I have found the Japanese restaurant that I will happily become a regular of. Don’t let the website fool you. It serves up authentic Izakaya style Japanese cuisine.

http://www.mangetsu.de/

Having had bad experiences with less than stellar so-called ‘Japanese’ restaurants in Frankfurt and vicinity, Mangetsu was an unexpected and pleasant surprise for me. It was refreshing and familiar and by that, I mean it reminded me of restaurants at home in Japan. Simply said, the cuisine is authentic and the staff was incredibly friendly.

My husband and I decided to try it out last night. We were asked if we made reservations. Unfortunately, we did not but they offered to take us in anyway upon the agreement that we were able to leave within an hour. 45 minutes into the meal, the guests who reserved nearly the entire place started arriving. Despite that, the staff remained friendly with us and we didn’t feel rushed at all. We received our food rather quickly and were actually out of the restaurant within the hour. We ordered gyouza, the Mikazuki sushi set (4 nigiri sushi, 8 makizushi), tamagoyaki, wakame soba, and yaki onigiri. All dishes were exceptionally delicious and reasonably price compared to other Japanese restaurants in Frankfurt. Our tab came to about 34 euros.

Let’s just say, we’ll be making reservations at Mangetsu quite frequently.

It’s been a while…

since I updated. It mostly happens when I’ve been busy and a lot has happened since my last post. I went to the U.S. for vacation this summer to attend my brother’s wedding and visited some friends and old co-workers back home. After returning to Germany, I landed two job positions, one full-time salaried design position and the other a 6-month paid internship marketing position. I guess some people might think it a little strange that I chose the internship. Well, it’s something new to learn and it’s a bit more project management. Additionally, I’m still in the mindset of obtaining my masters here next autumn and, an 6-month internship will give me that flexibility. Of course, we’ll see how it goes after the contract is over. Maybe I’ll like marketing and want to continue forward with the position or maybe I won’t like it and move on with my furthering my education. In the end, I’ll come out having learned a lot about a subject that I haven’t had as much exposure to in my career.  And, that’s always a good thing to have and add onto a resume. ;)

Still trying to find the ever elusive, thoroughly yummy Japanese restaurant with a diverse menu. It’s not exactly an easy task but every time we eat out at a new restaurant, we’re one step closer. Here’s hoping that journey won’t be too long.

A little preoccupied

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. As it stands, I have been busy with double language classes during the morning and nights. I currently attending B2 classes and have most likely passed my B1 exam. I haven’t received my results yet although that was a month ago. Heh.  I’ve also manage to throw myself into karate events and blackbelt classes. It has helped me meet new German friends. One of them actually speaks some Japanese. Quite refreshing, I might add. I guess these are sort of the experiences I should be reporting but have neglected to do so.

Mathematikum Museum in Giessen, pretty nerdy stuff. The practical application of the math made for both an educational and fun experience. Like Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man, I had no idea what that was all about but I like the findings. =)

Jenny’s Cupcakes Review

Having frequent the forums of Toytown Germany as an idle member, I’ve noticed from a few other Americans’ posts their disappointment at the lack of cupcake bakeries in Germany. Personally, I haven’t missed cupcakes too much. I’m not exactly a sweet tooth. On our way to an Asian Supermarket, we spotted Jenny’s Cupcakes. My husband and I made a mental note to visit it another time. That time came last Saturday with my sister-in-law and mom-in-law.

My sister-in-law was enthusiastic about the little cakes having never seen or eaten them. Soeren and I, on the other hand, were not as easily impressed. When we were living in Vegas, we always had the Cupcakery to go to which also had a wide selection of savory and sweet flavors (23 favorites, in fact) to choose from, something for everyone. Back when I worked at Zappos, it was a bit of a tradition to order a variety of cupcakes from the Cupcakery whenever it was someone’s birthday (including mine). Having tried several of the flavors, there really wasn’t a bad tasting one in the bunch and they also looked fantastic. =)

The same could not be said for Jenny’s Cupcakes in Frankfurt. They looked decent and the few flavors they had weren’t exactly outstanding. It was more like different flavor icings over a standard batch of dry vanilla and chocolate muffins. As any person who has tried authentic American cupcakes would know, the texture of a cupcake is supposed to be, well, cake-like…moist and soft. The flavors we tried were Christmas Apple, Cookes & Cream, and Coconut Kiss. The first two were nothing special. The last had relative good icing but I may be biased because I love coconut.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience if you like a few different flavor icings on muffins, that is.  My husband wasn’t all too pleased, and he loves sweets! My sister-in-law…now, that’s a different story. For someone who has never seen and eaten good cupcakes, Jenny’s Cupcakes did leave a good impression on her. So, it’s probably worth it to go there with Germans who’ve not yet been spoiled by American cupcake bakeries.

Weihnachtsmarkt in Frankfurt & Friedberg

There’s a lot to be said about Christmas in Germany. When the Germans are in holiday mood, they start as early as the beginning of October which was a little sad for me because I missed out on all the great Halloween and Thanksgiving festivities. Well, I can’t be too sad with all the Christmas happenings here and it isn’t all too different from the traditional American Christmas. There are Tanenbaums (Christmas trees) to pick out and decorate, cookies to bake for Santa, gingerbread houses to decorate, Christmas lights glittering on every street corner, the list could go on…

What separates the American Christmas from the German one is that every major city in Germany has a big Christmas market taking place for approximately 1 month. (Then again, Germans are known for their lively outdoor fests and markets.) The Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt is no exception. It was huge with a variety of food, drinks, and merchandise booths to attract both the locals and tourists alike.

However, if you’re not into bumping shoulders with the big crowds these markets attract, there are always the smaller and charming village Christmas markets to go and relax at. Don’t be discourage. They’re just as much fun if not funner. In fact, the one in Friedberg brought in an ice-skating rink.