Goldener Hirsch — Restaurant in Mainz

First of all I want to complement the service. It was great. So nothing bad here. Although we found it odd, that during the reservation process one was asked about the reason for the visit, but in the end nothing was done with this information, even though we stated that it was for a birthday. In other restaurants of this type I am used to be greeted with some kind of nice gesture like a free desert for everyone at the table. But this is of course something that I do not expect, unless I get asked about it, like here...

The wine was great! Food wise I must say that we expected something different for this price class. From 5 different dishes, 2 tasted very good, 2 okay and 1 boring. The steak was the most expensive dish and the worst of all. One of the steaks had the wrong level of doneness, which can happen and is fine. But 38€ for an okayish steak with a sauce that had like 4 small pieces of mushrooms, fries that were not even really crispy and a super small salad does not reflect the price...

I don't write a lot of Google reviews, but this place deserves one.

A flight delay forced me to miss a connection to Amsterdam, so I overnighted near Frankfurt and found the wonderful town of Mainz. It was late by the time I checked into a hotel and found a restaurant. Goldener Hirsch had good reviews, so I made the five-minute walk. Arriving shortly before 10 p.m., I was informed that the kitchen had closed. I asked where the wait staff recommended and they brainstormed options for local food open at that time on a Monday. I decided to just drink my dinner, and the chef ended up offering to bring me a few cold appetizers. He explained the local cuisine and the two young ladies behind the bar made sure I had a full drink and that I enjoyed the food.

I wish I had more time in Mainz to sit down for a full meal, but I left with a full stomach and a very warm memory of this place. I cannot be more appreciative of their...

Our experience unfortunately fell far short of what we expected from the great reviews.

While the food was reasonably tasty and the service quite polite, the restaurant was terribly cold and smelled of BO from the moment we walked in! We initially thought this was another guest but later realized that it was someone in the staff...

To literally top it all off, we ordered a chocolate cake and asked for it to be brought with a birthday candle. Despite what is typically a very standard request for a restaurant, they said they would "try to see what they could improvise" and then showed up with just the chocolate cake without a candle and without any...