Markthaus – Offenbach

We were in Offenbach for a party at the Sheraton Hotel in the centre of Offenbach on a Saturday night and staying over so, on the Sunday, decided to explore the city and stay for lunch.

·        Offenbach is a medium sized city on the south of the river Main a few kilometres east of Frankfurt 

After visiting the German Leather Museum with - amongst other things - its large collection of shoes through the ages in the morning, we found the lovely Markthaus on Wilhelmsplatz, not far from the centre of Offenbach.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday lunchtime and we found a table outside, overlooking the square. There is a busy market on the square on Saturdays, but the square appeared to be used mainly as a car park on a Sunday.

The service was efficient and friendly – from the menu, which was interesting and varied, we chose Mutti´s Haschee mit Nudeln, billed as Offenbach’s answer to bolognaise sauce, and a cordon bleu. There were also some tempting ideas on the specials board so don’t forget to check there before you order.

The apple wine (from Rothenbücher) was ok but nothing special, but there was a decent selection of beer, including bottled Krusovice schwarzbier.

There was a mixed set of customers, mainly young and some families, it looked like it was a real place for locals to enjoy, well away from the tourist beaten track.

The food was freshly prepared – we could hear the activity in the kitchen from where we were sat in the garden, and we enjoyed the beer and sunshine as we waited for the meals to arrive.

The food was excellent and soon we had empty plates – the bolognaise-type sauce was beautifully flavoured with herbs and was full of juicy meat and fresh tomatoes.

It was reasonably priced and definitely a place to be highly recommended and visited whenever you’re in Offenbach. They also had free postcards with old views of the square and markthaus.

In the afternoon, we visited Bieber, a suburb of Offenbach, and had a look around, stopping off at an Applewine place called the Wiener Hof  which we found by accident after visiting a craft fair with local artisans and wandering aimlessly back to the S-Bahn station through the old part of town.

Their applewine (self brewed) here was excellent, especially sat in the sun in the beer garden. Although we were full from lunch earlier, we shared an "Appelschläppcher" a freshly cooked pancake with apple, sugar and cinnamon.

Definitely a place to be revisited for lunch sometime.

One unusual thing we found in Offenbach – in the Urinals, there was a goal and small red ball on a stick to help improve the aim! I can confirm that the ball did move into the goal when it was hit!

More Info:

Website: Markthaus

English Menu: Markthaus Menu

Map: googlemaps

Public Transport:

• Very close to the S-Bahn station Offenbach-Marktplatz on the lines S1, S2, S8 and S9 of the Frankfurt system
• website for the Frankfurt region public transport system: rmv.de
• map of the Frankfurt S-Bahn train system: S-Bahn Map

Zur Germania – Sachsenhausen

To start our blog of the wonderful food (and drink) in the region around Frankfurt am Main, we visited one of the very traditional Applewine taverns in Sachsenhausen.

In case you’re not familiar with the territory or the terminology:

·        Applewine is made from apples – it’s a bit like English cider, but not as fizzy and is usually cloudy, especially in the traditional taverns.

·        Sachsenhausen is a district of Frankfurt which is directly over the river Main, south of the city centre

We visited on a warm (but not sunny) Sunday in March, the tables were not set up in the garden, although there was a table cleverly installed around a tree:

We received a warm welcome in the tavern itself, which was a very traditional looking place – clean and tidy, and looking like it had not been updated for decades.

There was a mixed set of customers, of all ages, some families; it felt like it was a real place for locals to enjoy.

The Applewine was excellent – served from a tilting bembel on the counter:

The menu was full of local specialities, but we chose the Lamm Haxe (picture below) and the Hacksteak stuffed with goat’s cheese (this was nowhere to be seen on the menu, but was on the blackboards outside, so make sure you check these for specials)

The food was excellent – the meal was reasonably priced, we had change from €30.

Definitely a place to be recommended and visited again!

Useful Information:

Website: zur-germania

Video: zur-germania.de/video

Map: googlemaps

Public Transport:

• within walking distance from Frankfurt Süd Bahnhof and Lokal Bahnhof, served by most of the S-Bahns and some U-Bahns
• trams 14, 15 and 16 stop just down the street (it’s about mid way between the stops ‘Brücken-/Textorstraße’ and ‘Textorstraße’
• the Applewine ‘Express’ tram which runs at weekends also stops nearby (more about the Applewine ‘Express’ in a later blog)
• website for the Frankfurt region public transport system: rmv.de
• map of the Frankfurt train and tram system: Frankfurt public transport map