After a damp morning wandering the curly roads through the plateaus between the Rhine and the Mosel rivers we were in need of warmth and food. We had started out just to tour the vineyards, but we ventured farther than we thought and there was the Mosel and Cochem with its mighty Reichsburg Castle beaming at us. With a little searching we discovered the buzzing little cafe, bistro Noss. Tucked in between a tourist shop and a dull doctors office facing the Mosel promenade was a warm red door with a small paned window filled with wine bottles and menus. Also there was a menu pinned to the window box to the left of the door.
A push on the door and the smells and bustling waitresses, engulfed you along with all the jolly animated customers. They gestured, they laughed, and they ate. Huge platters of sausages, with potatoes and beans, saurebraten with gravy, salads brimming from bowls and every one eating with gusto. All seemed local and we stood out , but we did get the only table left in the entire room. In the back next to the restrooms and the kitchen, but it was warm so who cares.
A harried young Fraulen took our order and slipped off to bring our drinks. We are not big eaters at the lunch hour, unlike the Germans, their big meal of the day, so we ordered Tomatensuppe and gulaschsuppe, which arrived promptly and steaming in huge platter bowls. Creamy and spicy with swirls of cream stirred on top and a dark crust of bread and I was good to go. Robert devoured his goulash and mummble how wonderful, but then he said, "I thought goulash was Hungarian food!"