15 Best Restaurants in The Rhineland, Germany

Chef Benjamin Kriegel earned a Michelin star for his innovative cooking, experimenting with unusual combinations of flavors and textures using mainly locally sourced ingredients. The five- or six-course menu of small plates changes with the seasons; recent highlights included marinated and smoked Bavarian char with borscht aspic, sour cream, and fermented white cabbage.

Great care is taken over the light, seasonal international dishes here, which are made with fresh, carefully chosen ingredients and served with the estate's wines. Choose to dine in the Kavalierhaus (squire's house, 1650), the orangery, or in the summer, on the flower-lined terrace facing the garden.

In a historic brick building in the charming suburb of Kaiserswerth, this Michelin-starred restaurant, with its elegant wood-paneled dining room and artfully presented gourmet French dishes, is worth the trip. Diners can order the prix-fixe menu or à la carte, with or without wine pairings.

At this elegant country hotel in the forested Eifel Hills, guests are offered one of Germany's absolute finest dining experiences in a room plush with gold and white wood furnishings and red carpet. Choose a spectacular five-, seven-, or eight-course menu or dine à la carte: the chef is renowned for transforming truffles, foie gras, and Persian caviar into masterful dishes, and challans duck in an orange-tarragon sauce is his specialty.

This wine estate in the peaceful suburb of Olewig features a gourmet restaurant with four- and five-course prix-fixe menus. Bordeaux and Burgundy wines are available in addition to the estate's own wines, and wine tastings, cellar visits, cooking classes and guided tours on the wine path can be arranged. In addition to the gourmet restaurant, the hotel also has a wine bar serving regional cuisine and a more casual wine tavern.

While it still retains its Michelin star, this acclaimed restaurant recently adopted a more casual approach, offering a pared-down modern tasting menu as well as à la carte dishes with French, Mediterranean, and Asian influences. The harborfront setting remains spectacular.

Locals flock to this stylish corner brasserie serving hearty staples of French rural cuisine with a Rhineland twist.

A young crowd gathers here to do what people along the Rhine have done for centuries—talk, drink, and enjoy good company. There's a party every Friday and Saturday with a DJ. Consistently voted one of the best deals in town, this restaurant offers good German beer, tangy cocktails, and a creative mixture of German and French food.

The sophisticated, Michelin-starred French nouvelle cuisine and attentive staff here are a hit with upscale locals. The restaurant, which is named for the woodcock, has been in operation just outside the Old Town by the Westpark since 1981. 

Classic German cuisine with a creative twist has earned this chic restaurant, a stone’s throw from the Rhine, a Michelin star. The concise, ever-changing menu features interesting flavor combinations using seasonal ingredients, and many dishes are available as half-portions.

This French restaurant is housed in one of Burgstrasse's charming listed half-timber houses. The fish menu, vegetarian selection, and fancy twists on traditional and regional dishes are what set it apart from the crowd.

The name means "gourmet owl," and, indeed, the chef caters to gourmets in the 19th-century Palais Walderdorff complex opposite the cathedral. Truffles are a specialty, along with excellent fish. Wines from top German estates, particularly from the Mosel are featured, along with an extensive selection of reds.

Rita and Hermann Saxler operate a comfortable, modern hotel and upscale restaurant in a 19th-century manor house on the Ufer (riverbank) at Zeltingen. Whether you opt for the handsome dining room or the terrace overlooking the Mosel, Saxler's restaurant is a good destination for refined regional cooking with a Mediterranean touch.

Daily soups and stews, hearty fare, cold snacks, and fresh, regional cuisine are served with wines from the Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt estate. The Tagesgericht (daily special) and Aktionsmenü (prix-fixe menu) are a good bet; Das Beste der Region (the region's best) is an ample selection of local hams, cheeses, fish, and breads, served on a wooden board for two.

Whether you dine inside or out, don't miss the collection of Roman artifacts displayed in the cellar. In addition to the German dishes on the regular menu, you can order à la carte or prix-fixe based on recipes attributed to the Roman gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius in the evening.