2 Best Restaurants in Hamburg, Germany

Hidden down a side street off Hansaplatz, this neighborhood favorite is easily missed, but it’s worth seeking out for its excellent plates of vitello tonnato (cold sliced veal with a creamy tuna sauce), saltimbocca (marinated veal with prosciutto and herbs), and truffle pasta. The restaurant's intimate atmosphere, similar to grandmother's living room, extends beyond the candlelight and banquette seating to the amicable staff and spoken menu, which features many of the filling and comforting pasta, meat, and fish dishes typical of rustic Italian cuisine.

A long-time neighborhood favorite, Eisenstein sits inside a handsome 19th-century industrial complex turned art center and serves fantastic Italian and Mediterranean cuisine at affordable prices. Sharing space with a movie theater, the restaurant is popular with pre- and postmovie crowds and probably best known for its gourmet wood-fired pizzas like the Pizza Helsinki (salmon, crème fraîche, and onions) and the Blöde Ziege (Stupid Goat) with rosemary-tomato sauce, crispy bacon, and goat cheese.