Meals in Germany

Meals in Germany

Breakfast (das Frühstück)

A German breakfast is a feast that you won't soon forget. The meal is set up as a large buffet that includes a variety of breads, jams, meats, cheeses, cereals, juices, hard or soft boiled eggs, fish such as salmon, and salads of marinated tomatoes or cucumber. There will be a server to bring you coffee or tea.

Eine tasse kaffee-a cup of coffee

Eine tasse tee-a cup of tea

mit milch-with milk

Lunch (das Mittagessen)

Lunch in Germany is served from noon until about 2:00 PM. The variety and type of food eaten at lunch is very similar to that eaten at dinner. While typical German fare tends to be heavy with meats and potatoes (kartoffeln), there are many options including fowl, fish, pizza and vegetarian dishes. In major cities such as Munich you will also find a variety of International cuisines and American fast food chains. Many Germans have lunch at a beer garden or hall, which may have cafeteria style food service.

Dinner (das Abendessen)

Dinner is served from 6:00 PM until about 9:00 PM in Germany. While the same restaurants that served lunch will usually be open, many beer gardens will be closed.

The menu, die Speisekarte, in many restaurants is available in English as well as German. Carrying a menu decoder may be helpful, especially in smaller towns. Listed below are the names of each course and an idea of what you might order.

Suppen (soup) is common, and may range from simple chicken to hearty goulash.

Hauptgerichte (main dishes) are often meat based entrees. Popular meats are beef, pork, lamb, veal and chicken. These are often served with potatoes, potato dumplings or noodles.

Fischgerichte (fish dishes) are also popular. Usually fresh water fish, but you will find others as well.

Wild (wild game) is very common when in season, you may see partridge, quail, duck, boar, rabbit and venison.

Gemüse (vegetables) are often ordered a la carte and can be a simple marinated vegetable salad or a mounding plate of steamed vegetables.

Salate (salad) a typical salad will have greens, onions and shredded carrots and be served with a vinegar and oil type dressing. Also common on salads are beets, cheeses and hard cooked eggs.

Käse (cheese) cheese plates are quite common on almost every menu. Some will include cold cuts (Kalte Speisen), and all will include bread.

Nachtisch (dessert) is very common with the most popular items being the Kuchen (pastries and cakes).

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