Riverside Pizza, Nuremberg

INTRODUCTION

It was quite unfortunate that a weekend away in Nuremburg clashed with the London Ciao meet. Doubly so as this was a trip originally scheduled for April. As we readied ourselves to go to the airport, we thought Ms Larsbaby’s mum was winding us up when she said that volcanic ash has grounded all traffic in Europe. Do us a favour! But true it was, and one refund and rebooked trip later, guten tag Nuremburg. As we strolled round the city centre, our hosts asked us what we fancied for lunch. After some debate, pizza was settled on and this restaurant that I had visited a couple of years ago was chosen.

THE RESTAURANT

I must admit that I didn’t go inside though a quick peek inside the window revealed an elegant interior that looked quite turn of the (20th) century. My companions went inside to use the loos though, which I am reliable informed were clean. Outside, to the side of the river pathway, were about 20 plastic topped metal tables set out with metal seats. These were almost full the whole time we were there, as this was a popular spot to dine. It was certainly a decent spot for peoplewatching, as we spied various groups of people wandering by, most notable a segway tour of the city speeding by; it was quite amusing to watch people try to control these odd 2 wheeled vehicles.

THE FOOD

The menu was quite comprehensive. With a decent selection of Germanic meat & fish dishes, but it was mostly concerned with Italian cuisine, with some desserts tagged on at the end. As such you could take your pick from a far few pasta & pizza dishes. Various salads were available and some interesting seafood options such as grilled squid with potatoes and John Dory. All dishes were helpfully translated into English below, more than likely a result of the large American forces contingency in the locality. Out party settled on a mix of the Italian selection.

I had the parpardelle al salmone, which was a large salmon fillet cut into large chunks in just the right amount of creamy sauce, with bits of parsley sprinkled on and some halved cherry tomatoes mixed in. The salmon was nice, tasty and well cooked, and went well with the sauce and well cooked pasta (perhaps a little well done to be al dente). I thought this was a nice change from the usual smoked salmon that I usually experience with this dish, and the tomatoes added a sweetness to it.

The Hawaiian pizza was apparently nice, with a thin crispy base topped with pineapple, ham, tomato paste and mozzarella cheese. This wasn’t dry which is always a good sign. One complaint with the pizzas though is that the knives provided weren’t sharp enough and thus a struggle to separate them ensued.

The Quattro Stagioni pizza had s similarly thin base, topped with ham, picked green chill peppers of the kind akin to a kebab, artichoke and mushrooms. I tried a bit of the base of this one which I found pleasantly light and crisp. Again this wasn’t dry at all and was apparently tasty.

The gnocchi with sage was pretty much that and very sagey. On the English translation it suggested this would come with gorgonzola and cream, but my friend read the German part which didn’t say that, so he wasn’t too disappointed when the cheese wasn’t evident. In fact that was what he preferred no problems there.

THE SERVICE

Although nothing special, and having forgot to initially take our order, the service was adequate and polite, with a profuse apology (I assume – my German isn’t so good) for taking so much time. In mitigation, they were very busy indeed and as the food couldn’t be faulted, I didn’t mind so much.

CONCLUSION

I’d been here on my last visit to Nuremburg and this visit was equally satisfying. For a good look at the riverside crowd and a German taste of Italian cuisine, this spot comes highly recommended. At 52 Euros for 4 meals plus drinks I think it represents pretty good value.

CONTACT DETAILS

Riverside Pizza,
Winklerstrasse 1
ex. Al Fiume,
90403
Nuremberg,
Bavaria,
Germany.

Tel : +49 911 2406044