Ginnheimer Wirtshaus – My favorite inn / beer-garden in Frankfurt

I recently visited again my favorite Wirtshaus in Frankfurt together with my family. A Wirtshaus is a traditional German inn which typically services classic German dishes like Schnitzel and pork knuckle, and of course serves beer with it. This one, the Ginnheimer Wirtshaus, as is often the case, also has an adjacent beer-garden. I got to know this spot because my first apartment in Frankfurt was situated close by. The area is already what is considered the outer suburbs of Frankfurt, off the city center and away from the super lively and popular inner suburbs. Therefore, this place is really a local experience. However, it is by no means a secret hidden place. It is located just outside the Nidda Park and is getting really busy on nice summer weekends, when hikers, cyclists and locals stop to have a meal and a beer or two.

I visited the Ginnheimer Wirtshaus already multiple times and absolutely love it there. In case of good weather, one typically sits outside in the beer-garden (if you manage to get a place). However, I have also visited many times sitting inside and it feels very homey and comfortable. The place has a traditional rustic charm and the service is super friendly. Therefore, in a cold winter day it is equally nice to visit and I like the feeling of sitting in the warmth, eating a heavy meal and enjoying the cozy atmosphere.

Another reason why I love this place, is that the food as actually really good. Obviously, the dishes are proper down-to-earth German style. The highlight is their Grüne Soße (green sauce), the typical Frankfurter sauce made of different herbs and cream. Ginnheimer Wirtshaus has, in my opinion, one of the best Grüne Soße in Frankfurt – sorry to all Sachsenhauseners who usually claim this title. The sauce needs to be really fresh tasting and it totally does at Ginnheimer Wirtshaus. It is therefore a great place to bring friends and family to show some traditional Frankfurt dish.

When we visited recently, the autumn season already started and the days were getting shorter. So, we went inside and got a cozy table. Obviously, my parents had to order a dish of Grüne Soße. They chose a classic Frankfurt one that has eggs and potatoes. I went for the so-called Frankfurter Schnitzel, which I think is also must-try for all visitors of the city. It is the usual Schnitzel, but covered by a thick layer of fresh Grüne Soße. Needless to say, that I loved my Schnitzel in Ginheimer Wirtshaus. My parents were equally enthusiastic about their dish. And my wife had a Schnitzel with a mushroom sauce (champignons), which is also really good there. Overall, this is a great stop for anyone visiting the Nidda Park and looking for a traditional Frankfurt dining and drinking experience.

Style: Casual eatery/Dinner

Cuisine: German

Location: Ginnheim

Website: http://www.ginnheimer-wirtshaus.de/

Excursion: Visit to Croatia – Restaurant tips for Zagreb, Zadar and Split

My wife and I just came back from a summer vacation in Croatia. The country is famous mostly for its long Adriatic coast line with many small islands scatter just short ferry trips away. In general, it is not advisable to travel Croatia in August as this is high season and touristy places, especially on the coast, get extremely crowded. Unfortunately, work does not permit us to take holidays later, so it was either now or not this year. We anyway had a good time, trying to ignore the tourist crowds, and instead discovering the culinary offerings.

Croatia is culturally and culinarily part of the distinct Western Balkan region and thus very close to Bosnia and Serbia despite remaining grievances between the nationalities after the collapse of Yugoslavia and the ensuing war. These countries not only share a common language, but many dishes and food costumes. Most notably, as in the entire region, ćevapčići is a popular street food. This is sausage shaped meat consisting of ground beef, pork and lamb mixed with eggs and spices. The Bosnian/Muslim version would be without pork and so every area of the Balkan has their own variety of the dish. It is a regional specialty that derives from the Ottoman rule of the region. Cevapčići is close to the kebab of Turkey and is usually served, just like the popular döner kebab version, in a flatbread. 

Croatia is also strongly influenced by Italy. Not only did the Romans leave cultural and architectural traces, but also the Venetian kingdom controlled most islands and cities of the Dalmatian coast during the Renaissance era. Culinarily, Croatia is thus also part of the typical Mediterranean food culture with its focus on fresh vegetables, olive oil and wine production. The country is indeed a proud wine producer and it is here, where Eastern European beer culture meets Southern wine culture. Croatia is famous for the Zinfandel grape, which originates there and is grown in large parts of the former Austrian-Hungarian empire. Now it is a major grape grown in the Californian Napa Valley. The Croatian name for it is Crljenak Kaštelanski, rather complicated for foreign tongues. I can recommend however a cross bread of the Zinfandel that I became enthusiastic with during the trip called Plavac Mali.

We ate very well in Croatia and I give you here a few highlights, which can be taken as recommendations for your future visit. Coming from Germany, we first arrived in sunny, or better scorching hot, Zagreb, the capital in central Croatia. During our first night out in the city, we had dinner at Vinodol (link), which is a rather upscale, but popular restaurant with plenty of space. I very much enjoyed that they had a half-open terrace where smoking was prohibited. We shared one dish of lamb with potatoes and cabbage, because we also wanted to try the cheese platter. I liked the lamb, but the cheese was the absolute highlight. One of the best platters I ever had – nicely decorated and great strong cheeses. We also enjoyed our first bottle of Plavac Mali there.

A second great food place in Zagreb was Batak grill (link), which was heavily advertised in the city but indeed did not disappoint the promises. We had some great ćevapčići with the traditional ajvar dip. My wife was also enthusiastic about the Balkan-typical Šopska salad, which is very simple – just tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, oil and feta cheese - but with fresh ingredients this is really tasty. After exploring the capital a bit, we had a long bus journey coming that took us to the coastal region.

The first stop on the Adriatic coast was Zadar, which is a small Venetian-style town on a charming peninsula. It is most famous for its sea organ, where the water tides flood into an architectural design that creates sounds. This was pretty cool, but our food was also amazing, which is why I enjoyed the place very much. At the coast, there is of course very good seafood. I like especially fish very much and so I tried a nicely grilled sea bass in a restaurant called 2Ribara (link). The fish was fresh and came with an excellent swiss chard on the side. Secondly, we had a wonderful evening at Harbor Cookhouse & Club (link), which is a fine dining barbecue located on the water front of the harbor. It is more on the pricey side for Croatia, but very much worth it. I had a tuna steak done to perfection with some spicy wasabi. Of course, the bottle of Plavac Mali was fantastic as well.

After another long bus ride, where at least one could enjoy the fimpressive landscape of the Dalmatian coast, we finally arrived in Split. The city is incredibly touristy, but we nonetheless found some great restaurants. For both dinners, we visited something called a konoba, which just means shop/diner in Croatian, but hear specifically means seafood diner. Both places were located near each other in something of a small restaurant area. Despite many tourists in these places, the flair was great, the service friendly and food fantastic. The first one was Konoba Matejuska (link), where I had calamari with swiss chard on the side – and a great bottle of Plavac Mali. The second place was Konoba Varos (link), where I wished I was hungrier. They had really great seafood on the menu. I enjoyed an excellent seafood risotto with scampi and mussels – and we had of course a great Plavac.

To sum up, my advices are 1) don’t go in August and avoid the tourist crowds 2) eat ćevapčići for fast food lunch and seafood for dinner especially at the coast 3) dink Plavac Mali wherever and whenever possible.