Heilig-Geist-Spital, Nuremburg

I've been doing some Spring cleaning...late Spring cleaning.
I must tell you that cleaning is a slow process for me. It is slow because I always get distracted by the forgotten things I dig up. Instead of cleaning, I end up spending my day relishing in the memories that these lost-and-then-found treasures bring me.

My latest find was a pile of wonderful German restaurant menus I had taken home with me from my trip to Nuremburg. Yes, I always ask before taking.

Nuremburg may be a small city by North American standards, but it is Franconia's largest city. It is also a city with a lot of history, dating back to the middle ages. It was the location where the Nazi German leaders tribunals took place, and it was also home for Albreicht Dürer, famous German artist and theorist.

One of the places I visited was Heilig-Geist-Spital. Translated as 'old hospital', this restaurant was once a hospital in the Middle Ages. It is situated over the Pegnitz River, and it has become a restaurant where tourists flock to because of its history.

As you can guess, I had a true Bavarian meal full of meat, dumplings, and lard.

To start, I had 4 grilled sausages with horseradish (4 Nurnberger Rostbratwurstchen mit Sahnemeerrettich). I grew to love the Nurberger sausages. They are tiny, which means you can eat, I don't know...say eight of them without feeling too guilty. These suckers may be small, but they are packed with a lot of flavor.

Four Nurnberger Sausages with Horseradish

Next was the Franconian wedding soup (Frankische Hochzeitssuppe). This was a liver dumpling and a semolina dumpling immersed in beef broth. The soup was garnished with pancake pieces. Normally, liver dumplings are served separate from semolina dumplings. When you marry the two together, you get wedding soup.

Franconian Wedding Soup

My main was the roasted pork shoulder with potato dumpling and sauerkraut (Ofenfrisches Krustenschaufele mit rohem Klosz und Sauerkraut). The pork shoulder was super tender, and the gravy was very nice.

Roasted Pork Shoulder with Potato Dumpling and Sauerkraut

Most of my mates had the sliced veal knuckle with potato dumpling (Kalbshaxenfleisch mit rohem Klosz). This was also very good.

Sliced Veal Knuckle with Potato Dumpling

One thing I never really cared for were the potato dumplings. They were the size of a softball, and it was nothing but starch with bread crumbs in the middle. Here is what the inside of a dumpling looks like:

Inside of a Potato Dumpling

My friend K had the Käsespätzle. Spatzles are little dumpling noodles that are found in German, Austrian, and Swiss dishes. Kasespatzle, specifically, is noodles with cheese and fried onions.

Käsespätzle

For dessert, I had the home made apple strudel with ice cream and whipped cream (Hausgemachter Apfelstrudel mit Eis und Sahne). This was a little too starchy for me.

Apple Strudel

My mates all had the home made apple fritters with ice cream and whipped cream (Hausgemachter Apfelkuchle mit Eis und Sahne). I ended up eating this instead of my strudel.

Apple Fritters

Heilig-Geist-Spital
Spitalgasse 16
Nuremburg, Germany
Telephone: 0911 / 221761

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's Baggers, Nuremburg

I recently got an inquiry about when I was going to post my eatings around Germany. In response to that, here’s one now.

This restaurant was at the top of my list of places to eat in Nuremburg, and I was lucky enough to snag a last minute reservation. I was supposed to eat here with a friend who was meeting me in the city, but after checking the restaurant’s calendar, it turned out that they were closed the entire week except for the day I landed. I quickly threw my luggage in my hotel room, booked an online reservation for 1, shook off my jet-lag, and headed to the restaurant to have dinner at 3pm in the afternoon (it was the only time available).

This restaurant is unique because it is a robotic restaurant. They do not have waiters serving you, and everything is done through computers and machines. 's Baggers in Nuremburg Germany gives a whole new meaning to the word 'service', and this restaurant resembles a life-size pinball machine. I had a very delightful meal here, and I'm excited to share my experience with you.

‘s Baggers had an English version of their website, so I didn’t even think twice about the language barrier. However, I should have taken a cue when the online reservations page was only in German (thank you Google Translator). When I got to my table, the touch screen menu was 95% German...blast, how am I going to eat I thought to myself? Luckily, the restaurant seating was communal, and the German family beside me was kind enough to adopt me as their second child for the afternoon.

I was given a quick tutorial (in broken English, and lots of hand actions) on how the restaurant worked, and how to navigate through the menu. Here’s a photo of what the touch screen menu looks like:

Before being seated at your table, you are given a credit card type card, where your order information is stored. Once your card is inserted into the touch screen, you can begin to place your order by selecting your drinks, mains, sides, and desserts.

Each menu item will have a picture of what the food looks like, and if you want, you can zoom in the photo to have a closer look.

They also provide the ability to search for a particular type of food if you know what you want. This saves searching through the entire (and long) menu to find what you are looking for.

Remember not to order everything at once because as soon as you place your order, the food will be prepared right away. Before you know it, your order will come flying down the metal spiral centerpiece. Luckily, I was warned of this early enough, and placed my dessert order after I finished my meal.

Is it confusing, you ask? Not at all. Everything is color coded, and the system is designed such that it is easy to identify what food is yours. Each seat has a color and number. Before placing your order, you will need to identify on the touch screen your seat color and number. Each pot of food that flies down to your table will have mitts corresponding to your seat color. It’s that simple.

My seat was the black eight ball:

When you receive your food, you will also receive a little sticker that shows the time your order was placed, and the Chef that prepared your dish. I found that the whole system was designed and organized well.

Now that you get the gist of things, here’s what I ordered:

One thing I noticed is that Germans love to mix their drinks with water. On the plane, someone ordered wine mixed with water. When I was with my friend, she kept mixing her Coke with water. At ‘s Baggers, my adopted family recommended apple juice with water. What I didn’t realize was that they would mix their drinks with soda water, and not still water. So that was my drink, an Apfelschorle: apple juice mixed with soda water.

For my main, I ordered an Angus beef goulash with hot peppers & tagliatelle. This dish was incredibly delicious, and I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh everything tasted.

My dessert was a banana with vanilla ice cream, chocolate, and whipped cream. This, too, was excellent. The banana was covered with a hard crunchy batter that was either deep fried or baked. It was incredibly light and not oily at all.

At the end of the meal, you place your dirty dishes in the compartment in front of you, and someone will come remove them. Ok, so the restaurant is not entirely robotic, but close enough.

Overall, the food was amazing, and the restaurant was a lot of fun to eat at. The food came out fairly quickly, and it was about a 10 minute wait for my main course.

At the end of the meal, you can rate your food by giving it a max of 5 stars. The ratings will be used as feedback to the Chefs, and also allow people to search for the most popular dishes.

‘s Baggers use a lot of organic ingredients, and ensures that their food is sourced from local farms.

The restaurant is a little out of the way, being tucked in the middle of an Industrial park about 20-25 minutes away from the city center. A cab ride could get expensive.

I’ll leave you with a video, showing how the food is delivered to your table (this is really cool):

's Baggers

Am Steinacher Kreuz 28

Nuremburg, Germany

Telephone: 0911 / 477 90 90

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