We’ve really gotten spoiled by the restaurant situation here—we’re about two blocks from downtown and there are dozens of good restaurants to go to for lunch. Not that it’s necessarily cheap: probably $7 to $10. But every new place you try has good home cooking. In addition to standard German food (although I guess it’s really regional—it wasn’t until a visitor wanted to get Sauerbraten that I realized that I’d only seen it on a menu once, and that was a daily special), there’s lots of Yugoslavian and Italian restaurants. The Yugoslavian food is really hearty, and that’s saying something considering the usual German fare, and the Italian restaurants are outstanding. After having lived in Syracuse and Baltimore I really missed not having good Italian restaurants in the Washington area. Evidently Italy is a popular destination for German vacationers and once they try the food they like it, so Italian restaurateurs find a ready market here. However, the pizzas here don’t have enough, or the right kinds, of toppings to satisfy me.
The tradeoff is no decent Chinese restaurants, although there are some good Thai ones. Also some good Greek and some very good French restaurants, although I figure that since we’re so close to France, we might as well go there for French food. We’ve been to the three-star l’Auberge de l’Ill restaurant in Alsace four times now for special occasions. I guess we really should give some other place a chance, but it’s only two hours down the Autobahn, at 100 mph, then a half-hour into France, so it’s hard to resist. Well the cost makes it easier to resist—presently it’s 550 francs for the "Menu," (about $100) although it does include 9 courses. Wine extra, of course, although being in Alsace, you don’t have to pay an unreasonable amount.