Europe is a haven for foodies- Thankfully we walked a ton during our trip, but we definitely ate well here. We also tried to find a Vegan/Vegetarian (or friendly) restaurant everywhere we went as well to check out their scene and keep us on a somewhat balanced diet.
Switzerland- Food was really expensive here, We paid upwards of $20 for a meal so we stuck with non-meat plates since meat made it more expensive, and the cheese here is superb.
The plate closest to the camera is Spätzle-German flour and egg noodles, this one was cooked with cheese and gravy.
The plate further is Rösti which is basically like the Swiss version of hashbrowns or potato pancakes. The dish comprises of potato cooked in the style of a fritter mixed with butter. There was an egg with this one, but Phil wasn’t amused at the price tag with three ingredients in this meal!
Spargel is white asparagus that is common during April-June when its in season in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as well. White asparagus tastes slightly different than the green asparagus that is common in PDX, with a more milder slightly vinegary flavor (although that could have been also from the dressing!)
Italy- Milanese cuisine differs from the cuisine of Venice (a lot of seafood) and Rome (very pizza and pasta based) probably due to the geographical location of being closer to France and Switzerland. We saw a lot of sliced meats and cheeses, as well as breaded veal being popular Milanese dishes.
Pizza- Pizza is really common especially for lunch all over Italy with ingredients way fresher, cheese sparser and toppings more elaborate than a majority of places in the US (and every fast food pizza chain). At train stations, airports, and super touristy areas though be wary, because not all pizza is created equal and we saw some bad pizza.
Milanese Breaded Veal- I will admit I’m not a veal person and not so much a breaded/fried food person but I did want to try a Milanese dish so here we are!
Bologna- We were super excited to try the pasta here as it is located in Emilia Romagna, said to be the best for Italian food. Need I say more? We had to sample the Pasta Bolognese.
We couldn’t have an Italy trip without some yummy gelato 🙂
Prague- Czech cuisine is pretty heavy and very similar to Austrian/Hungarian cuisine. We split a sample platter with local dishes! From right to left- Dumplings (best with gravy/cabbage), White and red cabbage (amazing), venison sausage, roasted duck. It’s very meat oriented and definitely leaves you feeling very full. I definitely would advise to split a meal like this and the meals were way more affordable here even at sit down restaurants.
Trdelnik is a common street food in the Czech Republic and other nearby countries, that is a rolled pastry filled with different things. The one on the left was filled with vanilla ice-cream and the one on the right has custard and strawberries, and whipped cream! We preferred the one on the right which went to well with the cinnamon outside. The outside tasted similar to a churro.
Beer Festival Foods- Unlike most beer fests I’ve attended the kitchen was in the tent and they had a great variety of dishes. Appetizers, roasted chicken, sausage, salads, and more! Below is a tapas style fish, creams, and bread dish.
Here sausage is eaten separately from the bread, cutting the sausage and then taking a piece of bread and dipping the bread in the sauce and eating a bite of bread after a bite of sausage. No buns necessary. On the right is red cabbage and Knedlíky (dumplings) with fried onions and other toppings.
Vienna– We found the food to be similar to Prague (Hungary influenced Goulash, lots of cabbage, heavy on the meat) with more pastries and Würstel (sausage). We expected there to be a large beer scene here but found the wine culture a lot more prominent. Wine gardens have outdoor seating and Austria is a large producer of wine (dry white mainly) so they are a nice affordable option as well as street food. Below is a stand for a quick grab and go lunch.
There are many different kinds of Würstel as seen below
Beef with a side of sauerkraut. We opted out of the bread that is used on the side and they cut the sausage for you
Currywurst: Traditional Vienna sausage with Curried ketchup and spice on the top. Yum!
Weinerschnitzel and pomme frites (french fries/chips). Breaded veal with cheese made it slightly different than the Milanese version.
Viennese Goulash– Beef stew served with dumplings!
Dessert: We had some chocolate cake at a nearby Heurigen (wine garden) which is a great place to go for a dessert, glass of wine, and many people have a late lunch here as well.
Breakfast pastries are popular- below is an Apfelstrudel (apple strudel)
Possibly our favorite meal here- finger sandwiches from Trzesniewski
Amsterdam- Since this was our second time here and it was brief we wanted to try some amazing wok, a couple snacks, and a Dutch Indonesian restaurant. Amsterdam is amazing because there are different restaurant cuisine everywhere (we’ve had Afghan, Argentina and Ethiopian food here!) and types of food you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere, although Portland is pretty close. Because of the culture and nightlife there some restaurants open late and stay open until the wee hours of the morning.
Stroopwaffle- A thin waffle with a caramel filling. There are also Belgian waffles all over the place
Mister Wok, the best wok I’ve ever had! Unfortunately they open 5 PM until 5 AM so we weren’t able to fit it in this time. We did have Wok to Walk which is down the street and also great.
Rijsttafel– “Rice table.” Meant to be shared by the whole table (at least 2 people) they provide you with a bowl of white rice and fried rice, and many different toppings. You are supposed to have a bit of rice with each of the different toppings. It’s a lot of food meant to be consumed other a long period of time but kind of similar to sushi, we managed to get through a lot of it without feeling overly stuffed.
Iceland- Like Switzerland food was really expensive here! Some of the traditional Icelandic dishes are puffin, whale, fermented shark, and sheeps head. Yep. We were not that adventurous…The seafood was nothing short of amazing and had we spent more time there I definitely would have had more to share!
Breakfast was a interesting mix of potatoes, egg (look at how farm fresh it is!), salad, lamb, and fried onion. It was tasty but was split between us and two espressos + tea, a pastry, and this dish ran about USD 50 🙁
Happy Marriage Cake– It’s more of a bar cookie, filled with oatmeal and rhubarb. Yum!
at The Lobster Shack they had all things Lobster- salad, soup, and sandwich!
My favorite vegan food on this trip was found in Reykjavik at Glo. They also make to go food that was served on Iceland Air! Decent plane food is a seriously hard to find commodity…
