Where We Ate: Dusseldorf, Germany

Cafe Florian is a delightful bistro - casual, friendly and easy to get to by way of tram. The food was good, the prices reasonable and the atmosphere was perfect for hanging out with friends and sharing a meal, some wine or beer. http://www.gastronomie- mansour.de/
LaCastagnas is an Italian restaurant with a bit of a vinoteca feel to it. They have a great wine selection; in fact, it lines the walls with an ever changing menu! The food is freshly prepared, and the daily specials are exactly that: special! We've yet to order from the menu as the daily specials sound so delicious and the chefs deliver just that: a meal that is as tasty as it sounds! By the way, this is a 15-20 minute walk from the Hilton Hotel, but you work up an appetite going and walk off a meal afterwards! Reservations are strongly suggested! http://www.lacastagnas.de/
We had the pleasure of a delightful lunch at a newly re-named, re-decorated eatery/sundries shop called Eat Italy. While the website is not up and running yet, the link is here nonetheless: http://dusseldorf.eatitalyfood.com/ We opted for lunch in the walled garden and enjoyed a bottle of proseco to begin our meal. Fantastico! Afterwards, we checked out the wines, oils, sauces and miscellaneous Italian products for sale at the front of the restaurant.
At the Hilton Dusseldorf, we had a dinner the night of our arrival at the hotel restaurant, Max. The menu is perfect - they serve up high quality, well prepared and savory dishes. One afternoon we could not resist a burger from the lounge bar. (The year before, after a rather late night out, we ordered the burger and it was great.) And just like the year before, it was tasty, filling and accompanied by the best fries!
Another afternoon, we wanted to walk through the food market (Carlsplatz) and look over all the day's offerings. The market is huge! There are butchers, bread bakers, cheese mongers and cake makers; spices and herbs, pickles of all sorts, kitchen gadgets and flowers. Fruits and veggies, so colorful so tempting so reasonably priced! We settled for a lunch at the perimeter of the market: known for their beer, it could have fooled me! I had the goulash soup with a roll, while my dining partners ordered German sausage hoagies that they happily washed down with a local beer, Schumacher Alt. The lunch was incredible! Sorry I don't know the name, but if you go to Carlsplatz, you'll see the Schumacher Alt sign...grab a picnic bench order a beer then go inside and order up your lunch...you will NOT be disappointed!