I didn't want to do it. When I had the unexpected luck to travel to Europe for work last week, I told myself I'd just enjoy the local, delicious food in Switzerland and Germany. I was in London for a day too, but England understandably gets a pass, because curry is what I always want to eat there. I find it hard to shake off my original impression of bland English food no matter what the food press has to say about the offal revolution occurring in their "gastropubs". For once, I told myself, I wasn't going for noodles, at least in Zurich or Germany that is... but ten days is an awfully long time.
Let me start off by saying, regional varieties of a cuisine can be quite charming and just as fascinating as indigenous food. Witness the harmonious marriage between Chinese and Cuban food. Chinese cuisine is the prime example, it's different in just about every country depending on local produce, tastes, and the region of the people that emigrated to that country. Its usually very interesting to try, with the exception of one traumatizing experience in Dublin when an order of Orange Chicken arrived swimming in concentrated orange juice. Italian cuisine is another great example. The heavy, tomato-sauce centered dishes that came to the US along with Southern Italians would not be recognized as bonafide by a modern day Italian, Southern or otherwise. The fried chicken and cheese combination smothered in tomato sauce we call Chicken Parmesan sounds like a horrific nightmare to most Italians, but to me it's just delicious.
The softening of my resolve had begun the night before in Cologne. The kitchen had already closed at the local German restaurant I had wanted to try and I found myself outside the only restaurant still serving food after 11 PM, a Turkish restaurant called Osman Bey. I had an incredible meal there that really put the Turkish food we are getting in NY to shame. So I was a little more open the next day when I wandered past an unassuming Chinese restaurant near the train station in Dusseldorf called 'Track 21". I did a double-take as I passed because I noticed that the restaurant was full of East Asians. They also had a menu outside where I saw this horribly grainy but wondrously authentic looking hot pot advertised.
I was lured in by the great variety of Sichuan dishes I saw on the menu, the notable absence of aryans, and an incurable noodle addiction. The restaurant looked like the type you should find in the vicinity of a train station- bare bones and unpolished - just like our favorite noodle joints in NYC. Usually I try the Dan-Dan noodles in a Sichuan restaurant, but I needed noodle soup and went for the another Sichuan perennial offering, spicy beef noodle soup. I started out with a little cold boiled chicken in chili sauce which was pretty divine. I love when chicken comes with the bone on as opposed to anonymous, chopped up, and dried out pieces.
The soup was very spicy and the broth was light but very flavorful. The noodles were e a thicker egg variety like Dan Dan noodles and served soft, but not so soft that they were runny and flaky. I drank the fiery broth down to the last drop.
I was really surprised to get such a good bowl of noodles in Dusseldorf. I expected mainly to find Asian restaurants that catered to local German tastes but I was delighted to be proved wrong. If Track 21, despite it's godawful name, was in NY, I would actually go to it, and regularly. In the meantime, if you ever find yourself craving noodles near the central station in Dusseldorf, you've got the spot.
Let me start off by saying, regional varieties of a cuisine can be quite charming and just as fascinating as indigenous food. Witness the harmonious marriage between Chinese and Cuban food. Chinese cuisine is the prime example, it's different in just about every country depending on local produce, tastes, and the region of the people that emigrated to that country. Its usually very interesting to try, with the exception of one traumatizing experience in Dublin when an order of Orange Chicken arrived swimming in concentrated orange juice. Italian cuisine is another great example. The heavy, tomato-sauce centered dishes that came to the US along with Southern Italians would not be recognized as bonafide by a modern day Italian, Southern or otherwise. The fried chicken and cheese combination smothered in tomato sauce we call Chicken Parmesan sounds like a horrific nightmare to most Italians, but to me it's just delicious.
The softening of my resolve had begun the night before in Cologne. The kitchen had already closed at the local German restaurant I had wanted to try and I found myself outside the only restaurant still serving food after 11 PM, a Turkish restaurant called Osman Bey. I had an incredible meal there that really put the Turkish food we are getting in NY to shame. So I was a little more open the next day when I wandered past an unassuming Chinese restaurant near the train station in Dusseldorf called 'Track 21". I did a double-take as I passed because I noticed that the restaurant was full of East Asians. They also had a menu outside where I saw this horribly grainy but wondrously authentic looking hot pot advertised.
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| Hot Pot Dusseldorf style |
I was lured in by the great variety of Sichuan dishes I saw on the menu, the notable absence of aryans, and an incurable noodle addiction. The restaurant looked like the type you should find in the vicinity of a train station- bare bones and unpolished - just like our favorite noodle joints in NYC. Usually I try the Dan-Dan noodles in a Sichuan restaurant, but I needed noodle soup and went for the another Sichuan perennial offering, spicy beef noodle soup. I started out with a little cold boiled chicken in chili sauce which was pretty divine. I love when chicken comes with the bone on as opposed to anonymous, chopped up, and dried out pieces.
 |
| Tasty boiled Chili Chicken |
The soup was very spicy and the broth was light but very flavorful. The noodles were e a thicker egg variety like Dan Dan noodles and served soft, but not so soft that they were runny and flaky. I drank the fiery broth down to the last drop.
 |
| Spicy Beef Noodle Soup |
I was really surprised to get such a good bowl of noodles in Dusseldorf. I expected mainly to find Asian restaurants that catered to local German tastes but I was delighted to be proved wrong. If Track 21, despite it's godawful name, was in NY, I would actually go to it, and regularly. In the meantime, if you ever find yourself craving noodles near the central station in Dusseldorf, you've got the spot.
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