Gasthaus im Stiefel — Restaurant in Bonn

Decided to try this place after reading the mostly-positive reviews. Was a bit of a let down, in all honesty. The good: Staff was friendly if not a bit frazzled from trying to cope with the large crowds. Drinks were quite decently priced. Could be better: the food. Sausages from the ‘Beethoven’ dish was not what you would call authentic German sausages…the look, texture and taste were like some supermarket stuff from the fast food deep freezer. The haxen (pork knuckle) was not crispy and we sent it back for further roasting. The schnitzels were pretty good though. The food prices were not cheap…we ate much better quality similar dishes at lower prices just the evening before at another gasthaus in the city centre. I am very surprised at the 5-star rating...

It is a decent place to eat in central Bonn and practically the only place there to offer the real food (its competition seems to be offering limited range of industrially produced (mechanically recovered meat) burgers, fries, bread in every shape and form and Haribos). The selection of beers is not as wide, but then it is a restaurant. The menu offers German classics, from Wienner schnitzel to Jaeger schnitzel and anything like cabbage, cheese and more meat in between. There are special days with discounted prices on steaks for those who can always enjoy more meat. They still offer meals with calf's liver and fried blood, both done and presented nicely. The only weak point is the coffee as it is watery and thin, like it used to be served on the...

Food was good. But after leaving the restaurant I realized the person who served me charged me extra (total bill came to roughly 2€ over the listed menu price) and did not ask or offer me a reciept. I was also seated perpendicular to another customer - the customer was at the next table facing me and was staring at me while sipping her drink which was very uncomfortable. The restaurant had a lot of empty tables at the time I visited so I felt like they could have seated me in a more comfortable situation.

I tipped extra which I now regret. If you are a tourist with limited German language skills please be vigilant if you decide...