I am going to be in Frankfurt for 1 night in a couple of weeks, just curious if any one had any insight of wine/dining suggestions. I would love to pick up a couple of good bottles of German wines, any suggestions on shops and wines to look for?

Thanks

calcabs,

I travel to Frankfurt frequently on business. While I cannot help you with wine shops (I never have time), I can give my highest recommendation for a restaurant: the Hotel Weidemann

Weidemann

If you like seafood, please ask them to serve you the dorado fish baked in rock salt. The chef will bring a large baking pan to your table, whip out an ice pick and chop away a 2-inch crust to reveal the dorado. He then filets the fish tableside and offers you an incredibly flavorful white cream sauce to put over the fish. It is probably the moistest and tastiest fish I have ever had. Remarkably, not salty at all. A truly memorable dining experience.

Make sure the taxi driver knows where it is before you leave your hotel. It is right in the middle of old Frankfurt at the center of a maze of streets. Your concierge can explain it to the taxi driver if he draws a blank.

If you are with a large group looking for a fun atmosphere, I recommend Wagner's in the Zecksenhausen (sp) district for bempels of apple wein. Ask them for a tray of their roast meats and sausages, with sides of sauerkraut, rye bread, mustard, and sauteed potatoes. Very fun place.

have a good trip!

Cheers,

Otis

Can't recommend anything in Frankfurt since I stay an hour or so away. Most of the good 2001's are gone, so you have to look pretty hard. There are small wine shops all over. One thing to your advantage is that Germans like trocken (dry) rieslings and virtually ignore the sweeter wines (kabinett, spatlese, auslese, etc.) so there may be some around. I found Bernkasteler Doctor in Bernkastel-Kues only (not a surprise), so you may be able find more rheingau's and rhinehessen's in Frankfurt.

I've listed the wines that I have bought - your taste may be different. But like I said, most of the good 2001's are gone. Good luck.

We'll be in Frankfurt for a 6 hour layover in September, I'll have to make a mental note to find a wine shop, hopefully right next to a cafe where I can drink some mighty fine Pilsner....

In about a week, we will be moving back to England after a year in Frankfurt. Frankfurt is small enough (700,000 people) to get to know pretty well in a year. Here are some of my favorite restaurants among the places I tried. Many are not wine focused, and some are more old favorites - good food, good atmosphere, reasonable prices - instead of destination restaurants (although I have included some of these too).

Restaurants
Central and Westend
Cafe im Literaturhaus. The Literaturhaus is a grand old townhouse that's been given over to poetry readings and other things literary. They have a café in back. It has a large outdoor patio in the summer. The main dining room is not so large but grand, with high ceilings. Atmosphere is lively and informal, although it's equally accommodating of business people in suits. Entrees are between EUR 15 and 25. They have a decent German and Austrian wine list---many good dry Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners for EUR 20-30 a bottle. Bockenheimer Landstrasse 102. Tel: 069 74 55 50. This is probably our all around favorite restaurant in Frankfurt.

Iwase. Don't be put off by the tinyness of the place, or by its former-pub appearance. This is some of the best Japanese food in Frankfurt, as is evidenced by the largely Japanese clientele. Right behind the main Marriott hotel on a street otherwise populated by Kebab stands. Vibeler Strasse 31. Tel: 069 28 39 92.

Erno's Bistro. A high end place, with trendy atmosphere, specializing in French fare. Reservation required some days in advance. EUR 30-35 for entrees. Very good wine list. Liebigstr. 15. Tel: 069 72 19 97.

Café Karin. Conveniently located right in the center of town. Similar atmosphere to Grössenwahn, below. High quality, reasonably priced meals. Fast and convenient, especially if you are shopping in the center. Grosser Hirschgraben 28 (around the corner from Goethe's house). Tel: 069 29 52 17.

