annetti

We loved eating in the Manora restaurants in Switzerland. Anything comparable in Hamburg? Thanks.

hsv

I don't know the Manora restaurant, but if you want to have lunch in a department store, Alsterhaus (an upscale department store run by Karstadt that should continue to be around despite the Karstadt insolvency) would arguably be your best option. It also gives you a nice view of the Inner Alster Lake.

Other affordable lunch places in the city include Vapiano (a by now global chain with its first restaurant in Hamburg on Hohe Bleichen), offering Italian food prepared to order directly in front of you (self service, but quite good and fresh pasta made on site); Cha Cha, 2 restaurants in 2 of the many inner-city shopping passages offering Thai and Asian fusion cuisine (annoyingly they sometimes don't manage to serve 2 different dishes at the same time); Cafe Paris, offering French brasserie style cuisine; Moe-Grill, 3 Bratwurst stalls on Moenckebergstr and Jungfernstieg offering Hamburg's best sausages; Maral and Bar Tabac in the Galleria shopping passage of Grosse Bleichen also dish up decent lunch specials. And last, but not least: Daniel Wischer is a Hamburg institution for fish and potato salad (or chips) and other quick seafood, with a modern bistro on Spitalerstr. and a more traditional (but certainly not formal) restaurant on Steinstr.

Alsterhaus Restaurant:
http://www.alsterhaus.de/en/shops-stops/restaurant-bar/

Vapiano:
http://www.vapiano.com/

Cha Cha:
http://www.eatchacha.com/

Cafe de Paris
http://www.cafeparis.net/

Maral:
http://www.restaurant-maral.de/

Bar Tabac (no own webpage, but that of the shopping passage where it's located):
http://www.galleria-hamburg.de/data/...ils.pl?show=07

Daniel Wischer:
http://www.danielwischer.de/restaurant0.html

Echnaton

I do not know Manora either, but you may try the food court inside Hamburg main station (Hauptbahnhof) with an amazing array of high-level fastfood eateries.

annetti

Thank you again, hsv, for all the information and taking the trouble to post the websites. Thank you, too, Echnation. I will save this information.

hsv

If you happen to be near the port at lunchtime, try Fischerhaus. Affordable restaurant that has been a Hamburg institution for decades. Locals tend to frequent the downstairs area without views, but the first floor offers views of the port. Ambiance nothing to write home about, but their fish is fresh and portions are big. Plaice Finkenwerder style (fried with bacon) is one of their specialties, the "Pannfish" (fried fish fillets in a mustard sauce) is also decent.
http://www.restaurant-fischerhaus.de/

annetti

Thanks very much, hsv. You appear to know many things about Hamburg. You have been very helpful.

hsv

Also a decent lunch place that was mentioned a few weeks ago by some visitor to the city here on Fodors (and sometimes it takes someone to remind oneself of the value of what used to be local haunts) is Brodersen on Rothenbaumchausssee in the university district. Housed in the basement of a period mansion opposite the law school of Hamburg University, not too far from the city center, it offers unpretentious local specialties, also with a seasonal influence and at decent prices. And afterwards the Outer Alster "Lake" (it's actually a river, but looks like a lake) is a rewarding 15 min. walk through very nice residential streets away.
http://www.restaurant-brodersen.de/

annetti

Thanks again, hsv. All these places are noted!