Berlin, Germany (Weltexpress). ‘Fisch 2000’ is a legendary fish restaurant in the fishing harbour of Bremerhaven. Guests who want to sit comfortably at tables as in a restaurant choose the left entrance in a simple wall of flat halls with two floors of brick-built back rooms, while everyone else goes through the right door and to the fish counters.
Although the sign above the two entrances says ‘Fischimbiss’ (fish snack bar), this is not a snack bar, but a restaurant, a fish restaurant. In addition, the relevant references to ‘fresh fish’, ‘smoked fish’ and ‘marinades’ are not to be missed.
In front of the packing halls, there are more than a handful of cheap black bench-table combinations under a white canopy, and sometimes there is a queue. Queuing in front of ‘Fisch 2000’ is as iconic as crab rolls. The shop or restaurant is apparently legendary not only in the foreigner stronghold of Bremerhaven, but also among visitors to this not-so-tranquil harbour town. Exceptions prove the rule. The fishing harbour shop window and the area between Geeste, Weser and the Old Harbour, as well as the area around the New Harbour, are part of it. Dit and dat on the dyke, that’s all you need in Bremerhaven.
Fisch 2000 also offers dit und dat, including fish rolls, such as fried fish rolls or, even cheaper, fish cakes in rolls, but also delicious rolls with matjes and crab or fried herring – something for everyone.
Matjes are also sold without bread rolls, individually and by the piece. Double matjes, matjes with herbs or plain, sherry matjes fillets. There’s no question that the classic Dutch matjes, also written Hollandse maatjesharing, is a must. As a snack with a few onion rings, it goes down a treat in this ‘fish snack bar’. And that’s a good thing. ‘Fish snack bar’ – well, it looks like a distinctive mixture of shop and snack bar, with a few bar tables and stools.
At the fish counters, customers can also find fish from an original Altona smokehouse. Smoked fish galore. The fish from the fresh fish counter also looks great. It is ‘delivered fresh every day’. And that’s a good thing at Fisch 2000.
