Gosh, I do love a road trip! You take detours, find gems, see new places and get to experience a place uniquely for you. We drove to Freudenstadt which is about an hour or so away from Baden-baden. We didn’t have anything planned and I don’t think Freudenstadt is a popular tourist destination, nonetheless, off we went. The centre of town had locals having coffee and enjoying the sun. The flowers were still in full bloom and bursting with colour, it was lovely. We also found the clock shop where Neal’s parents got their cuckoo clock back in 1972! German Efficiency at its finest!
Lunch was in Klosterle-hof which is a traditional German INN that has won the Michelin Bib Gourmand fifteen, yep, 15 times. These guys are no amateurs for sure. We did not have a reservation, but as always, the food gods come through for us and we were given a table. The menu was very much no fuss (Germans eh?!) starters, fish, grill and main dish. We decided to have an item from each section aside from the grill.
As a starter, we had the ravioli and truffle. It was fantastic – ravioli was perfect, sauce was creamy and best of all, there was a generous amount of truffle! Yasss!!! The salad was also delicious with a sweet dressing. It was while wolfing down this salad that we had our eureka moment – the Germans tend to favour sweet dressings with their salads!
I decided to have fish, but I was not ready for this fish! It literally was the whole river fish that was plated up and served. I can’t remember the last time I had a whole fish. It was a pinkish / red river fish which was stuffed with rosemary and thyme. No, the herbs were not overpowering but I think I skipped the part where the waitress mentioned that the fish was bony! That said, I really enjoyed it, the fish tasted so fresh! And the house recommended wine was fantastic! Neal on the other hand, had pork with cherries. This course is a local favourite and he loved it. It was served with egg pasta and a pint of local Weissbier.
Pub lunch in Germany, check!
p.s. the carafe for my wine has got to be the best looking one yet!
prost
Ndidi
