my produce at the open air markets, and every town has one. Usually on Saturdays in the bigger places, weekdays everywhere.

The restaurants have their menu's posted outside, so you can tell what they have before entering.

Posted by
9460 posts

There is no across the board "Traditional German" food. Each region has its' own, though you can often buy certain menu items in other regions. Like Käse Spätzle, which is basically German mac and cheese, but way better. Frankfurt Grüne Sosse, somewhat similar to sour cream and chives on potatoes, but with more herbs and a hard boiled egg. Also served on a schnitzel if you like, making it a Frankfurt Schnitzel, but more commonly served on potatoes. Mushroom dishes are popular, pumpkin ravioli is popular too. Look on the vegetarian / vegan options in pretty much every menu and you may be surprised at what the cook has created. One chain, Hans im Gluck, has at least 6 vegetarian burgers and 6 vegan burgers, as well as regular burgers. Sweet potato fries can be found in many restaurants. Flammkuche is widely available across Germany, though it comes from the Alsace region. My favorite has mushrooms, spinach and mango on it.

That said, Frankfurt has restaurants from around 80 nationalities here, so you can have your choice. Lots of African, Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian, Israeli, moving on towards niche restaurants serving Peruvian, Cuban, or Mongolian.

Posted by
136 posts

This is a link to a popular chain restaurant, ALEX. It is found in many cities in Germany. I don't know where you are going but an ALEX is never far away: https://www.dein-alex.de/mainz/speisekarte

It gives you an idea of what modern German food is like - light and influenced by many other cultures, including the sorts of things you mention (salads, chicken, etc). I switched the page view to English, but if that didn't work for you, search for the little British flag on the lower left side of the screen when it is scrolled to the top.

Lavandula

Posted by
875 posts

In Munich like every other German city, you'll find that most locals don't eat 'typical German food' (which doesn't exist, as Ms. Jo already mentioned) every day. There's probably hardly a national cuisine from all over the planet you won't find. So nothing should be easier than eating what you're looking for. And yes part of the German food tradition as well are salad, salmon, chicken, and steak.

As for the question about fruit, it's basically been answered several times already. In Munich, you'll find a fruit paradise at the Viktualienmarkt - fresh fruit as far as the eye can see.

Posted by
9058 posts

I lived in Germany for four years and loved the Yugoslavian restaurants. That country is no more, but the cuisine is great.

Also, I was born in Texas and love Mexican food, but the Mexican restaurants in Germany do not do justice to their Mexican food.

Love the Goulash soup in Germany.

Posted by
9460 posts

There are actually some very good, very authentic Mexican restaurants in Frankfurt, owned and run by Mexicans.
Things change, especially in the past 30 years. Generalizing about something that might have been true 30 years ago, doesn't help people on the forum that are looking for up-to date information.

Posted by
2158 posts

If you are in a large city there are Vietnamese, Thai, Indian and authentic Italian restaurants. Even in Bavaria and Salzburg there are wrap and bowl cafes everywhere. In most grocery stores there will often be a deli where you can buy sandwiches.

But I urge you to try Bavarian foods at least once in a beerhall. I generally hate pork in the US but went on a food tour and had the most delicious Bavarian pork. I still dream about it and can’t find it in the states.

Posted by
9058 posts

Ms. Jo, I have been back to Germany since I lived there 30 years ago, but wasn't looking for Mexican food. I enjoyed great German food, which does vary from each area of Germany. I especially love the Swabian and Bavarian food.

As for really good Mexican restaurants, we have one in our community that is excellent, but still not quite what you get in Texas. There are three more that are also owned or operated by Mexican-Americans and are at best mediocre.

I do enjoy your informative post, Ms. Jo, keep up the good work.

Posted by
653 posts

Depending upon where you are, it may be much more challenging to find proper and authentic German food than to get other styles of foods. Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Turkish, pick one...they are everywhere. You can more easily get a gyro than you can a good wurst in some places. This is especially true in the tourist centric city centers.
But German food, if you find it, is not all fried Schnitzel and Schweinhaxe. You need to seek those out.
Growing up in Germany, we ate a lot of potatoes, fish, bread, vegetables and salads and sausage. My grandfather's favorite meal was fried herring and boiled potatoes with linseed oil (its good). I imagine he would have enjoyed salmon had it been more available (early 1960's Berlin).
Fruits and vegetables are available at every market and in all of the grocery stores. Often there will be a small private market outside of a supermarket. There you can but all variety of things. I saw fresh lychee fruit in Berlin last summer. The same stand was selling strawberries.

All of that said, be adventurous and try things. You never know until you do. I had a dish made with kidney last summer. It was a bit funky, but it was a very old-fashioned dish that is rarely on modern menus. It went pretty well with a nice pils.

Mexican food. OK. Decent Tex Mex can be had in Texas or just about anywhere in the US. Decent Mexican food can be found in California or Arizona. Really good Mexican food, I have had it in Mexico. I have never had anything resembling proper Mexican food in Europe or Asia. I have had food that resembles Tex Mex, but not proper Mexican. The ingredients are either not available or not fresh enough if they are, at least from my experience.