To date, I have been sorely disappointed by Asian food in Germany. Sorry guys, but YOU just don’t get it.
My first experience was the local Chinese restaurant in Karlsruhe. A favourite of my Sister in Law and her family. I was excited. I missed Asian food.
We are spoiled for choice in multicultural Australia. Want a quick bite to eat? No problem! Pop into any number of small Chinese/Asian takeaways, and a steaming bowl of delicious, fresh, Asian green vegetables and health restoring soup is yours. Rushing home from work, grab a succulent roast duck, chopped up and ready to serve. Like I said…spoilt.
As we all opened our menus, I felt a tingle of excitement. It looked good on paper. A large group at a Chinese restaurant in Australia is a treat. It means you can order lots and lots of different dishes, all placed in the middle, all shared. I couldn’t quite get a handle on what the others were ordering, so when it came to my turn, I requested the Chef Recommends - Five Spice Crispy Duck.
We waited… and I watched in horror as no less than 12 portions of Five Spice Crispy Duck were placed on the table. I looked across the table at Mr Dear Husband. He looked back at me. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. I waited for the other ten people to notice the huge mistake. No reaction.
They just each reached across to ‘their’ portion, pulled it a little closer to their bowl and dug in.
There is no sharing. And all the dishes have a distinctly German flair. The only vaguely Asian green that I saw was a lone bean sprout.
The meal was completed with Deep Fried Ice-Cream.
Can you say 1974, people?
