What to do and where to eat in Strasbourg – A city guide
If you’re thinking of a trip to France, and have already visited Paris, go to Strasbourg.
Arjun & I just returned from a little summer holiday in Strasbourg. Like every destination we’ve picked before, this trip was planned for the sole purpose of eating, exploring markets, then eating an ice cream until we reached the next patisserie. And just when we began to feel like we’re eating way too much, we walked up 332 stairs of the cathedral for a panoramic view of the city of Strasbourg and beyond. It was quite amazing.
Strasbourg is the capital city of Alsace, the smallest region of France, which shares borders with Germany and Switzerland to the east. You can especially notice the German food influence in the meat consumption (think of myriad sausages) and hearty portions (nobody’s complaining), not to mention staples such as, kugelhopf, pretzels and beer.
We stayed in a little commune of Alsace, right outside of Strasbourg, called Schiltigheim. We were very lucky to have native friends who took us out to dinner at a local restaurant, which turned out to be the highlight of our trip.
EAT IN STRASBOURG
Aux Quatre Vents 15 Rue de la Mairie, 67300 Schiltigheim, France Phone: +33 3 88 33 16 00
This was the venue for our first meal and for our last meal. Twice, in a three day trip. As adventurous as we are with our eating, we were worried nothing might live up to this experience, and we had to leave Alsace with memories of Aux Quatre Vents. Everything we ate here was perfect. From the foie gras with fig bread and to the girolles (mushrooms) and escargot (snails). But the dish that’s etched in my memory is the Cerises Poêlée (pan fried cherries) that I can’t wait to replicate at home. Caramelised cherries with a bit of strawberry jam, this was summer’s best in my plate. It was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The restaurant is located in the commune of Schiltigheim, and if you didn’t know of it, you’d walk right past it. When you go in, you’ll feel like you’re let in on a local secret. It’s a family run restaurant with the mom cooking in the kitchen and the daughter and grandma (perhaps) serving the restaurant. Also, I learned here, that in Alsace the word “salade” is used as a euphemism only to make you feel better about eating large portion sizes. For even though we ordered a foie gras “salade”, there was no room for a main course. That’s also because they’ll bring along 3-4 creamy, vegetable based side dishes to the table for everyone to share in addition to what you’ve ordered. And when the mum in the kitchen makes too much of something, that finds its way to the table as well – complimentary. Aux Quatre Vents is cosy, kitsch and above all a place for exemplary, affordable food.
Brasserie Fischer 5 Route de Bischwiller, 67300 Schiltigheim, France Phone:+33 3 88 18 19 19
The Fischer brewery is long gone, but its brasserie still remains. We all shared the Alsatian specialty, flammekueche, also knows as tart flambée. The dough is rolled super thin then topped with creme fraiche, onions and lardons (bacon), and then baked. It was crispy and singed at the edges. I got the choucroute garnie (lots of meat piled on top of some sauerkraut), another Alsatian specialty (turns out, my favourite choucroute stop in Paris, Le Roi du Saucisson is better). Arjun ordered three massive meatballs with spätzle (fried pasta). Hearty portions, but I only wish they served local desserts.
L’Epicerie 6 Rue du Vieux Seigle, 67000 Strasbourg, France Phone:+33 3 88 32 52 41
A really cool afternoon snack stop where they only serve tartines. I went for the rillettes de canard tartine (fatty, slow-cooked shredded duck) and Arjun took the roast beef tartine. If Franchi weren’t around the corner I would have ordered the apricot tartines with almonds and thick cream.
Le Glacier Franchi 5 Rue des Francs Bourgeois, 67000 Strasbourg, France Phone: +33 3 88 23 16 15
Local ice-cream institution. Absolutely loved the sugar-free griottes (cherry) ice cream that let the sweetness of the cherries shine though. The other summer favourite was peche de vigne (peach).
Galler 2 Ruelle des Pelletiers – 67000 Strasbourg, France
Chocolate shop also serving excellent ice cream and to Arjun’s delight also serving thick milkshakes. It’s right around the corner from Franchi and worth seeking out to get your second scoop.
Thierry Mulhaupt 18 Rue du Vieux Marché aux Poissons, 67000 Strasbourg, France Phone: +33 3 88 23 15 02
He’s one of the top patissiers of Alsace and that is quite evident when you take one look at the patisseries on display at his shop.
