Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [610]
Mr Cherng (Map; 3987 0366; Speersort 1; lunch/dinner menu €8.90/14.90; lunch & dinner Mon-Fri, noon-11pm Sat, 4-11pm Sun; ) A favourite with city office workers, high-quality Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisine is served at impressively low prices, especially its all-you-can-eat sushi buffet.
Die Bank (Map; 238 0030; Hohe Bleichen 17; mains €22-27.50; 11.30am-late Mon-Sat) The banking industry no longer has the cachet it once did, but don’t let that dissuade you from dining in this 1st-floor former bank. Flanked by magnificent marble columns and gleaming timber, and opening onto a large terrace, the finance theme continues in the outsize sepia-toned photos of piles of coins, and ‘banker’s platters’ (prawns, crabs, more prawns and lobster), as well as rich dishes like truffle-infused veal, which you can check out on the computerised menu at street level.
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St Georg
Café Koppel (Map; 249 235; Lange Reihe 66; dishes €3.30-13.60; 10am-11pm; ) Set back from busy Lange Reihe, with a garden in summer, this largely vegie cafe is a refined oasis, where you can hear the tinkling of spoons in coffee cups midmorning on the mezzanine floor. The menu includes great breakfasts, lots of salads, stews, jacket potatoes, curries and pasta.
Turnhalle St Georg (Map; 2800 8480; Lange Reihe 107; mains €9.50-25.50, brunch Sat/Sun €11.90/17.90; 9.30am-midnight Mon-Sat, 11am-midnight Sun) Intimate is not a word you could use for this converted gymnasium, inside an elegant 1882 redbrick building, serving modern international cuisine – but you still sometimes have trouble getting a seat. Exercise rings and ropes remain hanging from one of the thick white beams under the vaulted A-line roof, but designer lampshades and huge, potted trees have been added to the mix. Great cocktails, too.
Cox (Map; 249 422; Lange Reihe 68; mains lunch €9.50-18.50, dinner €16.50-23; lunch Mon-Fri, dinner daily) Behind its opaque glass doors, this upmarket bistro was part of the original vanguard of St Georg’s gentrification. Its frequently changing menu of dishes, like swordfish with passionfruit and chilli vinaigrette, and semolina almond strudel with rhubarb, continue to lure a discerning clientele.
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HISTORY OF THE HAMBURGER
A classic Calvin and Hobbes comic strip once asked if hamburgers were made out of people from Hamburg. And while Hamburg’s citizens are, of course, known as Hamburgers, it was the city’s role as an international port that gave rise to its most famous namesake.
The origins of the ubiquitous fast food date back to the 12th century. The Tartars (Mongolian and Turkish warriors) wedged pieces of beef between their saddles and the horses’ backs, softening the meat as they rode until it was tender enough to be eaten raw. When they later invaded Moscow in 1238, the Russians incorporated the tenderised meat into their cuisine. By the 17th century, Hamburg ships called into the Russian port, bringing ‘steak tartare’ (named after the Tartars) back to Germany, which visiting seafarers then referred to as ‘steak in the Hamburg style’. These patties of salted minced beef – usually slightly smoked and mixed with breadcrumbs and onions – were highly durable, making them ideal for long sea voyages.
Emigrants to America on the Hamburg shipping lines continued making the patties, which they served in bread. (As for who in the America officially launched the burger and whether the first burgers were served between bread slices or in a bun is unclear: various claims rest largely on anecdotal stories.)
Today, the hamburger has come full circle. American chains have propagated in Hamburg, as they have throughout the rest of the world. Although known here, too, as hamburgers or burgers, the original style of patty is rarely called Hamburg steak in Germany, but Frikadelle, Frikandelle or Bulette.
The hamburger’s history