Nordend
Größenwahn (which means Great Madness!). This is informal and lively, with seating on the street in the summer. High quality, typical middle European fare. Entrees are between EUR 15 and 25. Seems like place for liberal political activists and the like to hang out. Lenaustrasse 97. Tel: 069 59 93 56.

Sachsenhausen (just on the other side of the river)
Coq au Vin. Perhaps I have a weakness for this place. The room is cramped and vaguely resembles a converted ice cream parlor. The French proprietess is gruff but generous. They make simple bistro fare, but do it very very well ---top quality ingredients and preparation. The EUR 29 five-course prix fix is what I always get, it is such great value. And then because I feel like I have saved on the meal, I justify splurging on their winelist (an eclectic selection of Bordeaux including some first growths going back to 1982). The wine list tops out at EUR 700 for some Lafite or other (1983?). Unfortunately, in my numerous visits, I drank all their Potensac 1996, which was excellent. The clientele is a mix of post-work business people and romantic couples. Avoid in the height of summer, as it is too hot inside and there is no outdoor seating. Textorstr. 89. Tel: 96 20 03 38.

Ostend
Platea. Highly trendy Indian restaurant connected to King Kamehameha nightclub, in Frankfurt's formerly industrial Ostend. Good atmosphere, but mainly advisable as the only good restaurant in the vicinity of the nearby nightclubs. Hanauer Landstrasse 192. Tel: 48 00 26 60. Reservation advisable.

Elsewhere in Frankfurt
Osteria Enoteca. I have been here twice. Reservations are a must. This is a modern Italian cusine palace set in a house in a peripheral neighborhood. You have to ring the doorbell to be admitted. Entrees are around EUR 35, very creative, very fresh and very high quality. Italian wines include Sassicaia and Ornellia. The cheese board is one of the most extensive and amazing I have ever seen. Everything is very good and very expensive. This is an expense account/special occasion restaurant. Rödelheim, Arnoldshainer Str./Ecke Lorscherstr. 2. Don't worry, taxi drivers know it. Tel: 789 22 16.

Near Frankfurt
Schloss Johannisberg restaurant in the famous old Schloss in the heart of the Rheingau. High quality typical Rheingau fare. Good Riesling selection, most of it from Johannisberg. Great views over the Rhine. Reservations recommended but not always necessary. In Geisenheim. Tel 06722-9609-0.


Other restaurants that appealed to me: Herzen Afrikas in the Bahnhofsviertel, a trendy Ethiopian place with sand on the floor ---full of youngsters; Lobster, good French in a run-down part of Sachsenhausen; Toan, high quality and expensive Vietnamese on the Friedberger Anglage in the center of town. They have a high end wine list, mainly Bordeaux and Riesling. "M" Steakhouse (formerly Morton's until they were sued by the real Mortons). Excellent steaks in a sort of faux English country house atmosphere. On a residential street somewhere in the Westend, it has the décor of a 19th century British mens club.

Part 2: Appelwein Kneipe (Appel Wine Bars)

These are a Frankfurt tradition. In the summer, they are almost all great places to go, with their large and leafy beergardens, er appelwein gardens? But beware of many in Alt Sachsenhausen--they are mainly places for local drunks to hang out and the food is not so great. Also, if you ask me, appelwein is disgusting. I always mix it with mineral water. Some of these places thankfully serve beer...

Best food: Frankfurter Haus (built 1702), on the edge of the Stadtwald at the Neu Isenberg city line. Only about a EUR 10 taxi ride from Sachsenhausen. This place aspires to be more than an appelwein watering hole. It achieves a careful balance between upscale (a contradiction in terms for an Appelwein Kneipe) and traditional. The parking lot is always full of posh cars, and is administered by a crazy old parking lady. If you have a fat Mercedes or a Porsche she'll park you in the inner courtyard. Compact cars have to park on the street. Tel: 06102/315 22.