Pâtisserie Koenig 10 Rue des Francs Bourgeois, 67000 Strasbourg, France Phone:+33 3 88 32 28 36
This one’s quite nice – try the local specialty, Langhopf, here. It’s a rich bread made with hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, cinnamon and raisins.
Au Pain de Mon Grand Père 58 Rue de la Krutenau 67000 Strasbourg + 33 3 88 36 59 66
The name of this boulangerie translates to “the bread of my grand father”, and with a name like that it’s hard not to want to visit this place. I was excited to find bread made with Einkorn (ancient wheat grain) and we bought half of a couronne d’epeautre. It was a very good bread – dense and slightly chewy. Although, if I didn’t know it weren’t regular wheat, I won’t be able to tell the difference. Like Chad Robertson says, it’s a bit like eating different tomatoes. The boulangerie has 4 more locations listed on their website.
Les Mains Dans la Farine 17 Rue d’Austerlitz, 67000 Strasbourg, France
We stumbled upon this bakery as we walked up Rue d’Austerlitz after having a little picnic at Place d’Austerlitz. The kugelhopf was a lot like eating a raisin studded brioche – quite unlike our regular syrup soaked kugelhopf at Maison Landemaine in Paris.
La Cloche à Fromage
Cheese shop to get your Munster fix. Several locations listed on their website. Pictured below is a perfectly ripe goat cheese.
MARKETS IN STRASBOURG
As with everywhere else in France, the markets in Strasbourg are set up on different days of the week. We visited two markets (listed below) but you can check for the markets most convenient to you on the city website.
Marché Place du Zurich: My French summer fruit craving was satiated here with bagfuls of mirabelles, questche, red currant yoghurt and cherry juice. After I’d bought half a kilo of mirabelles the vendor stuffed the paper bag with even more mirabelles and told me to go home and make jam with it.
Marché Place Broglie: This is where the famous Christmas market sets up in the winter. We walked through the bustling markets, eavesdropped on conversations and saw old ladies stuff their caddies with food to feed an army. I bought some fromage blanc with fine herbs and garlic to eat with baguette. I also tried three different types of cherries – I loved that the vendor kept a basket to discard the pips – a sort of encouragement for you to taste the cherries.
DO IN STRASBOURG
La Petite France
Picture postcard perfect. Set aside an entire afternoon to wander through the cobbled streets of La Petite France and find a green patch for a little picnic with a view of the river and timbered houses.
Cathedral Notre Dame
Strasbourg’s most magnificent structure. You can climb up the stairs to reach the viewing platform and get a gorgeous view of the city and beyond to as far as the Black Forest.
Batorama
A river tour of the city on a boat. While we normally do not indulge in overly touristy activities such as hop-on-hop-off buses and guided tours, this boat tour wasn’t that bad. On a beautiful, sunny day, it’s worth the €12 to grab a seat on the hour-long journey around the city. The river is very narrow, so you feel very close to the buildings around you. You are guided by audio commentary in multiple languages, including a special children’s version performed by theatre actors. Tours run at various times of the day, setting off from near the cathedral.
Musée Alsacienne
The cathedral, batorama, and Alsatian museum are situated a few metres from each other. At the museum, immerse yourself in 18th and 19th century Alsation culture, including art, architecture, handicrafts and other traditional folk items.
SHOPPING IN STRASBOURG
I like to seek out local arts and crafts when I travel and have a special spot for pottery, so Poterie d’Alsace was the perfect place for me. It’s been around for over a hundred years and it’s filled with colourful handmade pottery made by locals artisans. Take a peek at their gorgeous kugelhopf mould collection. My quest for the perfect utensil jar ended here. We also bought a few bowls and a rillettes dish.
A few more food stops that come highly recommended: Fink’Stuebel, Le Maronnier, Mireille Oster Pain d’Epices (if you like gingerbread), Patisserie Jean Philippe Goehry.
If you’ve been to Alsace, I’d love to know about what you did.
External links:
Ann Mah on Where to Eat in Alsace
Read Jeffrey Steingarten’s essay on True Choucroute – his quest for the best Choucroute in Alsace.