{ ramen }

Dear Friends & Family,

Monday through Thursday John is at work while I play housewife keeping our home clean and going to the store for food and water. Our kitchen is small and our fridge tiny. Dishes easily start to stack, and our counter lacks space. I'm much more organized cooking in my small kitchen now than when I first started . I'm also more easily frustrated when I run out of space. Each night I cook is a learning experience, and last night I was most successful without any stress. I organized my menu and listed out the order I needed to prepare the dinner. I made Maggi butter chicken with rice, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I also made crispy Brussels sprouts with a garlic aioli. John made the rice. By the time dinner was prepared there were no dirty dishes and what little counter space I had was wiped down and clean.

With that being my weekday routine, I look forward to the weekends. John and I get to take advantage of the whole day and explore the city. We've been going to a different museum every week, and I've taken lots of pictures. Once I organize all the photos I'll be able to post an entry.

Last Sunday we went to Alexanderplatz to check out a new museum. We prefer museums on Fridays than Saturday or Sunday because they're less crowded. When we explored Pergamon there was hardly anybody there. After the museum we planned on checking out the Ramen place we had seen when we went to the Moroccan restaurant with John's coworker two weeks ago.

{ in front of the altes museum adjacent to the neus museum }

Cocolo  is only a few stops away from Alexanderplatz in Mitte. Mitte means center, so it's the center of Berlin. We got there before they opened at 6pm, so we back tracked the street to a small bar and got some beers to warm us up.

{pilsner in pilsner glasses}

We arrived at Cocolo just after 6, and there were already a few people inside sitting. We grabbed a table in the back and didn't sit very long before the place filled up.

{ neon sign next to their partner sushi restaurant }

{ click here and check out street view }

{ their ramen menu }

{ anxiously waiting for ramen }

John and I love ramen in LA. We used to go to Mitsuwa down the street from our apartment in Venice on rainy days to get ramen. We branched out to Ramen Yamadaya off Washngton Blvd in Culver City and explored Sawtelle to find our favorite, Tsujita, where they serve tonkotsu & tsukemen. If you're ever in that area you should check it out.

Cocolo has a variety of ramen and they have kakuni, which is pork belly-our favorite. So we ordered tonkotsu, kakuni, and gyoza, and all three were exactly what we hoped for. We found our ramen place! Unfortunately it's about an hour from our home taking 3 different lines to get there. More reasons why John and I are looking for an apartment more in the center of everywhere we want to be.

{ the set-up }

{ appetizer & beverage menu }

{ tonkotsu ramen }

This week I get to take a little break from the kitchen. John's coworkers are all getting together for their bi-weekly dinner on Wednesday. We are going to a Russian restaurant, and it will be my first time having Russian food. Tonight we are meeting up with Cat and trying a new Mexican restaurant in Xberg off Kottbusser Tor. I am looking forward to both places and will write about them next week. The weather has warmed up since last week. And I now consider "warm" to be high 30s-40s. Yesterday I didn't have to wear gloves when I went to the store! It's raining today though, and it's supposed to snow again this week. All that means is time to make another trip back to Cocolo for some ramen. 

xoxo,
The Prindles.

{ we love the sun }