To anyone visiting Strasbourg, it quickly becomes apparent that the city is not typically French. The architecture, the names of Strasbourg’s restaurants and neighbourhoods, even the grape varieties used to make Alsace wines – all have a lot of Germanic influence. A quick glance at the history explains why: after centuries as part of the Holy Roman Empire, the city became French, then changed hands between France and Germany several times, finally returning to France at the end of the Second World War.
Strasbourg’s neighbourhoods are a case in point: the UNESCO-listed Grande Île, ringed by the River Ill, sounds French enough, but its southwest corner is home to Petite France – a chocolate-box-worthy neighbourhood of timber-framed houses and dainty bridges and canals, whose name makes it sound like it’s not part of France at all. Southeast across the water is the Germanic-sounding neighbourhood of Krutenau, which buzzes with bohemian life (I loved it, even if I was bringing up the average age by about 20 years). North of the city centre is the suburb of Schiltigheim, famous for its brewing history. (More about where to stay below!)
Alsace food and wine specialities
Whether German or French, Strasbourg’s food is unmistakeably Alsace – which generally means rich, hearty and comforting. As Mr Foodie pointed out, Strasbourg might be a city best visited in winter! Culinary specialities include jambonneau (pork knuckle) with choucroute (sauerkraut), cheesy spätzle (often made with Munster cheese), tarte flambée (also known as flammekueche – a sort of Alsatian pizza) and onion quiche, as well as more French preparations of duck (foie gras de canard, magret de canard) and giant portions of veal cordon bleu.
With all that rich food, you might expect full-bodied red wines. But Alsace wines are overwhelmingly white: this is Riesling country, with perfumed Muscat and Gewurztraminer as well as reliable Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc offering a counterpoint to all the heavy cuisine. Red wine drinkers will, however, find plenty of Pinot Noir – both light/fresh and fuller/oaked. And don’t miss the Crémant d’Alsace for some excellent traditional-method sparkling wines, too.
Planning your trip to Strasbourg
With choucroute, tarte flambée and plenty of Riesling on the menu, you’ll want to arrive in Strasbourg hungry. Below are a few trip essentials to get you started:
- Getting to Strasbourg: Strasbourg Airport is small and doesn’t have many direct flights from abroad. At the time of writing, easyJet and Jet2 appear to fly from the UK, while the US and much of the rest of Europe would require connecting flights – compare routes and fares on Expedia. It may make more sense to travel by rail: TGV trains from Paris take under two hours, and Omio is handy for comparing train and bus options from across Europe.
- Getting around: Strasbourg’s compact centre is very walkable, and the tram and bus network run by CTS is regular and reliable. For a day trip to Colmar, take the train (about 30 minutes), or rent a car if you’d like to explore the Alsace Wine Route at your own pace.
- Where to stay: We stayed in an apartment in Schiltigheim to keep costs down, but if your budget allows, I’d recommend booking a hotel on the Grande Île or in Krutenau, just southeast of the centre.
- Tours and experiences: Strasbourg offers a wide range of tours and activities, including Alsace Wine Route day trips and wine tastings. For a tasty introduction to Alsatian food, the small-group, half-day Strasbourg Food Tour takes in choucroute, local cheese, tarte flambée and kougelhopf.
- Further reading: Heading elsewhere in France? Read my foodie guides to Bordeaux, Paris and Lille.
Restaurants in Strasbourg
There are any number of Strasbourg restaurants for classic Alsace cuisine. I’ve therefore picked a handful of representative examples that I thought were particularly good, plus a couple of wild cards (because you might be craving something lighter after a few days of spätzle!).
Chez Tante Liesel
A winstub (tavern) so quaint and traditional you could be in your Alsatian aunt’s living room, Chez Tante Liesel is the epitome of classic Alsace food in Petite France. Net curtains and kitsch ornaments abound, while wine is served in porcelain pichets poured into tiny, long-stemmed wine glasses. We ordered the jambonneau (pork knuckle) smothered in beer sauce and served with crispy roast potatoes, plus the kaesespaetzele baked in a creamy Munster-based sauce (with a piquant little salad on the side). I could’ve bathed in that cheese sauce, especially accompanied by several tiny glasses of Alsace Pinot Blanc.
Munster kaesespaetzele at Chez Tante Liesel
Binchstub (x3 locations)
A small Strasbourg chain, Binchstub has three branches – all pretty central, but with varying types of indoor and outdoor space – known for serving up Alsace’s favourite shareable snack: tarte flambée or flammekueche. We went to Binchstub Broglie, and tried two of their famous tartes flambées: Munster with lardons (we became a bit obsessed with Munster while in Alsace) and fondue with garlic, dried beef and rocket. The tarte bases were parchment thin, crisp and nutty, while the toppings were rich and decadent. And no, the presence of a few green leaves could not make us feel any healthier about the fact that we were essentially eating a fondue pizza!
Fondue tarte flambée at Binchstub Broglie
Restaurant Les Chauvins
If I learned anything about Alsace food in my first few days in Strasbourg, it’s that portions are big and a single dish is extremely filling. Enter Les Chauvins, which specialises in tapas-sized portions of Alsatian dishes. What a great solution!
