Athos (Günthersdorf, Germany)

06237 Leuna OT Günthersdorf

 

Athos is a gyros place in the food court of the enormous NOVA mall on the outskirts of Leipzig. It actually serves a wide range of Greek dishes, more similar to a restaurant than a food court fast food place. I get a Pita Gyros (€4), which is a weird kind of combination of pita gyros and Döner Kebab. On top of the shaved Greek seasoned meat, cabbage, onion, tzatziki, tomato, they also add lettuce and some weird kind of salad dressing. All of this comes in Turkish bread, not Greek pita. The bottom, which is mostly Greek, is pretty good. The top is kind of gross.

 

VERDICT: 70/100

Cheap but suspect. Would ask without dressing and lettuce.

Fugger Imbiss (Berlin, Germany)

Fuggerstraße 17, 10777 Berlin, Germany

 

Fugger Imbiss is a Döner place, rather than a traditional Imbiss, in Nollendorfkiez, Berlin. Fugger serves the usual staples: Döner kebab, Turkish pizza, meat skewers, but also grilled chicken from the skewer, Currywurst, and meat balls.

 

I get a Turkish Pizza with Salad (€4) and a Döner Adana (€7). The Adana is well grilled but the sandwich is a bit sompy. The vegetables don’t taste too fresh and it all just morphs into a decent but not really very good sandwich. The same goes for the Turkish pizza.

 

VERDICT: 80/100

Fine but just fast food Döner fare. You can do much better in Berlin.

Smash Burger (Berlin, Germany)

Wittenbergplatz, 10789 Berlin, Germany

 

Smash Burger (or Smash) is a stand at the Wittenbergplatz just off the famous KaDeWe, which is part of the Hauptburger chain. It serves three types of smash burgers, one type of fried chicken burger, and fries. I get the Double Fried Onion Chili Burger (€8), which is two extremely juicy smashed beef patties, thin sliced onions, jalapenos, homemade pickles and chipotle sauce on a brioche bun. Not sure where the chili comes in. But this is a very juicy and tasty burger, despite the rather minor kick.

 

VERDICT: 89/100

Excellent smash burgers and not too expensive given the location.

Fritpleintje (Zaventem, Belgium)

Heidestraat 3, 1930 Zaventem, Belgium

 

Fritpleintje is a frituur in downtown Zaventem, just a mile from Brussels National Airport. It has the old name outside and the new one inside (odd). They have a pretty modern operation going with all the usual snacks but few homemade stuff.

 

I get a Small Fries (€2.90) with Mayonnaise (€0.90) and a Grizzly (€3.00) with Samourai (€0.90). The fries are thick and perfectly fried. I enjoy them although I miss something extra (which might be because I have COVID). The Grizzly is standard: spicy mystery ground meat in a thin coating. The sauces are good but I prefer them fresh on my snacks rather than in prepared little cups.

 

VERDICT: 87/100

A very solid frituur. Worth a visit.

Balkan Grill Ideal (Mainz, Germany)

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 56, 55118 Mainz, Germany

 

Balkan Grill Ideal is a small Bosnian restaurant in a busy street off the main railway station of Mainz in a mostly immigrant neighborhood. The outside tables are full with Bosnian men who probably spend their whole day there talking to each other. The menu is limited but classic: cevapcici, pleakavica, grilled chicken, various soups.

 

I get 7 cevapcici (€7), which come with onions, aivar, and bread. The cevapcici looked more like sausages but have a nice taste, just like the bread (more Turkish than Bosnian).

 

VERDICT: 87/100

Unpretentious but good Bosnian food.

Merakles (Stuttgart, Germany)

Hauptstrasse 170, 70563 Stuttgart

 

Merakles is a pretty famous Greek food truck on the outskirts of Stuttgart that provides a wide range of dishes you’ll usually find at a bigger gyros restaurant: gyros, souflaki, falafel, various salads, deserts, etc. I get a Pita Gyros (€5.80) and a Lahano (€2.90). The pita is huge and has enough fries in it for a side meal. Unfortunately, everything is very salty and most of the (non-salty) tzatziki and tomato are at the bottom. The Lahano is a cabage salad, which is big and fresh.

 

VERDICT: 88/100

I’m not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed. It was good gyros but not remarkable. However, the next day I did find out that I had COVID, so maybe my taste was a bit off.

 

The Flames (Walserberg, Austria)

Grenzwaldweg 1, 5071 Walserberg, Austria

 

The Flames is a US-style “burger and steaks” restaurant at a gas station just outside of Salzburg — they are part of a group of four gas station restaurants. They have usual US snacks, burgers, onion rings, wings, etc. with some bbq options (pulled pork).

 

I’m going fairly light this afternoon, so I choose the Chicken Burger (€13,50) with a side salad. The Chicken Burger comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and sweet chile sauce. The chicken breast is pan fried and nice and juicy. The sweet chile sauce is pretty mild and makes the mayo superfluous. Overall, a good sandwich.

 

VERDICT: 85/100

Very decent gas stop food.