6 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.

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.

With its position right on the market place in the center of town, you'd be forgiven for suspecting the Alte Wache to be a tourist trap. However, you'd be mistaken, as good regional cuisine such as local trout (Forelle) with potato and apple salad as well as salads, sandwiches, and a very popular spaghetti bolognese are on the reasonably priced menu in this spacious, friendly, air-conditioned café.

The quiet, walled, rose-filled wine garden at Koegler's is a wonderful spot to enjoy some of their excellent food, which includes German and Russian specialties as well as some very good options for kids. If you fall for their classic quality wines, you can purchase them at the neighboring Koegler Vinothek on your way home.