FOOD & DRINKS The menu is compact and has some Japanese…read moreclassics to choose from. I asked for a recommendation and picked a Miso TanTan Ramen and a Katsu Bao. The beef ribs also catched my interest but I couldn't resist to try out the Ramen and with that there was no stomach room left for the ribs. Plus my last beef rips experience (not in this restaurant) wasn't that great. The ramen really looked and tasted authentic! They hit the flavours and the ramen egg was done well. Maybe a tad too salty but it was marinated and cooked properly which I can't even say for some Japanese run ramen restaurants in Germany. The Katsu Bao reminded me of China meets Japan meets Vietnam meets Korea. The Bao (China) fluffy and slightly sweet, the Katsu (Japan) crispy, the sweet sour pickeled carrot and fresh cilantro (Vietnam) and finally the Kimchi (Korea) for a sour spicy note. The homemade ice tea was good too. SERVICE A bunch of cool and friendly guys were rockin this place during my visit. I was the first one to arrive for lunch and expected the service to be fast. No complaints. ATMOSPHERE Industrial and modern look. A dark color theme with some Japanese pictures on the wall and an open kitchen. I like it. RATING So why just four stars? First I wanted to give full five stars but I the last star to me is something personal. The restaurant needs to scream amazing to me and unfortunately it didn't. Everything was really good. The ramen was even better than some Japanese run places I have been to. The problem to me is not the food. It is the flair. The restaurant and its menu wants to sell their customers Japan. The food is there but I just don't get the Japanese vibes and this has nothing to do that none of them was Japanese. You can sell the Japanese feel without being Japanese. It starts with the decoration. While they had some elements they were kinda lost. This restaurant could be anything really. The atmosphere didn't emit Japanese vibes of an Izakaya either. I still can recommend this place and will come back to test more.

Authentic Japanese, real solid ramen…read more The spicy chicken ramen really hit the spot, savory broth and perfectly cooked noodles. I was surprised how thick and umami the broth tasted. The takoyaki were also delicious, only wish they came with 6 and not 4. The chicken wings, another home run. The gyoza were a bit on the soggy side, perhaps maybe another 30 seconds in the pan would've made them perfect. Also try the various fruit teas, not too sweet and perfect to wash down the hot noodles with.

We booked a 3 course lunch menu for 18 people to celebrate our wedding. They aren't usually open on…read morea Saturday lunch time but made an exception just for us. We couldn't have been happier! Ana took care of any and all of our requests and were very flexible with the menu. A few of our guests had some dietary requirements and all of these were taken care of by the kitchen. The food here is fantastic. Great ingredients cooked simply but well. Everything was well seasoned and cooked perfectly and the wine we were offered was of equal quality. Its hard to find a restaurant that offers food of this standard with a wine service to match but this is a reason why I will definitely be going back to Tanica again! Thank you for a fantastic afternoon and keep doing what you're doing!

Eigelsteiner seems to be where all the dive bars are located in Cologne. Actually, I never realised…read morethat there were any bars here until I wandered down here to visit the Waschsalon, and decided to visit some of them while waiting for my clothes to get washed. Mind you, it turned out that these places were pretty dodgy, and rather empty at that, except for some rather dodgy looking people they were trying to get you to pay for some services that I wasn't particularly interested in. In a way these bars are probably best ignored.

Best place to get your Belgian-style fries fix in Germany! It was snacky time after walking around…read moreCologne all day, and we saw a huge line at the Frites Belgique stand so we decided to join. There are several other fry places in the area, but this one had the most customers (locals to boot), and that's usually a sign of a good place. We were not disappointed. The super friendly guys working the stand were welcoming and while they didn't speak English, we had no problem communicating. We opted to share a "Normal" regular sized order of fries with a garlic mayo sauce. The stand prepares all their sauces fresh onsite every day, and you can tell. There are so many different flavors you can get, from spicy and creamy to exotic and creative. Since you have to pay extra for sauce (BOO, all fries should automatically include free sauce), I didn't want to try something too strange so we stuck with the basics. We waited less than five minutes and watched as our potatoes were fried up fresh to order. The packaging is clever and makes it so easy to share (but there are no tables or seats, so be prepared to eat while standing up or on the go). For less than ten bucks, this was a pretty tasty snack! The potatoes were an extra thick cut that had a ton of flavor. They tasted fresh and were super crispy on the outside, yet light and fluffy on the inside! They had a pretty golden yellow hue too, and the salt was just right. I liked that these fries were cooked in 100% vegetable oil instead of beef fat, which makes them suitable for vegetarians (watch out for the sauces, though, they aren't all vegetarian). This is a great stop if you love street food and fries in general. Oh: and watch out while you are standing in line! There are tons of pigeons that roost in the awnings above, and one teenager behind us got pooped on (so gross).

Decadent! There…read morearen't any other words to offer. We had the truffle and the fries with Special sauce. It was an absolute treat. We took some of the fries, some disappeared on the walk, to our family on the Viking boat and they finished them off with their dinner.