Germany: Hamburg – Trying Hamburg Cuisine at Old Commercial Room
We wanted to try the most authentic Hamburg cuisine (no, it’s not a hamburger) and therefore though the most iconic and one of the oldest restaurants in the heart of the city – The Old Commercial Room – a real Hamburg institution. The restaurant was founded in 1795 and is located right in the heart of the Hanseatic city, just a few steps from the port and literally directly opposite the Saint Michael’s Church. The restaurant serves the most authentic Hamburg dishes that are admittedly quite unique. First we tried the smoked eel as appetizer and the the traditional aalsuppe (eel soup with the recipe dating to 1788). For the main we had the scholle (or plaice) which is considered the true Hamburg specialty. The restaurant is also famous for two other truly Hamburg dishes – the labscaus and the rote grutze desert, which we tried the next day at a different place.
