"Hagen-Haspe. This suburb of Hagen is not exactly a culinary hot-spot, in fact, food-wise it is a little depressing. We have a few good pizza parlours like Il Fabbro if you want to dine in a cosy atmosphere or Pizzeria Sicilia if you are looking for a friendly, family-run take-away which also offers seating. If you don't fancy pizza, there is, of course, the option of ordering döner or roast chicken. The local Asian restaurant went out of business a couple of years ago and the culinary landscape has become extremely limited regarding restaurants and snack bars, or Imbissbuden as they are called in Germany. In fact, for many years Hagen-Haspe (like Hagen in general) has been seriously lacking in any small restaurants offering traditional German cuisine. Until now...Florian Bürger completed his vocational training at a hotel-restaurant in a nearby town and attended the local vocational college. He did stints at local restaurants, among others Habbels in Sprockhövel which is well worth a visit if you are looking for high-class, contemporary cuisine.Instead of continuing to work in a hotel kitchen or restaurant Florian took over the lease of a small restaurant (snack bar sounds so derogatory) and made "Stube und Küche" his own. The location is small: When you enter it you will see a long counter in an L-shape where you can see some of the dishes that you can choose. Behind a semi-partition you will find seating at tables for four guests each. The wooden tables are dark brown while the white walls are decorated with a handful of old photos showing Haspe when it was still a thriving suburb. The simple table decorations help to soften the look of the restaurant area.What makes this tiny restaurant so special?Florian Bürger genuinely enjoys cooking for his guests! You don't have the feeling that he is doing this because he couldn't find a job somewhere else. He is a qualified chef and really WANTS to be here.The cuisine is down to earth German-style cooking which leaves you feeling satisfied and - dare I say it - happy!? Admittedly, a lunch of stuffed peppers and some boiled potatoes served with a small side salad may sound slightly boring. But it isn't. The dish tastes home-made and the salad contains seasonal vegetables, for example, cubes of pickled pumpkin. The daily lunch offers which are very popular with locals are good value for money and make a change from the usual döner kebab and pizza in the neighbourhood. In the evening you can choose dishes from the pleasantly short menu such as burgers made with organic beef, schnitzel, fish with mashed potato and mustard sauce, pork knuckle or pork that has been smoked for 16 hours. I also like the fact that if you order schnitzel, you will hear how it is flattened in the kitchen and then fried to order. You won't find thawed, pre-breadcrumbed schnitzel here!There is a lot of free parking available at the nearby rail station Heubing".Conclusion: German-style cooking with a new twistSo, if you would like to savour German-style cuisine in a cosy restaurant while you tuck into hearty home-cooked food with the locals - this is the place! Florian always has time for a friendly chat with his guests while they order and is happy to offer recommendations.Enjoy!"
