Perhaps too blunt for an introduction of a blog entry about a dinner in a classy hotel restaurant. But it’s a current personal topic that I am trying to address. When you are 46 going 47 and genes stand in the way, I guess one should take it seriously.
The Cologne skyline. This is the view from Hyatt Regency Cologne Hotel where the Glashaus Restaurant & Bar is located.
But what I really struggle is, even when I eat just a little, I feel so full already. I seriously envy those women who can eat and laugh their way from a starter to the main course and a dessert. When I eat out or go to gatherings where food is served, I always check the plates of others and compare it to my mine. And it only leaves me with unanswered questions – Why am I already full with ½ or ¾ of what they ate? I always end up standing for the rest of the evening because my stomach is up to my throat already!
Before people start to lecture me about healthy eating here’s the gist: I eat healthily. When you open my fridge, all you see are vegetables. And I eat 4 to 5 different kinds of fruits every week.
Anyway, I am digressing so let me get back to the original topic.
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For this dinner at the Glashaus Restaurant & Bar of Hyatt Regency Cologne Hotel, I made sure to only eat a starter and a main course. I seriously cannot handle another course of dessert.
For my starter, I settled for the carrot and pumpkin soup, and well, I am guilty of eating a piece of bread with delicious butter with sea salt from France. This was a light starter I believe.
Then came my main course of seared scallops which was served with some rice. The scallops were very nicely cooked and I enjoyed it a lot. However, I did not eat half of the rice and I already had a very full and bloated stomach. Why is that?
I may sound complaining, and I am, that for sure. But this is becoming a hot topic that I am going through right now. I just can’t enjoy too much food, and it is sad when you are a person who loves the culinary side of life. The struggle is real people! WAH #lifeisnotfair
Some observations about the restaurant:
- You will not really feel like you are eating inside a glass house if you come here for dinner. Simple because it is dark and you cannot appreciate the glass.
- It is, therefore, best to eat here during the day, such as for lunch or afternoon tea when you can appreciate the glass and the beautiful view of the Rhine River, the Hohenzollern Bridge, the Dom Cathedral and the rest of Cologne’s cityscape.
- Service was quite good, although I notice that the manager was a bit aloof. Maybe it is just a German thing.
- Guests are mostly on business so I wouldn’t really suggest this restaurant for a nice romantic dinner.
- The lighting in this restaurant needs major improvement. The hanging glass work and lights were not enough and the place feels a bit empty.
- The food was quite good. I cannot complain.
I have to say that the red wine (forgot what it was) was very good.
Everyone each had their own starter.
And this is mine, some carrot - pumpkin soup which was, simple, yet very delicious.
And my main course, seared scallops with pesto sauce. This was really good.
The desserts, which are not mine of course. I opted out!
Mignardises for the coffee. Thanks, I am taking just the coffee, please.
After dinner, I walked back to my hotel. I badly needed the walk.
Cologne’s skyline from the Hyatt Regency is lovely. In front of the hotel is a nice boulevard which is a great place to sit during the day. My colleague told me that this boulevard was a big controversy because the project management was a big failure. Helaas, not on-time and not on-budget.
I passed by the gothic Dom Cathedral which is along my route to my hotel and saw some writing reflections on the ground in front of the entrance door. It says, ‘Holy Door’ in many languages. I quickly searched Dutch and Tagalog (for sure they will use Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines than of course Cebuano, my mother tongue) and found them!
‘Heilige Poort’ (Dutch) and ‘Banal na Pintuan’ (Tagalog).
Underneath the ground is the Gürzenich-Orchester of Cologne (Symphony Orchestra Hall) which was not constructed correctly so when there is a concert, they cordon this whole area complete with a security guard assigned exclusively to shoo off anybody who walks in the middle. The acoustic insulation is pretty bad that anyone walking above could have impact below.
Light reflections of Holy Door writings in different languages on the ground in front of the main door of the Cologne Dom Cathedral.
The hotels in Cologne were full and I managed to grab this room at Hotel Koenigshof The Arthouse for €260 when it should have been a €85 room during normal weeks.
This is a known issue with Cologne because the city is home to one of the biggest congress centres and exhibition halls in Germany. When a congress or trade fair takes place, hotel prices in the city centre shoots up to 3x and 4x their rack rates! Unbelievable but true. There was another time that I took a hotel in the suburbs because it would be irresponsible for me to pay a thousand euros on accommodations. The suburbs, yes, that is a tip.
I got the NYC room, and the doorknob lights up, very interesting.
Travel Period: October 2016
Destination: Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia), Germany
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.