Runners up best food: Dauth Schneider. I had a great gespascho here. It is located on the Affentorplatz (Alt Sachsenhausen), which has a nice leafy atmosphere in the summer. Nearby, the Fichte Kränze on Wallstr 5 also has great food for an appelwein place.

Best outdoor seating atmosphere: Zur Sonne in Bornheim. In a very old farmhouse (c. 1620), with large courtyard full of tables. Very good food as well. Tel: 069 45 93 96. Also nice indoors in the winter.

Wagner in Sachsenhausen is considered a tourist trap. Worse, it has no real outdoor seating in the summer. But if you want menus in about twelve languages from Japanese to Russian to English, it is the place to go. Its neighbor, the Gemaltes Haus, is a little more authentic and is quite cozy in the winter. The waiters seem to have come through a timewarp from the 1950s.

Enjoy!

I went to Weidemann last night...I concur with Otis that it is a great restaurant. I postedsome notes on WS forums.

Anything you can recommend for someone to do during a 6-hour layover in Frankfurt on the way to Florence?

I wrote a whole detail description and then my computer crashed. So now I will be more succinct. I assume you will have a detailed map of central frankfurt.

Take the commuter train (S-Bahn) from terminal 1 to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station). They leave every ten mins or so and take 15 minutes. Cost: Eur 3.60 per person one way.

You can either walk along the river in front of the museums, visiting ones that appeal to you, or head into the center of town, in either casestopping to eat breakfast - I assume you will have taken a red eye flight and will want breakfast.

1. The Museums are all along the Museum Embankment (Museum Ufer) on the other side of the river. Walk out the front doors of train station and turn right. In about 400 yards you come to the river. Go down the stairs and under the Friedensbrucke over to the nearby footbridge that you'll see on your left...that's a nicer way to cross the river. There are two good places for breakfast: at Holbein's in the Städel, the main art museum, or at the Cafe at the Museum Alter Plastik (ancient sculpture). It is in a beautiful courtyard. At the other end of the Ufer (about a mile), at the second footbridge (the one with greek letters over the steps), there is an outdoor cafe that is best for drinking beer and looking at the skyline.

2. Going into town. The easiest and nicest way to get through the red light district that separates the train station from the downtown is Kaiser Strasse. Once you reach the big park with the giant Euro symbol, you are in the downtown. It's about 600 meters. Soon you'll come to the ritzy Frankfurter Hof hotel, which has a high end wine store you might want to check out. The second right after the hotel is where Cafe Karim is...they serve good breakfast (mind you cheese, bread, boiled eggs, fruit...not fried eggs and pancakes). You know you are on the right street if you see the sign "Cookie's" designed like the Coca Cola logo.

After you eat, you can continue up to the Kaiser Str into town.

Celebrated Fat Tuesday at the only New Orleans-style place in town (reputedly): King Creole Cafe.

It was like a Cajun bierstube. Very bizarre culture meld.

I noticed something crunchy in my seafood gumbo. Upon further investigation, I determined they were crushed almonds. Very strange, but on the whole, rather tasty.

Cheers,

Otis

Quote:

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It was like a Cajun bierstube. Very bizarre culture meld.

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If you thought that was strange, you should see German Tex-Mex.

I guess you'd call that Hess-Mex.

Cheers,

O

Only in Frankfurt. In Munich (Munchen) it's called Munch-Out, and in Berlin, it's called Jelly Donut. In tribute to JFK's "ich bin einer Berliner" speech. Don't ask me, I didn't come up with this stuff..

I'm leaving next week for the Frankfurt Book Fair. Although I'm staying 10 days, I think it will be pretty busy. I read cbmac's recommendations and will do that if I have any free time... (probably I won't ), but anyone knows any good wine shops there? I would also love some German wine recommendations. What is probably available there right now? 2004? Is it a good vintage? TIA!

Got no time to eat anything decent, no time to really do anything. I found a couple of wine stores, but nothing really good. When I have more time I'll try to write something down! Bis bald!