Food & drink

This is going to be a bit controversial. Everyone in Cologne has a favourite ice cream parlour, and everyone insists that their's is the best. I've opened up this discussion in the past and it's always heated. I'll start by stating my preference: Il Gelato in Bayenthal. Nowhere have I eaten a creamier, dreamier ice cream. And the flavours! Chilli chocolate, black cherry with dark chocolate, Tiramasu, Mango, Rhubarb - and a number of rather unusual flavours like watercress. Il Gelato has its very own 'Ice Cream Professor'.

If you like fish you're in for a treat in Cologne and Düsseldorf over the next few months. The Fischmarkt is all about eating - not just fish - it's a veritable outdoor food-fest in the guise of a fish market. On the flyer there's a fresh lobster, prawns and crab on a bed of ice with a slice of lemon. Don't expect to find this at the fish market (at least not the one in Cologne). I think it was some kind of decoy. The closest thing to fresh fish I found was a dozen fresh oysters - but I wasn't dissapointed.

You can dress it up however you like, but a Halver Hahn is, and always will be a roll and a piece of cheese. I may have been in Cologne for nearly 10 years but I will never understand why the Kölners are so proud of their local dish. In Bayern they have schweinshaxe - a delicious and succulent pork knuckle with a crispy crust of crackling. The Schwarzwalders have black forest gateau, a dream of chocolate sponge, whipped cream and sweet black cherry syrup.

If you’re looking for a taste of authentic Brazil take a trip to Limao in Bonn-Bad Godesberg. There’s a distinctly ‘gaucho’ atmosphere in Limau, from the cow-hide stools to the stripped wooden floor-boards, Limau has a bit of an Argentinean flavor at first sight.

If you've lived in Cologne for any length of time, you'll know of Maca-Ronni. Once owned by the famous TV chef Alfred Bioleck, it used to be a 'promi-hangout' for the stars of TV and film in Germany. These days it has a different owner, but the walls are still lined with photos of all the famous people who've dined there, and you can order the 'Fettucine Boscaiola alla Stefan Raab' or the 'Pizza Vegetaria alla Harald Schmidt'.

Ever since Yo Sushi opened in London in the 90's I've been a bit if a conveyer belt sushi fan. In Cologne a favorite of mine is Sushien, opposite the Cinedom on Maybachstrasse - it's the perfect place to eat before seeing a movie. At least it was a favorite, until last night. We arrived at 7.15pm and it was so full we couldn't even get in the door. So we gave up and had a pre-dinner tacos in the cinema, deciding to save the sushi till after the movie.

Alt, Kölsch, Bönnsch. The local beers of the Rhine region. But which one is the best? As an online magazine that tries to give an unbiased opinion on all things Rheinish, we'd better not get into that discussion. But what about the glasses? We're with Bönnsch. No other glass combines the aesthetics of a joy-stick with a perfect means of delivery. The curved glass seems to decant the beer to your mouth in a more satisfactory manner than a normal glass.

Great food, great service, a view across the river Rhine to the majestic Siebengebirge, sunset, twilight, candlelight and desserts: if that sounds like the perfect dinner to you - then this is where you'll find it. The Bastei in Bad Godesburg used to be a station for the passenger steamboats that operated on the Rhine. It's now a restaurant and beer garden with a perfect view of the river. It's situated on the slip road that leads to the car and passenger ferry: as you sip a cold beer you can watch the little boat chugging across the river, fighting the current at a 40° angle.

The sun only needs to show it's face for a few hours and the Aachener Weiher is full.  Families grilling, students lounging, lovers kissing, friends playing frisby - the Aachener Weiher is simply "herrlich" on a sunny day.  And it's about to get even better.  The city wants to build a new space to "chill and relax" next to the beer garden.  The "square" will be a place to hang out late into the night, and hopefully, say the city, draw people away from Brüsseler Platz - which at the moment turns into a Madrid style late night hang out in

It's a little earlier than last year, but yes - the beer garden in Volksgarten is open for business and it's only April!  Last year we had to wait till May, this year the folks at Hellers have answered the locals' prayers and opened up early.  The beer garden in Volksgarten is an oasis of calm in the Sudstadt, there aren't many other beer gardens in the city where you're far enough away from a road not to hear the traffic.  In Volksgarten all you can hear is the soft splashing of the paddle boats and the distant shouts of happy kids in the nearby playground, the Weiss beer is