Frankfurt am Main food guide: Aniis – Trendy Café in Frankfurt’s ‘East End’

Already in my last post, I wrote about the growing food scene in Frankfurt’s eastern neighborhood of Ostend. Now, I also visited a great café in the area. This neighborhood is definitely becoming one interesting area. It is not only the European Central Bank that drives the development of Ostend, it is also the opening up of parts of the port to residential and small business construction. It is also well connected to the city center which is actually only a short stroll away. It is set to further gain from the transformation of Ostbahnhof, which so far is only a low frequency train station, more important for freight than for passenger transport. Plans to build a new S-Bahn from the city center towards the east along the northern bank of the river will make this train station a major hub of Frankfurt. It will be one of the few places in the city, where tram, subway, S-Bahn and regional trains are closely linked. Around the train station, there is already a small local center with restaurants, shops and cafés forming. Café Aniis is one of those establishments.

I recently visited the café with my wife on a snowy Sunday in December. We were lucky to get a place since I have seen it often very full. It is also not so spacious, but at the same time it is quite popular with the locals. Once being inside, I understood why. It is decorated in a cool, hip way and the details, from the cute cactus on the table to the large picture on the wall, are super charming. The coffee is served in elegant cups and the barista casts a perfect flower picture into the milk foam. However, I was most surprised by the great food served. The menu has a few light items, great for breakfast, lunch and to accompany the afternoon-coffee or tea. We ordered a vegetarian plate Eastern Mediterranean-style, with hummus, falafel, beans, couscous, some awesome eggplant mash and other small stuff. This was fantastic and better than most restaurants do such a plate. It was even enough food for the two of us. Overall, I was quite enchanted and Aniis now ranks high on my top-list of Frankfurt’s cafés.