10 Best Restaurants in Schleswig-Holstein and the Baltic Coast, Germany

Located in Wismar's oldest patrician house and regarded as one of the most attractive, authentic taverns on the Baltic—and correspondingly busy—this eatery focuses on Mecklenburg's fish, game and poultry dishes, such as the traditional Mecklenburger Ente (Mecklenburg duck). The duck is filled with baked plums, apples, and raisins, and served with red cabbage and potatoes.

Taste the "Divine beer of the Vikings," a malty cold-fermented amber lager, at Schleswig's only brewery. While the Luzifer Restaurant offers typical brewpub fare, it is the small Viking twists, like roast meat served only with a knife and horned glasses that make this place worth a visit.

Wismar's first brewery (1452) is the only place that still brews Wismarer Mumme, a dark beer with enough alcohol to keep it fresh for export as far away as St. Petersburg. The restaurant serves good-value typical pub food in an old half-timber house near the harbor.

Sailors have stopped in at this restaurant's bar for more than a century. The smoked fish sampler, served on a lazy Susan, is delicious, and the house specialty of fish soup is best washed down with some Rostocker Doppelkümmel schnapps.

Merging an à la carte restaurant with an elegant cocktail bar, Otto's has been shaking up Rostock's dining scene since 2017. Located right on the waterfront inside a pontoon boat, this restaurant also wows with scenic views that stretch from the city harbor to the Old Town.

While enjoying fresh fish from local waters, prepared with a light Italian touch, you can watch the sunset over the cliffs of Kap Arkona at this restaurant dubbed "Rügen's balcony." Make a reservation, and insist on a table in the Fontane-Veranda (in winter) or the Arkonablick-Terrasse (in summer).

It's worth the trip here just to see the rustic interior and copper brewing equipment. Since the restaurant is owned by the Störtebecker Brewery, all Stralsunder and several Störtebecker beers are on tap, including the rare Störtebecker Roggen-Weizen, a wheat beer made with rye, and Germany's first India Pale Ale.

Don't be fooled by the prefab exterior: Schwerin's only brewery is an oasis of great beer and down-to-earth regional and Brauhaus specialties like the Malzsack (a pork schnitzel breaded with brewing malt) or Mecklenburger lamb. Wash it down with the house-brewed unfiltered light or dark beer.

Looking like the cabin of a Kogge (a Hanseatic sailing vessel), the oldest sailors' beer tavern in town serves mostly fish. Order the Fischteller "Schifferhaus," consisting of three kinds of fish—depending on the day's catch—served with vegetables, shrimp, and potatoes.