20 Best Restaurants in The Rhineland, Germany

One of Germany's finest dining experiences awaits in the restaurant of Waldhotel Sonnora, an elegant country hotel in the forested Eifel Hills. The eight-course tasting menu is a tour-de-force of classic yet inventive French cooking, with the chef transforming truffles, foie gras, and caviar into mouthwatering creations. There are also subtle nods to local food culture throughout, as well as extensive use of local game. The standard menu costs an eye-watering €339 per person (plus €175 for wine pairing), and there are plenty of opportunities for supplements. Unusually, you can also order à la carte, though you may weep when you've seen the bill with the cost of just one main course.

Follow the east bank of the Rhine down from Koblenz and you'll come to this charming half-timber boutique hotel that has been offering a warm welcome to guests since 1693. The hotel's Restaurant Zum Schwanen is an elegant but rustic place, renowned for its set menus of gourmet cuisine using fresh, regional ingredients—from river trout and pasture-fed beef to Nettetal asparagus and garden-grown herbs. Step inside and discover the traditions of hospitality that have continued to this day. 

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 that make up the three-course menus here. Every dish is made with fresh, carefully chosen ingredients and served with the estate's wines. Choose to dine in the Kavalierhaus (Squire's House), which dates back to 1650, in the orangery, or (during summer) on the flower-lined terrace facing the garden. The restaurant, which closes early for dinner at 8 pm, is part of the Schloss Vollrads complex, a five-minute drive north of town.

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.

Chef Roland Gorgosilich and sommelier Florian Richter continue the culinary traditions that have made this stylish and intimate art nouveau house one of the Rheingau's top restaurants. The menu showcases dishes with pan-European influences, with produce varying from Breton lobster to Galician veal, while the wine list focuses on the finest local estates for whites, along with Old and New World estates for reds. The main restaurant's painted ceiling creates an atmospheric setting for the multi-course meals (opt for the four-, five-, or six-course menu), while in warmer months, diners can enjoy the gorgeous parklike garden. Overindulged? Stay in one of the 18 elegant rooms and suites here.

This excellent little French restaurant is housed in one of Burgstrasse's most charming half-timber houses. Expect fancy twists on traditional and regional dishes on the five-course main menu (available to order for two people or more), with optional paired wines. Alternatively, order à la carte from the meat, fish, or vegetarian menus—or ask for the seasonal specialties. Note that the restaurant closes between lunch and dinner.

On a quiet residential street on the outskirts of the Altstadt, and hidden from view in summer by an ivy-covered patio, this restaurant feels like a true escape—befitting its laid-back name, Beach House. The regularly changing menu focuses on high-quality seasonal ingredients prepared in an elegant, yet no-fuss fashion. 

Thomas and Gudrun Höreth's enchanting country inn—a former mill dating back to 1026—is a labyrinth of little rooms and cellars grouped around oleander-lined courtyards. Highlights of the menu include homemade cheeses, terrines, pâtés, and Entensülze (goose in aspic), served with the Höreths' own wines. It's on the northern edge of Kobern-Gondorf, a 10-minute drive from Winningen.

While it still retains its Michelin star, this acclaimed restaurant has 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.

Perched on a hilltop north of town, this superb restaurant overlooks the Rauenthaler Baiken vineyard. In addition to the lovely panorama vista from the vine-canopied terrace, the regional cooking, friendly atmosphere, and local wines make for a complete "Rheingau Riesling" experience. The menu is limited, with only four starters, four mains, and two desserts to choose from at any time; if in doubt (and a meat-eater), opt for always-excellent rump steak.

Located in the Kurhaus, beside the Spielbank, this chic bistro has a striking art nouveau interior—think painted ceilings, walls crammed with paintings, and a grand piano (live music nightly)—that attracts an upscale clientele and the post-theater crowd. Delicately mixing French and German cooking, the restaurant is particularly known for its (expensive) black Angus steaks, best served with truffle fries. For a good value lunch, come for the two-course menu (including coffee), available from 12 to 3 pm weekdays.

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. 

North of St. Goar along the river, this hotel restaurant is all about superb wine—it's run by Martina Lorenz and her winemaker husband Joachim, who provides the delicious Bopparder Hamm estate wines—and local seasonal cuisine served as three-course set menus. Expect dishes such as chanterelle cream soup and roasted beef with potato gratin. A sparkling wine aperitif is included with all menus, and you can add on paired wines for €15. The setting is a lovely, solarium-style restaurant, right on the river, that features original Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) furniture from the era the hotel was built.

Beneath the exposed beams and painted ceiling of this cozy hotel restaurant, trout from the hotel's own fish farm will grace your table, served alongside German and French wines. It's on the site of a historic mill that belonged to the current proprietor's great-great-grandfather, tucked away in the forested hills of the Enderttal (Endert Valley) around 3 km (2 miles) northwest of Cochem's center.

North of Bernkastel in Zeltingen, this upscale restaurant is in the riverside Weinhotel St. Stephanus. Once part of a 19th-century manor house, the handsome dining room is a lovely setting for enjoying refined regional cooking with a hint of the Mediterranean. Diners can also sit out on the terrace overlooking the Mosel, while pre- and post-dinner drinks can be enjoyed in the rustic brewery cellar.

The name means "gourmet owl," and, indeed, the chef caters to gourmets in the 19th-century Palais Walderdorff complex opposite the cathedral. In the evening, the menu is à la carte and truffles are a specialty, along with excellent fish. Wines from top German estates, particularly those along the Mosel, are featured along with an extensive selection of reds.   Come at lunch for a great value, three-course set menu, including a glass of wine and coffee that is cheaper than the cheapest main course at dinner.

At this Schloss Johannisberg restaurant you can sit on the patio, in the restaurant, or the glassed-in terrace, which affords a spectacular view of the Rhine and the vineyards where the estate's wines originate. The regular menu includes several meat dishes, with a smattering of fish and vegetarian options, but it's the seasonal specialties that really stand out. Depending on the season, look out for wild garlic soup, white asparagus with schnitzel, and duck with cabbage and potato dumplings.

High ceilings, chandeliers, and traditional wooden furnishings help shape Wiesbaden's answer to a Bavarian beer hall, with a good selection of draft and bottled Weihenstephaner beers to match. The classic Bavarian food comes in very generous portions, from the best crispy Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle) in town—worth ordering in advance as they only make a set number each day—to schnitzel, fried chicken, and sausages with sauerkraut and fried potatoes.

Wine-maker Josef Laufer more than lives up to the hospitality promised by the wreath and Krug (an earthenware pitcher) hanging above the front door of his hotel and restaurant a few kilometers from Eltville. The wood-paneled dining room, with its old tiled stove, is cozy; the service is warm and welcoming; and the regularly changing seasonal German fare includes Riesling cream soup, rump steak, trout from the Wisper River, along with the odd international curveball (Thai green curry, anyone?)