Breakfast in the afternoon and other Mannheim, Germany Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Café Journal

Many international breakfast varieties are served here until late afternoon, and there are many newspapers to read.In addition they offer a business lunch each work day, for 5 Euro.Each day there is a daily menu, always including one or two vegetarian dishes.
They also have an English menu, but only of their standard dishes, not the specials of the day. But that's no big problem, as the waitresses speak English.
When the weather is nice you can sit outside on the market square and watch the farmers' market on market days.This is also a good idea if you don't like smoking, since -and that's a drawback - the inside of the bistro is always full of smoke.

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish is the Gourmet Breakfast for two. It comes with two glasses of Prosecco, a perfect way to start a special day. To fully enjoy it you best go on a diet the day before, so that you are hungry enough. After you've eaten it you'll be on a diet anyway, at least for the rest of the day. Sit down on a large table, not on one of the small bistro type tables, so that all the plates and dishes can be put on it.
If you're a vegetarian you can tell them not to serve the Italian ham and salami, you'll get more cheese instead.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Breakfast
Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: At the marketsquare, in the center of Mannheim
Website: http://www.cafejournal-mannheim.de/

Restaurant Name: Safran

This restaurant calls itself a fast-food place for dishes from Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's more like a cafeteria though, less than your average fast food burger place.
It was my first time there and I was very curious. I had thought the food would be like Indian, which usually is too spicy for me. But it wasn't.
They don't have a large menu, just about 20 different dishes, with a good choice of vegetarian dishes. I had potatoes with eggplant - called Boroni -, to my surprise it was served on rice. It seems rice is the base for all dishes. My daughter had rice with spinache in yoghurt sauce - called Sabsi - and she also said it was very good.
Even though I wasn't hungry any more I knew I had to try the only dessert they serve, Ferni, a pudding from Afghanistan. It was really sweet and very good.

Favorite Dish: The best "dish" were the drinks, they offer different kinds of Lassi, yoghurt drinks. We had banana and pineapple ones, they also have a peppermint one, which I'll try the next time.
We had a very good meal, not expensive at all, less than 15 Euro for the two of us.
Just don't expect a fancy restaurant.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 0621-1227694
Address: M2,11 Mannheim
Directions: Next to the main shopping street, the Planken

Restaurant Name: Heller's

This is one my favourite places.It's strictly vegetarian, with some vegan dishes as well. There is a large salad bar, but warm lunches are also served. It's cafeteria style, no waiting at the tables. If you're still hungry after your lunch, you can go to their cake stand and order some cake for dessert, with a good cup of coffee.
It's a very polular place, so during lunch hour it can be very crowded and you may have to share a table. When the weather is nice, you can go and sit out in their garden.

They offer a daily lunch menu, which always includes one vegan dish. Additionally there are also glutenfree dishes.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Vegan/Vegetarian
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: N7,13 - 15
Directions: On the main streetleading to the train station
Website: http://www.hellers-restaurant.de/start_navi_links2a.htm

Restaurant Name: Café-Bistro Picco

The name of this bistro used to be Picasso, after all it is in the same building as the art gallery Kunsthalle. But when Picasso's family vetoed this name, they dropped a few letters, added another c and came up with Picco.
The location is great, sitting outside you can see the watertower with the fountains and the park with all flowers and you can watch the world go by.

Favorite Dish: I had read about their cold melon soup with shrimps and wanted to try it , as this sounded like a very unusal combination. It was excellent! Unlike any other soup I have had before, but very,very good. I had a large cinamon crêpe afterwards, my daughter had dumplings with mushroom sauce and a salad, also very good.
The service was friendly but very SLOW!
Luckily we had time enough and it was a very pleasant day to sit outside, or we would have been nervous. I don't know why everything took so long, there were not too many people eating there and two waitresses, but it took over one hour for our three dishes to be served.
We made a note not to go there just for our lunch break.
The bill was 18 Euro alltogether.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Friedrichsplatz 4
Directions: Behind the watertower, in the Kunsthalle building.

Restaurant Name: Chinesisches Teehaus

In Mannheim's Luisenpark there is a Chinese garden, with a small lake and a waterfall. Next to it there is the Chinese teahouse. They serve several sorts of Chinese tea, in the typical Chinese teacups. No straining of the leaves, which makes drinking rather difficult for me.
If you're hungry, that's not the place to go, as they only serve some very small appetizers. But if you like to sit for a while, relax and enjoy Chinese tea, it's a very nice place. In summer you can sit outside.
Since the Chinese part of the Luisenpark is some distance from the main entrance, there is a small "train" taking passengers to it. Walking, however, is much nicer, as you get to see some more of the park, like the swinging bridges and the small creek. (There is also a regular bridge a bit further down. Not as much fun, but safer.)


Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Luisenpark
Directions: Tram # 6, stop Luisenpark
Or follow the signs to B37 and park at "Friedensplatz"
Website: http://www.stadtpark-mannheim.de/

Restaurant Name: Sankofa

We had read about a new African restaurant, run by a German-African couple and decided to try their lunch menu which was said to be very good.
While I was waiting outside, the African owner saw me, greeted me and told me they were open. She was very friendly.
My first impression was that of a very good restaurant. White tableclothes, real flowers, everything very clean. My second impression was somewhat different, the cutlery was laid out the wrong way and our bottles of soft drinks were just put down on the table, the caps loosened, but not poured in. Don't get me wrong, of course I'm perfectly capable of pouring my own drink, but this was more fitting for a self-service restaurant.The waiter, the German husband, managed to give us the message that he was not too happy we had come in.

When we asked about the lunch menu, he told us a cook had called in sick and his wife would be cooking, so no lunch menu. I then ordered the vegetarian cous-cous and was told this would take a very long time, since his wife was on her own.
Next attempt: We asked him what would be available and he mentioned about four dishes out of the large menu, none of them vegetarian. The meat was industrial meat, so we asked him to keep it out.
We ordered yam with spinache sauce and corn dumplings with okra. It took 40 minutes for the food to be served, and another few minutes until I got the sauce. It was brought to the table with a "Oh yes, this is also yours".
Since we had one hour for lunch, we had to eat quickly. The food was very good, spicy, but not too much. The owner is a very good cook.

Her husband was talking into his mobile the whole time we were there. No other people had come in , we were the only ones. When we left, we were at the door when he asked if we had liked the food. Again it seemed to be an afterthought. He had never smiled or even pretended to be interested, a striking contrast to the cheerful behaviour of his wife.
I got the impression that she is trying hard to run a successful restaurant, while her husband is not happy with this and is trying to prevent this by quietly sending the message to the customers they're not welcome.

I'm really not sure if I'll go back


Leave a Comment

Theme: African
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 0621 - 3709144
Address: U6,9 Mannheim
Directions: At the corner of the U6 block

Restaurant Name: Palms

I had heard the Palms served good food and mentioned it as a meeting place to the others in my party. Big surprise: "You want to eat in a cocktail bar?" "Are you aware of the fact that this is a smokers' lounge?" I checked their menu in the internet and it looked good, so we decided to meet there on a Saturday evening.
When we arrived I realized that I should have reserved, even though we were just four people, the non-smoking room was packed and every free table had a sign saying "reserved". The waitress asked us if we wanted a table outside and we agreed. The restaurant is in a passage between two shopping streets, so it was not really outside, but still a bit windy occassionally.
We then found out that the Palm is all three, a restaurant , a cocktail bar and it also has a large smokers' lounge. The food we had was excellent. We had ordered Flammkuchen, a sort of pizza with very thin dough and various toppings. I had the Norwegian one,lots of salmon and cream. Very good!
The service was fast and friendly and it's not expensive at all.
I will certainly be back.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: P6,25 Plankenhofpassage
Directions: Walk down the Planken, the main shopping street, and turn right into the passageway.
Website: http://www.palms-ma.de/

Restaurant Name: Goya Lounge

I don't know which kind of food to choose in the list "select the appropriate theme for this restaurant". I have eaten there three times so far and will go back. Each time something else was on the lunch menu for the daily specials.Probably "international kitchen" may be appropriate.
It's an organic restaurant, meaning the meat is from free range animals and the vegetables are from organic farms. This also means the food is more expensive than in other restaurants, but the difference is not too much. I never spent more than 20 Euro for a lunch for two. The specials for lunch are between 5 and 8 Euro, really not to bad.
The location is great for lunch, right in the centre of Mannheim. Next to the Paradeplatz, the Stadthaus has been transformed into a "Biocenter", with a supermarket, a butcher for organic (free range) meat, a hairdresser - organic hairdressing? probably a special shampoo? - and several organic restaurants.
The Goya Lounge has a large terrace and we usually sit outside. The terrace is on the far side from the Paradeplatz, so it's not too noisy.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: N1, Stadthaus
Directions: On the groundfloor of the Stadthaus, right in the city centre.

Restaurant Name: Locanda

Close to the Karlsstern in the woods there used to be a restaurant with a large beergarden.You could get some cakes,some snacks, coffee or a beer. It was a nice place to rest, but nothing special.

So we were very surprised when entered it this time. It still doesn't look much from the outside, rather run-down actually, but the menu posted outside showed good Italian cuisine.
Inside it looked completely different, no longer a simple garden café, but a fancy restaurant with real tablecloths and napkins on the tables and a piano in the centre of the room.

The waiter gave us the menues, but also told us about the specials of the day,not in the menu. We decided to order them, Italian pancakes with salmon and spinache filling.They were excellent! They were more expensive than what we had expected to pay, especially considering the location. But they were worth their price.

I suppose most of the people coming to Karlsstern do not come for food, but for walking and playing with their children on the playground, and I'm not sure if this is the perfect location for such a restaurant. But I wish them good luck. We certainly will be back.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Italian
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$31-40  » Currency Converter
Address: Karlsstern, Mannheim