Germany’s longest-running 3-star restaurant. Top on La Liste, etc. Have been meaning to try Schwarzwaldstube out for a while. Booked 3.5 months out for a Wednesday in shoulder season. They were already booked for the rest of the week. The restaurant is part of Hotel Traube Tonbach, a long-running Black Forest destination hotel (with 3 Michelin Keys) where guests have been coming for decades to spend all day at the hotel’s spa/baths/saunas/steam rooms. Some also choose to hike. While the hotel clearly was not used to having many english-speaking guests, the restaurant had no issues.
One of the restaurant’s strengths is its flexibility. While they offer three set menus plus an à la carte selection, diners can freely mix and match. We took Menu I, removed the opening course, and replaced it with two courses from Menu II—no fuss, totally accommodating.
Amuse-Bouche: A farro risotto in cold consommé with kefir yogurt, green Chartreuse sorbet, and crisp vegetables. Fresh, lively, palate-cleansing.
First course: Poached oysters and caviar. Oysters were under an obscene amount of caviar, and anchored by a champagne beurre blanc with tart green apples. Very harmonious.
Second course: Charcoal-grilled lobster paired with sautéed and crispy mushrooms, scallions, and a savory dusting that tied it all together. Rich and smoky.
Third course: Stuffed red mullet with crispy fish scales, peanuts, pickled cucumbers, alliums, and a chili-prawn vinaigrette with coconut cream. Bright, zippy, and boldly Asian. Very nicely executed.
Final savory course: Black Forest roe deer. Gratinated medallion and braised shoulder with glazed pineapple, chanterelles, and a Rouennaise accented with coffee and passion fruit. Good, though the least thrilling dish of the evening.
Obligatory cheese trolley that I neglected to take a photo of. Most of the cheese came from France, however.
Dessert: Just one dessert course, thank god! Tarte Tatin. No commentary.
Petite Fours: Wide selection, brought tableside. Opted for two caneles. Very nicely done.
Service: Polished, warm, friendly. The elderly hotel owner made the rounds personally. Clearly very proud of his hotel and restaurant. The chef was present, but remained in the kitchen aside from regular tableside service at one table — a solo 60-year-old man.
Final Thoughts: Excellent wine list. My favorite aspect of the restaurant is the size of coursing. This is not a place you should go if you want endless small courses. Here, the plates are substantial and purposeful. They are operating at the top of their game. It was a destination meal in every sense.
by ChezCooper
11 Comments
Great write up. I rarely see posts for this restaurant on here. Seems most people are caught up in the trendy 3 stars: EMP, LB, the Paris destinations, Copenhagen. Goes to show there are a lot of excellent, classic places out there!
Loved my dinner there pre-COVID, hope to be back soon.
I like what you write about the course sizing, that is certainly something I can appreciate. There’s something really nice about having more than 2-3 bites a course even if there are more courses overall
Granted I’ve never been to a 3 star restaurant but the presentation is looking rough
We just went there last year! It was a phenomenal experience. We also attended a wine tasting earlier in the day with the sommelier, Stefan Glas. We were the only English-speaking couple, so he conducted the entire tasting in German AND English. The wine pairing for our dinner was excellent. It was also super refreshing, most of the wines were Italian or German instead of the usual French dominance.
We went to the 1* as well, Restaurant 1789. It was also very good but couldn’t really compare to Schwarzwaldstube.
Love a restaurant that serves proper portions.
Thank you for the write up! Do they offer a wine pairing, if yes at what price point if you don’t mind sharing?
Impressive food and drinks! You polished off 3 bottles among 2? Can I assume you just headed upstairs to the room and went to bed immediately.
Plating isn’t at the 3 star level
I personally don’t think that Michelin can stay as relevant if a restaurant like Alchemist is 2 stars simply because it’s mildly experimental and not French, while this hits the 3 star mark despite various courses look like home cooking.
Reality is if this place was dropped from 3 stars to 1 the plating would almost certainly improve immediately out of necessity to stay relevant.
No offense to the food itself because it looks delicious, but I want my 3 star food to look like 3 star food.
Glad you had a great time. I’ve been there two times. First time was with Harald Wohlfahrt around 2010 / 2011. and it was such a memorable dinner.
Second time was last December and unfortunately it was the most disappointing 3*** experience of my life. Boring plating, uninspiring dishes that were definitely made on a really good level but nothing stood out and nothing had 3*** quality in my eyes.
Service was really good though and the Sommelier Monsieur Gasse was outstanding. Maybe they just had a bad evening but definitely glad you had an amazing experience.
Did you stay in the hotel? Because the hotel looks fucking terrible for that quality of restaurant lol.