Fleischschnäcke at Les Chauvins
Allowing us to work our way through four dishes instead of two, we tried the duo of duck (rillettes plus smoked duck sausage with pickles), goat’s cheese quiche, fleischschnäcke and parmentier. Let’s come back to those last two as I didn’t know what they were either: fleischschnäcke are sort of like savoury Swiss rolls: a sausage meat filling, rolled in between layers of dough and then sliced into snail-shaped cross-sections. Ours came with a light beef broth and horseradish cream sauce. I’d never eaten anything like it, but I was hooked. Meanwhile, Les Chauvins’ parmentier came in tiny white oven dishes, layered up with spiced boudin noir (black pudding) on the bottom and butternut squash purée on the top, served with dried slices of apple. Rather like a miniature, Christmassy version of shepherd’s pie – delish. Wash down with a pichet of Pinot Noir for best results.
Fischerstub
While I wouldn’t recommend the northern suburb of Schiltigheim as a holiday destination, it does have a brewing history that could be of interest to beer lovers. Fischerstub is a historic beerhall next to the former Fischer brewery, serving Fischer beers – I tried the blonde and amber, both tasty. To soak up all that booze, your best bet is to order their famously large cordon bleu: veal escalope, stuffed with ham and cheese, breaded and fried – served with or without a creamy mushroom sauce. The venue itself is huge (encompassing three sizeable dining rooms) but it still gets packed out with local beer-and-cordon-bleu devotees.
Fischerstub beerhall in front of the old Fischer brewery
Le Moulin du Diable
At lunchtime, you might be looking for something lighter than all the hearty Alsace cuisine I’ve described so far. And while crepes and galettes are technically from Brittany, there are generally good examples to be found across France. Le Moulin du Diable is slightly south of Petite France, and is a small, cosy creperie serving up just that. I got the galette complète: a savoury pancake made from naturally gluten-free buckwheat flour, filled with ham, Emmental and a fried egg. It hit the spot at lunchtime, paired with cidre poiré: a lightly sparkling, dry pear cider at 3% alcohol. Hair of the dog, anyone?
Galette complète at Le Moulin du Diable
Dim Sum Sam
When I travel, I focus on the local food as much as possible. But after a few days of choucroute and flammekueche, you may be ready for something different. Asian cuisines are well represented in Strasbourg, and I’d read good things about both Japanese restaurant HiBiKi (alas I couldn’t get a table!) and Dim Sum Sam. The latter is down in Krutenau, a neighbourhood well worth a visit in its own right, especially for the evening buzz. I guess Dim Sum Sam is what you’d call Asian fusion, as it runs the gamut between Cantonese har kau and siu mai, steamed Vietnamese crepes, Chinese bao buns, Thai salads and stir-fried dishes. All were fantastically fresh and flavourful, and went a treat with the natural orange wine (the only part of the meal from Alsace!) that we ordered alongside.
Dim Sum Sam’s decorative interior
Wine bars in Strasbourg
Understandably in a region known for its wines, Strasbourg has plenty of wine bars to choose from. While all of my picks serve at least a handful of local wines, some pour wines from the rest of France as well.
Un Cantalou à Strasbourg
On Grand Rue, Un Cantalou à Strasbourg served some of the best wines we drank in the city – it was just a shame about that attitude that came with them. I started with an excellent Crémant d’Alsace Brut Nature: a sparkling wine made in the same method as Champagne, but with no sugar added during the dosage stage. I followed it up with an Alsace white blend of five different grapes (a few of the Pinots, plus Muscat and more) that was zesty, aromatic, yet full-bodied. Unfortunately I can’t tell you what it was because the server ran away with the bottle, having no desire to talk to us whatsoever. Alas.
Crémant d’Alsace: the region’s excellent sparkling wine
Royal 26 Strasbourg
Also bang in the centre of town is Royal 26, with a less interesting wine list but much more affable service. A glass of wine (try the Ginglinger Riesling) comes with small bowls of olives and crisps, plus pleasant people-watching from the pavement terrace.
Ill Vino
I puzzled about why this wine bar on a barge is called Ill Vino, and not just Il Vino, for days before I discovered that said barge is floating on the River Ill (duh!). That little mystery cleared up, Ill Vino is an atmospheric, waterside spot for a sunset tipple, and the food looked good too (although we only stopped by for wine). It would also make an amazing location for a private party.
“Orange is the new white” at Jaja
Jaja
Specialising in natural wines, Jaja is down in Krutenau – that hip neighbourhood I mentioned before. Inside, it’s relatively small, but Jaja has a sprawling terrace that runs right into a game of boules (incidentally, the boules players were the only other people we saw who were over 40!). Although natural wines can be a little hit and miss, I think Alsace tends to do them particularly well. After (another) Crémant d’Alsace, I fell for the “Orange is the new white” by Alsace biodynamic producer Kleinknecht – a perfumed blend led by Gewurztraminer and Muscat that spends three weeks on the grape skins. A perfect early-autumn aperitif, with or without snacks.
Day trip from Strasbourg: Colmar
When in Alsace, it’s worth the trip 70 kilometres south to visit the picturesque town of Colmar. Not only is Colmar often called the capital of Alsace wine, its compact old town is like a mini-Strasbourg: all colourful, gingerbread houses and leafy canals (one quarter is even called Petite Venise, and has a lot in common with Petite France in Strasbourg).
Wistub Brenner
Colmar’s restaurant scene is similar to Strasbourg’s, dominated by classic Alsace cuisine. Widely reputed to serve some of the best food in Colmar, Wistub Brenner delivers an upscale version, expertly executed and with excellent wines to match. We loved the foie gras de canard, which came with an onion compote and sweet balsamic glaze, followed by the choucroute garnie: a pile of sauerkraut laden with sausages, speck and a thick slice of smoked pork (plus mustard for dipping). Their Comtes d’Eguisheim 2016 oaked Pinot Noir was also a highlight of our Colmar visit.
Choucroute garnie at Wistub Brenner in Colmar
