Tourist information - Dresden
The way to the heart of this city is through your stomach! Dresden's local cuisine is what one might describe as hearty: sour roast, potato soup, and Christmas stollen - those are but of a few of the regular treats of a Saxon kitchen. Good old, tasty, home-cooked food will make you feel like you're right at home with all you need for the perfect feast.
By the late sequences of the Second World War and because of the restrictions of the GDR's economy, the common recipes were somewhat simplified. But fortunately, a fresh wind has lifted Dresden's cuisine to brand new heights since reunification! The very creative usage of spices and the development of many new twists anchored on an old theme (the time-old tradition of Saxon gastronomy) replaced a momentary bland repertoire of local dishes into an undeniably modern, cosmopolitan life-style amongst Dresdeners.
This new method of cooking is primarily pronounced in the popular Dresdner district of Neustadt. This is a multi-cultural quarter, which seems to be having grown into the centre of all culinary excursions, due to the density of worthy chefs in the region.
In the Äussere Neustadt (Outer New Town) you are going to stumble across several well-known Dresden bars, such as the Havanna Club Bar, Frank's Bar or Studiobar.
If you make your appearance in these hot-spots, they are crammed wall to wall, don't worry, there is still a vast tally of other taverns to pick from whose credentials are by no means limited to the scope of their happy hour.
Should you have an unquenchable weakness for all things French, don't miss a trip to La Vie en Rose. Furthermore, La Rue is definitely worth its salt. It is established to mimic a French street, complete with Bistro, restaurant, wine cellar and Creperie. Actually, Italian fans will not go home empty handed either: the temperamental Ristorante Al Capone, the La Casina Rosa or even the bistro-like La Pergola is at your service. Indian food is within the menu in the Scheune Café, and also in the Raskolnikoff Restaurant, you'll be handled to a critic's choice fusion mixture of Russian-international cuisine.
Friendly Turkish establishments selling superb lunch dishes seem to be ten a penny as well as on every corner (Dueruem, Rothenburger Straße or Baguetterieas, Bag's, Louisenstraße); fans of Spanish Tapas will surely meet their match in El Perro Borracho which is located within the beautiful Kunsthof.
Innumerable small and large Cafés give you the perfect spot to stay and savour a bite to eat or wake up with a coffee. A lot of the taverns have a large selection of breakfast and brunch deals on the menu. To be fair, the requirements of your average 'breakfast-crazy' Dresdener, who swarm straight into the cafes on a Sunday, are by no means easy to satisfy. In the Kontinental, in the Blumenau, the Planwirtschaft or in the Café Reale (with a bit of a Buffet) you may enjoy in style and easily get dragged into Dresden's breakfast culture.
Part of the Innere Neustadt is characterized by noble, restored buildings as well as the ambling mile of the Königstraße. Numerous tourists love to be here with actually good reason. Yet it is not only foreign people who experience the city's restaurants, including the Czech Wenzel - Prager Bierstuben or the fine New California and Dresden's many small Italian restaurants dotted about. You will observe many a local out for dinner, drinking Cappuccino, eating great big ice-creams or tourists writing postcards. Either Schwarzmarktcafé or the Eiscafé Venezia is very enjoyable.
A significant tavern scene has also sprung up in the City Centre. Straight over the Shopping mile Prager Straße is Café Börse, which is mostly overfilled. The Barock is likewise ideal for the Apres Shopping process of recovery. At Zwinger and Semperoper one finds the exotic Busmann's Brazil alongside various other Cafés. The small restaurants owned by the Art'otel in Maxstraße are particularly well fitted-out, as is the Fischgalerie.
Almost all would agree that students are primarily a pub-going and hard-drinking group and because of this, the university campus is positively riddled with economical facilities. Most central is probably the ale-house Bierstube in der Neuen Mensa and students can also anticipate to salivate over Hübner's, Müller's and Café B.Liebig.
Directly between Frauenkirche and Elbe is a further maze of gastronomical highlights. In the short Muenzgasse, one of the oldest lanes of the city, one can dine and stroll in beautiful surroundings. In the Café zur Frauenkirche, you're not far from the famous church along with its construction and are also spoilt for choice in regards to both German and French cuisine.All over the Hilton Hotel; you'll find the Crêpe Galerie, the Australian-style Ayers Rock, the historical Kleppereck and the rather elegant Ristorante Rossini.
In the summer time it is best outside! Luckily, there is a sterling array of beer gardens and catering with outside facilities. It is nice after the trip using the bicycle to restock on caloriesor even to cool you with a Radeberger beer! This is possible among others in the Drachen, in the Lindenschänke or in the Fährgarten Johannstadt. The Kahnaletto is a restaurant which one finds not merely on the banks of the river Elbe,but also on it! In the beautiful Villa Marie garden, you can view the river rushing and the famous bridge Blaues Wunder, with exquisite Italian cuisine right next door.
That in Dresden people love to celebrate and eat well is no secret. The Bunte Republik Neustadt is a multi-cultural district party by which you'll get mainly an unstrained combination of international cuisine.
The Elbhangfest is well known amongst old and young alike. All across the river Elbe, you can not only drink wine and tuck in to some decent food, but also enjoy all kinds of distractions. In the wintertime, the Striezelmarkt is attractively romantic, especially at Christmas and at each second stand you'll be able to try all kinds of delicious Saxon specialities, have you ever tried a Pflaumentoffel?
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