Mannheim Restaurants

I had heard the Palms served good food and mentioned it as a meeting place to the others in my party. Big surprise: "You want to eat in a cocktail bar?" "Are you aware of the fact that this is a smokers' lounge?" I checked their menu in the internet and it looked good, so we decided to meet there on a Saturday evening.
When we arrived I realized that I should have reserved, even though we were just four people, the non-smoking room was packed and every free table had a sign saying "reserved". The waitress asked us if we wanted a table outside and we agreed. The restaurant is in a passage between two shopping streets, so it was not really outside, but still a bit windy occassionally.
We then found out that the Palm is all three, a restaurant , a cocktail bar and it also has a large smokers' lounge. The food we had was excellent. We had ordered Flammkuchen, a sort of pizza with very thin dough and various toppings. I had the Norwegian one,lots of salmon and cream. Very good!
The service was fast and friendly and it's not expensive at all.
I will certainly be back.

We had read about a new African restaurant, run by a German-African couple and decided to try their lunch menu which was said to be very good.
While I was waiting outside, the African owner saw me, greeted me and told me they were open. She was very friendly.
My first impression was that of a very good restaurant. White tableclothes, real flowers, everything very clean. My second impression was somewhat different, the cutlery was laid out the wrong way and our bottles of soft drinks were just put down on the table, the caps loosened, but not poured in. Don't get me wrong, of course I'm perfectly capable of pouring my own drink, but this was more fitting for a self-service restaurant.The waiter, the German husband, managed to give us the message that he was not too happy we had come in.

When we asked about the lunch menu, he told us a cook had called in sick and his wife would be cooking, so no lunch menu. I then ordered the vegetarian cous-cous and was told this would take a very long time, since his wife was on her own.
Next attempt: We asked him what would be available and he mentioned about four dishes out of the large menu, none of them vegetarian. The meat was industrial meat, so we asked him to keep it out.
We ordered yam with spinache sauce and corn dumplings with okra. It took 40 minutes for the food to be served, and another few minutes until I got the sauce. It was brought to the table with a "Oh yes, this is also yours".
Since we had one hour for lunch, we had to eat quickly. The food was very good, spicy, but not too much. The owner is a very good cook.

Her husband was talking into his mobile the whole time we were there. No other people had come in , we were the only ones. When we left, we were at the door when he asked if we had liked the food. Again it seemed to be an afterthought. He had never smiled or even pretended to be interested, a striking contrast to the cheerful behaviour of his wife.
I got the impression that she is trying hard to run a successful restaurant, while her husband is not happy with this and is trying to prevent this by quietly sending the message to the customers they're not welcome.

I'm really not sure if I'll go back

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In Mannheim's Luisenpark there is a Chinese garden, with a small lake and a waterfall. Next to it there is the Chinese teahouse. They serve several sorts of Chinese tea, in the typical Chinese teacups. No straining of the leaves, which makes drinking rather difficult for me.
If you're hungry, that's not the place to go, as they only serve some very small appetizers. But if you like to sit for a while, relax and enjoy Chinese tea, it's a very nice place. In summer you can sit outside.
Since the Chinese part of the Luisenpark is some distance from the main entrance, there is a small "train" taking passengers to it. Walking, however, is much nicer, as you get to see some more of the park, like the swinging bridges and the small creek. (There is also a regular bridge a bit further down. Not as much fun, but safer.)

The name of this bistro used to be Picasso, after all it is in the same building as the art gallery Kunsthalle. But when Picasso's family vetoed this name, they dropped a few letters, added another c and came up with Picco.
The location is great, sitting outside you can see the watertower with the fountains and the park with all flowers and you can watch the world go by.

Favorite Dish: I had read about their cold melon soup with shrimps and wanted to try it , as this sounded like a very unusal combination. It was excellent! Unlike any other soup I have had before, but very,very good. I had a large cinamon crêpe afterwards, my daughter had dumplings with mushroom sauce and a salad, also very good.
The service was friendly but very SLOW!
Luckily we had time enough and it was a very pleasant day to sit outside, or we would have been nervous. I don't know why everything took so long, there were not too many people eating there and two waitresses, but it took over one hour for our three dishes to be served.
We made a note not to go there just for our lunch break.
The bill was 18 Euro alltogether.

This restaurant calls itself a fast-food place for dishes from Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's more like a cafeteria though, less than your average fast food burger place.
It was my first time there and I was very curious. I had thought the food would be like Indian, which usually is too spicy for me. But it wasn't.
They don't have a large menu, just about 20 different dishes, with a good choice of vegetarian dishes. I had potatoes with eggplant - called Boroni -, to my surprise it was served on rice. It seems rice is the base for all dishes. My daughter had rice with spinache in yoghurt sauce - called Sabsi - and she also said it was very good.
Even though I wasn't hungry any more I knew I had to try the only dessert they serve, Ferni, a pudding from Afghanistan. It was really sweet and very good.

Favorite Dish: The best "dish" were the drinks, they offer different kinds of Lassi, yoghurt drinks. We had banana and pineapple ones, they also have a peppermint one, which I'll try the next time.
We had a very good meal, not expensive at all, less than 15 Euro for the two of us.
Just don't expect a fancy restaurant.

Bootshaus is the location, where you have to go when you wanna be in a fancy restaurant. It is built over the garage of the Amicitia rowing club. In 2006 they made the balcony a bit bigger. So there is enough place outside and inside to take a beer, to eat a delicious salad or some other fancy meals. Sunday morning they offer a brunch.

I was invited in Osaka restaurant and it was the first time I was there. It was a fantastic experience for my eyes and my tongue. The cook was at our table and prepared the food. Watching him preparing the food was almost so wonderful as the meal.

Favorite Dish: Most of us ordered the Edo menue. You get meat and also fish. Just delicious! The other dishes, I din#t try and see. But there are as well smaller dishes than a menue.

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Estragon is in Mannheim Neckarau, behind the dam. So you can't watch the river, but you can hear the ships. Estragon is a beer garden and a restaurant (different menue) as well.

Favorite Dish: I like the Flammkuchen there and the salads, They are so yummmie!!! Have a look as well on the boards which are everywhere. Eaxh day, they have a special offer.