Dresden is known for its incredible beauty and charm, which makes it one of the favorite destinations for those looking to experience Germany’s best cuisine. Full of youthful energy, art galleries and theaters, the city is also well catered for, here tourists can taste hearty Saxon cuisine. Here are the 10 best cultural restaurants selected for a trip to the city.
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Watkze Ball & Brauhaus
Have a really hearty Saxon meal at Watkze Ball & Brauhaus, a 100 plus-year-old restaurant, ballroom and brewery. According to Dresden inhabitants, this place is a must. Alongside traditional interiors and walls decorated with old photographs of Dresden, customers will have the opportunity to try the regional specialities, such as the pork neck in beer sauce with mushroom goulash, and taste their own in-house beer. When the weather is fine, Watkze Ball & Brauhaus set up a lovely beer garden on the banks of the Elbe.
Lila Sosse
In the heart of hip neighborhood Neustadt, and in particular the Kunsthofpassage, a courtyard complex with colorful buildings and cozy cafes, Lila Sosse is a shabby-chic venue which serves German tapas. Cheese spaetzle with fried onions and herring tartar with beetroot arrive at the table in glass jars. With an intellectual and relaxed atmosphere, Lila Sosse is a perfect snapshot of modern Germany’s lifestyle.
Lesage
A Sunday brunch at Lesage is an experience everyone in Dresden must sample. Lesage is nothing other than a restaurant housed in a Volkswagen factory, and the Sunday brunch consists of a buffet, live piano music, and a tour through the workshop. The restaurant also hosts several special events like Klassik picknickt, an open-air event in front of the factory, and offers cooking courses for kids.
Pfunds Molkerei
Pfunds Molkerei is the oldest dairy shop in East Germany, founded in 1879 by Pfund brothers in the Neustadt neighborhood, doling out milk to the citizens for generations. The first high quality concentrate milk, milk soaps, artificial milk for babies, they all come from here. This majolica treasure, destroyed and then rebuilt after World War II, is now a milk bar where customers can taste many varieties of milk, natural or flavored, delicious cheeses (accompanied with German wines) and buy specialities, like milk jam or milk grappa.
Kastenmeiers
Probably the best fish restaurant in town, Kastenmeiers warrants a visit not only for its delicious, top quality food, but also for its location. A magnificent Rococo building, the Kurländer Palais, the heart of the city centre, opens its doors and welcomes customers with a huge aquarium filled with fish and lobsters. These creatures will show up in dishes like turgeon with salmon caviar sauce or lobster risotto. Rough stone walls and minimal interior design create an interesting contrast between old and new. One of the most elegant dining options in town.
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Kügelgenhaus
German Sturm und Drang artists are well known all over the world, so why not having a real German meal in the spirit of Young Werther? In fact, inside the XVIII century building which hosts the Museum of Romanticism, the Kügelgenhaus, there is an alehouse which stays open even when the museum is closed. With a cellar ambience, brick walls and cave-style architecture, here tourists can taste the good food Germans are so proud of, such as bratwurst, kartoffeln, sauerkrauts, and of course they can enjoy their amazing beer.
Waldschloesschen
Room with a view? In this restaurant the customers have the most spectacular birds-eye view of the city of Dresden. Housed in the hotel Waldschloesschen, this place offers typical German cuisine with its hearty meals and home-brewed beer. Close to the city centre, tourists will have the chance to dine in the lovely beer garden accompanied by live music in front of a breathtaking view of the Elbe. This venue is particularly recommended in summertime, when the terrace and the scent of flowers can be fully appreciated.
Alte Meister
Alte Meister is one of the most impressive art galleries in Dresden, so having a meal next to it is simply amazing. The Alte Meister restaurant is perfectly located in the historical city centre and just next to the famous Semper Opera. By day it is a chic café, by night, a gorgeous dining place. It provides breakfast until noon, affordable lunches and fine dinners, and makes an ideal rendezvous for those who have worked up an appetite from museum-hopping and sight-seeing. A sculpture of the composer Carl Maria von Weber guards the entrance.
Sophienkeller
With waitresses dressed up in period garb, Sophienkeller is the perfect place to taste a typical Saxon meal from the XVIII century. Expect specialities such as the boneless half duck with red cabbage or the spit-roasted suckling pig, to be accompanied with a dark Bohemian Krušovice beer. The ambience is amazing, with vaulted ceilings in the Taschenbergpalais, an elegant and historical building in the old city centre of Dresden.
