The city of Frankfurt (Cathedral dedicated to Saint Bsrtholomew finished in the 15th century) has a bit more than 700,000 living here, although the urban area has more than 2.3 million, and the metropolitan region is approaching 6 million. It is the financial and transport center of Germany, has 12 of the 13 skyscrapers (more than 150 meters or 492 feet tall), and is the richest city in Europe by GDP per capita. Frankfurt is ranked as the #7 most livable city by Mercer.
Taking a cue from Grant Burgess, a colleague from Scotland who seeks food named after the city (i.e., frankfurters from Frankfurt), I asked my concierge where was the best restaurant to have this sausage and what alcoholic drink should be drunk with it. A frankfurter has the official name of frankfurter wurstchen, is filled with pork and was trademarked in 1860. It is about the same color, but is a little skinnier and tad longer than an American hot dog. Unfortunately, there is also frankfurter rindswurst (which might be fatter, as to the right), made of beef, and whole slew of frankfurter stuffs (for example, frankfurter kranz is a cake) that have nothing to do with a sausage. Anyway, Gerbermuhle was recommended, and he marked an X on my map.
If I had simply gone there, had a frankfurter, and drank some apple wine (wine made from apple, around 6% alcohol), there would be no memorable experience. But life is not so simple.
First, I got off two train stops too early because this urban transport system, to me, is confusing, and worse. For example, what is written on the train map is not shown when the train enters the station. You have no idea where you are, unlike in Beijing, where their subway announces everything in Chinese and English, has a real time electronic board throughout the train showing where you are, and clearly marked in large print throughout the station in Chinese and English is the name of the station, and the next one. From the airport to the middle of Frankfurt (7 miles), the trip cost around $6. In Beijing, for this distance, it would have been 30 cents, 20 times lower. Plus, the Chinese trains are relatively up to date and clean. Not the same for Frankfurt's system, and the trains were dirty.
The travails continued in Gerbermuhle. I ordered a Frankfurter Cheese, which was the closest thing to what I thought was that sausage. The waitress confirmed that this dish included a frankfurter. But that is because we didn't communicate well. I also had a plate of white asparagus with butter, an apple wine and a glass of beer:
You see something missing? No frankfurter, for it turns out that Frankfurter Cheese is a cold cheese in vinegar topped with raw onions (on the left). There is also a "funny" smell and taste which did not agree with me. After a while I wondered when the sausage was coming, so I asked the waitress, who indicated that the cheese was the frankfurter cheese. But she finally understood, and brought me a frankfurter:
I show my famous thumb to give a sense of proportion. The perspective of the shot is why the top looks smaller than the bottom. I thought it was amusing that they used Heinz mustard. In any case, this was the best frankfurter I've ever had. The whole meal cost around $40, but only because those asparagus spears were priced at $26:
Can you imagine a plate of asparagus just about equivalent to all that food at Maison Boloud?
All in all, I rather enjoyed my German meal. Not sure if I would ever come back to Gerbermuhle, for it is not close to any subway station and does not serve the standard frankfurter as a mentioned menu item.
My walk back was an adventure, and took approximately four miles because I headed for the wrong train station. Looked to me like there was a goodly number of cherry blossom trees in bloom (see photo at the top):
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