It is the best feeling you can have in a restaurant: knowing halfway through the evening that you want to return. Because you want to taste more, to experience everything all over again. At Weinlokal Stern, we had that feeling after just ten minutes.
This newcomer on the Singel is run by three rising stars: chef Luke de Jong and sommeliers Chanan Wisse and Mo Moody. They met at restaurant De Scheepskameel, where their shared love for German wine grew into a joint ambition for their own business – which, by the way, is supported by their former employer.
Beer tables
Stern is housed in the beautiful building with a Jugendstil facade and high ceilings. It is functional yet pleasantly classic, furnished with wooden tables and a gigantic wooden bar. On the wall hangs a portrait of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, there are three massive climate cabinets, and here and there we spot a stuffed bird. Outside it is even simpler, with beer tables and colorful umbrellas from the German brewhouse Rothaus.
The staff is dressed in white shirts, black ties, and black aprons. We are served by Moody (just 26, but a major talent). With a huge grin and blushing cheeks, he guides us through the menu and offers excellent wine recommendations. The wine list is full of German finds, but die-hard Burgundy lovers can also indulge themselves here.
On the plate, the focus is on German classics with a contemporary approach, served without pretense on simple tableware. For the aperitif, there are German cold cuts and cheeses from the display case that beckons from the center of the restaurant. But they also have homemade rollmops that are blissfully sour and juicy, hausmacher liverwurst, and pretzels with spundekäs (spiced cream cheese).
The currywurst is presented on a ‘disposable plate’ made of porcelain: a tender pork sausage doused in a slightly sweet, tomatoey sauce of ketchup and plenty of curry spices. Perfectly fine, but the sauerkraut fritters are more exciting and original: crispy, slightly sour, and paired with a fresh apple dip. After that, there are four appetizers and six main courses – and off the menu, those incredible schnitzels. In case you do not feel like meat: next to us sits a pescatarian who has already been here three times.
Anyway. The reibekuchen is a convincing appetizer: a potato pancake with sour cream, herb salad, and a generous amount of trout roe. As soon as you take a bite, the salty eggs burst in your mouth to mingle with the cream, herbs, and freshly grated horseradish. It is rich and perfectly balanced, especially combined with a glass of Jechtinger Grauburgunder from Bercher.
My dining companion’s vegetarian appetizer consists of pieces of asparagus topped with thin slices of rhubarb, huge peas, and sheep’s cheese. It is spring through and through, but the asparagus is just a touch overcooked and the portion is on the modest side – which actually turns out to be a relief when the main courses arrive on the table.
Fried pig’s ear
The saumagen is a classic that Helmut Kohl famously liked to serve to foreign guests. It is spiced pork with potato. It is traditionally cooked in a pig’s stomach, but not here. We receive a thick slice served with gravy containing tiny pickled onions, bacon bits, and (delicious!) tiny pieces of crispy fried pig’s ear. This provides exciting contrasts in texture and adds a certain lightness, but it is still not for the faint-hearted, especially if you also order sauerkraut cooked in duck fat on the side.
And then the schnitzel. Oh, that schnitzel! It has little to do with the thin Wiener schnitzel, but rather with a cotoletta alla milanese. Stern receives whole racks of veal, from which hefty cutlets are sliced, breaded bone and all. The crust is airy and wavy, the meat juicy, firm, and full of flavor. On the side, a crisp chicory salad and, above all, a parsley-anchovy sauce that balances everything beautifully. Rich? Yes! But so well executed that stopping eating is impossible. We pair it with masterfully fried potatoes with mustard mayo and drink large gulps of Spätburgunder from Weingut Jülg – a wine with juice so vibrant it practically dances out of the glass. Wow.
After that, we cannot utter a single word. Yet we succumb to the kirschkuchen with brandy, cherry sauce, hangop, and a lace cookie, already fantasizing about our next visit.
The original Stern exudes the influence of De Scheepskameel and restaurant Rijsel without becoming a copy. Everything works here: the wines, the food, the atmosphere, and the joy with which guests are welcomed. And even though we are not even halfway through the year, I know one thing for sure: Stern is one of the best newcomers of 2026.
Weinlokal Stern, Singel 201
Sun 12:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Mon, Thu, Fri & Sat 4 p.m. – midnight
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Dining and Cooking