A weekend in Hannover took us to several restaurants, cafés and pubs. We sampled very different offerings and found that eating out in Hannover is a treat.
Market Hall Hannover
For all those who don’t really know what they’re in the mood for or where they should go for a meal in Hannover, the Markthalle Hannover (Market Hall Hanover) is just the right place. Everyone is sure to find something to their taste here, the selection is really large.
The market hall, or as the Hannoverians say, the belly of Hannover, is located on the edge of the old town, opposite the Old Town Hall. The call for a market hall increased more and more in Hannover from 1875 onwards. The population grew, the number of traders increased and the market carts increasingly obstructed road traffic. For a while there was even talk of abolishing street markets altogether, but the population needed them as a supply option. In 1888, it was decided to build a municipal market hall.
An iron and glass structure with brick side walls was built, 84 metres long, 48 metres wide and 20 metres high. 243 traders sold their wares there. Even the tram laid tracks up to the south side of the market hall to ensure delivery.
During the First World War, the city enlarged the cold storage rooms under the market hall. This made it possible to store grain and food for the population. In addition, municipal sales outlets for basic foodstuffs were established.
In the Second World War, aerial bombs almost completely destroyed Hannover and the market hall was also destroyed. The cold storage rooms under the hall were preserved and the market traders set up temporary stalls in the destroyed hall.
It quickly became clear that Hannover needed a new market hall. A functional building was erected on the listed foundation walls and the refrigerated cellars. Today, there are 73 different stalls in the hall. Some stalls sell food such as vegetables, wine, sausages, meat, bread, fish and fruit. Other stalls sell meals and drinks. Here you can find an international range of the most diverse foods.
We were drawn to a stand that awakens a little Scandinavian longing. At ælling you can find everything from smørrebrød to cinnamon buns that make you dream of Denmark. We went for the smørrebrød and honestly, it tasted better than the last smørrebrød I had in Copenhagen.
If you want to finish off with a snack for the road, there is a Bahlsen factory outlet on the upper floor of the market hall. But be careful! The purchase is bound to be bigger than originally thought.
Address:
Karmarschstraße 49, 30159 Hannover
Opening hours:
Monday – Wednesday: 7.30-20 h Thursday, Friday: 7.30 – 22 h Saturday: 7.30 -16 h
Teestübchen – a café at the Ballhof
During our tour we also came to Ballhofplatz. Here, in a former hairdresser’s salon, a small tea room with a unique flair was created in 1970. Cosy and somewhat reminiscent of times long gone, you can enjoy not only a wide variety of teas here, but also coffee and other drinks.
If you look around the interior, you will find “rescued” furnishings that were almost disposed of during the modernisation work on some of the old buildings in Hanover. For example, the wooden panelling on the walls and the counter comes from the former director’s room of the Landschaftliche Brandkasse and the ornate cast-iron grilles and columns were once on display in the staircase of the former Royal Railway Directorate.
We looked for a place on Ballhofplatz in the first spring sunshine. Here you have to be lucky that something is free at the moment, because the tea room is very popular and always well attended.
Following a tip, we had a piece of New York Cheesecake, which is freshly baked according to a family recipe. A good tip, the cake was very good and made our time out in the sun complete.
Address:
Ballhofplatz, 30159 Hannover
Opening hours:
Monday-Thursday: 10 – 23 h Friday-Sunday: 9.30 – 23 h
Craft Beer Bar Hannover
After the sweet cake, we were drawn to the other side of the Ballhof to a craft beer bar. Actually, we had hoped to get local craft beer here. However, the beer on offer was almost exclusively from other cities. One of the exceptions was the TrainingsLager from the Mashsee Brewery in Hannover. A cold-hopped lager with 5.5% alcohol content. The beer is the first beer brewed in the brewery and tastes slightly fruity (tangerine, grapefruit).
Patrick decided to try a Berlin beer that is brewed only a few streets away from us, but which we have not yet tried. The beer from the FUERST WIACEK brewery was great and we really must visit the brewery.
Address:
Ballhofplatz 7, 30159 Hannover
Opening hours:
Tuesday-Saturday: from 16.30 h
Dining out in Hannover: LieblingsBar
After a long bike ride, going out to eat in Hannover was on the agenda. We were drawn to the LieblingsBar.
The restaurant-bar at Herrenhäuser Markt has been around since 2017. In 2021, the LieblingsBar was voted Germany’s Bar of the Year (trade magazine “FIZZZ”).
A glance at the menu quickly shows that the theme “favourite” is program here – favourite burger, favourite food, favourite drink…. Of course, this sets the bar quite high indirectly, because everyone has their favourite taste in mind. But I have to say, the name fits, it tasted good.
The “Sweet Little Goat”, a warm country bread topped with goat cheese au gratin, thyme, walnuts and blueberry jam, was the first dish. Then there was the “Royal Frikadelle” with sweet and sour potato salad and a “Herrenhäuser Burger”. Both dishes were excellently prepared, very tasty and more than sufficient in quantity.
There was also good beer to go with the good food! We could order regional beer and so we had a Herrenhäuser, a Gilde Ratskeller and from the Mashsee brewery a “Helles im Wunderland”. Craft beers with a great flavour of their own that went very well with the food.
Address:
Herrenhäuser Markt 5, 30419 Hannover
Opening hours:
Monday-Friday: from 12 h Saturday, Sunday: from 10h
Holländische Kakao-Stube
The Holländische Kakao-Stube is a pastry shop and café in the heart of Hannover’s city centre.
The café is part of Hannovers cultural history, here you sit in a stylishly furnished room and can eat excellent cakes in Hannover. Even before the master confectioner Friedrich Bartels opened the Kakao-Stube here in 1921, it was the “Van Houtens Cacao-Probe-Local”. To this day, Dutch drinking chocolate and fantastically delicious chocolate cakes are served here.
I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate with coconut and, of course, there was cake to go with it. A treat that was the perfect end to our stay in Hanover.
Address:
Ständehausstraße 2-3, 30159 Hannover
Opening hours:
Monday – Saturday: 10-18.30 h
The visits to the Markthalle and the LieblingsBar were an item on the agenda of a research trip to Hanover.
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