There are a couple of Asian restaurants in Tübingen and since I hadn't tried any of them yet, I figured it was about time. I started with the one near the Döner stand that I usually go to. It's in the old part of town between the Holzmarkt and the Marktplatz. The restaurant is called Asia Bambus and it's located at Kirchgasse 6.
They seem to have a perpetual special which is 5 Euros for any main dish on the menu - or at least they've had this special for the last few months. It's located on the first floor of the building - just above Asmara (the only after-hours bar in town) and an Italian place. Once you go up the stairs it's through a very unassuming little door. and you can pretty much sit wherever you want.
In addition to the dishes being 5 Euros - which includes rice, you can add soup or egg rolls for either 1 or 2 Euro. I had the Kung Pao Pork and the Peking soup. Andrew had the Kung Pao Chicken and Eggdrop soup. The Peking soup is kind of like Hot and Sour soup, but it's a little sweeter than you would expect. I added some chili sauce to it to make it a little spicier. It was pretty tasty. Andrew's eggdrop soup also had some veggies and pieces of chicken in it. He said it was pretty good as well.
As for the Kung Pao dishes, they were good, but as with most Asian foods in Europe they were just a little bit off - mostly because they were not really spicy. Again, I added some chili sauce to spice it up. Even without the spice though, they were very good dishes and I would definitely recommend the restaurant.
One thing of note: I have noticed after having read the ingredients of other foods and having woken up the next day after eating at Asia Bambus with puffy hands and feet, that they use MSG in some foods here. If you're allergic to MSG or just want to avoid it you may want to ask about it.
21 December 2009
15 December 2009
Restaurants: Padeffke
Padeffke is a bakery and cafe on the way from the train station to the old part of town. In the front you can order various baked goods - from bread to pastries. In the back you can sit at any table of your choice. It's basically self serve, so you get your baked goods and coffee from the cashier and then find your table and sit down. The prices are reasonable, and the space is really nice. I've been there twice now. The first time was to grab coffee for a friend's birthday and the second time I went to read.
I'll start with the good parts and transition into the not so great. First, it's very easy to find a place to sit. They've got booths, high tables, low tables, tables with funky chairs, areas where you sit on pillows and hang out - basically whatever space you want to be in, you can find it there. In fact, if you have a specific desire for a firmness of the pillow upon which you sit, you can choose from a variety in the back. They also have a little library back there where you can find a book and do some reading. It's probably the most "american" coffee shop I've been to. Also, when I went they were having a special on some of their baked goods because hey had won some sort of award.
Here's the not so awesome. I had cappuccino both times I went, and I found it to be a little lacking. There was too little foam, and the espresso part tasted a little watered down. There may have been more that made it bad, but at this point I can't remember, all I remember is that it certainly wasn't the best cappuccino I'd ever had. I'm sure some of the other drinks there are just fine, but I just know that I've had better cappuccino elsewhere.
The other not so awesome thing probably has more to do with me than with the location, but I was approached by a crazy woman while I was there. She sat down at a table one away from me, and proceeded to drink her mini wine. (Yes...that kind of crazy person.) She was clearly talking to herself, but you never know if someone is talking on a hands free device these days, so I just ignored that.
Then when a gentleman sat down at the table between us she got up and started talking to him. I could tell she was saying something about someone attacking her but I wasn't sure what she was saying because of the background noise. The guy just wanted to drink his coffee. Eventually she went away, but came back and the guy left essentially telling her to leave him alone. She pestered a few other people and eventually came to my table. I was taking surreptitious pictures of the place when she came up and asked about my camera. It seemed to disturb her, so I put it away. I mean, there's no sense upsetting a crazy woman more than necessary. She told me some crazy story and I seemed uninterested so she went away. Eventually I finished my reading and left.
I would recommend the place as a study location, and that's about it. The prices are comparable to other coffee shops and nobody on the staff is going to bother you about staying too long, but the coffee's not great and there is the possibility for crazy drunk people to harass you.
I'll start with the good parts and transition into the not so great. First, it's very easy to find a place to sit. They've got booths, high tables, low tables, tables with funky chairs, areas where you sit on pillows and hang out - basically whatever space you want to be in, you can find it there. In fact, if you have a specific desire for a firmness of the pillow upon which you sit, you can choose from a variety in the back. They also have a little library back there where you can find a book and do some reading. It's probably the most "american" coffee shop I've been to. Also, when I went they were having a special on some of their baked goods because hey had won some sort of award.
Here's the not so awesome. I had cappuccino both times I went, and I found it to be a little lacking. There was too little foam, and the espresso part tasted a little watered down. There may have been more that made it bad, but at this point I can't remember, all I remember is that it certainly wasn't the best cappuccino I'd ever had. I'm sure some of the other drinks there are just fine, but I just know that I've had better cappuccino elsewhere.
The other not so awesome thing probably has more to do with me than with the location, but I was approached by a crazy woman while I was there. She sat down at a table one away from me, and proceeded to drink her mini wine. (Yes...that kind of crazy person.) She was clearly talking to herself, but you never know if someone is talking on a hands free device these days, so I just ignored that.
Then when a gentleman sat down at the table between us she got up and started talking to him. I could tell she was saying something about someone attacking her but I wasn't sure what she was saying because of the background noise. The guy just wanted to drink his coffee. Eventually she went away, but came back and the guy left essentially telling her to leave him alone. She pestered a few other people and eventually came to my table. I was taking surreptitious pictures of the place when she came up and asked about my camera. It seemed to disturb her, so I put it away. I mean, there's no sense upsetting a crazy woman more than necessary. She told me some crazy story and I seemed uninterested so she went away. Eventually I finished my reading and left.
I would recommend the place as a study location, and that's about it. The prices are comparable to other coffee shops and nobody on the staff is going to bother you about staying too long, but the coffee's not great and there is the possibility for crazy drunk people to harass you.
07 December 2009
Long time no update
This week I will be taking my Ph.D. exams so the only writing I'll be doing involves two twenty-four hour marathon paper writing sessions.
In preparation for that, I've moved my bed next to my desk, so that I can write while sitting in bed and still having an internet connection. These things are important. Plus my chair was getting really uncomfortable.
I also got a care package pictured here from a friend. It's full of stuff that's easy to make in order to sustain me through the week.
Wish me luck!!
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