Budget
Hauptbahnhof
The ground floor of the central train station has a good number of cheap eateries, which include pizza hut to kiosks selling sausages.
Falafel Habibi
Located on zã¼lpicher straãe. they have two stores, which serve the same food though sweetmeats may vary.
Borsalino
An italian-style restaurant located on zã¼lpicher straãe close to zã¼lpicher platz. (http://www.restaurant-bor...) very affordable prices.
Don Camillo
Hildeboldplatz 1a; phone 0221-138551; a small italian tabula calde style restaurant. coming from hohenzollenring, head into breite straãe/ehrenstraãe and take the first road to the left.
Buffet Chang
(http://www.dumont-carre.d...) - large, clean and tasty chinese style buffet all you can eat for 6.90 euro on the top floor of dumont carrã© shopping mall, in the middle of the shopping district on breite straãe. open from 11.00 - 21.00 sundays and holidays closed. also a good underground car park with reasonable hourly rates and discounts for microcars such as smart and mini.
Mama Mia
Alte gasse 26, phone [0] 221 / 11347, italian food, not too hungry person 10-15 euro/ person
Döner Kebab and similar takeaways
There is an abundance of Döner Kebab and similar takeaways around the town. Generally a lot of Turkish snack bar-style places can be found just north of the main station at Eigelstein, around Zülpicher Platz and in the Belgisches Viertel, with some excellent Lebanese and Persian takeaways further down Zülpicher StraÃe towards Südbahnhof. Probably best now though expensive is Oruc Döner on KyffhäuserstraÃe near Barbarossaplatz; while the kebab is quite good though not outstanding, their freshly baked pide bread is famous all over town. There are lots of Turkish restaurants and takeaways within Kalk, Mülheim and mainly restaurants in the Belgisches Viertel.
Ellopia
Carmerstrasse 106, phone [0] 221 / 14198, german food, you get served for 5-10 euro/ person
Midrange
Johnny Turista
Rathenauplatz. easy-going pub/restaurant offering snacks, hot dishes and a daily changing selection of tapas; prices are lower than in most tapas bars.
Selam
Ehrenfeldgã¼rtel 91 tram station venloer straãe/gã¼rtel (http://www.selam-restaura...) ethiopian restaurant, opens 5 pm tu-fr and from 4 pm on weekends, closed on mondays. good selection of mild and spicy ethiopian dishes served on the traditional plate of injera bread.
Farmer's
Steakhouses with several branches on the ring near friesenplatz, wallrafplatz near the dom, off hohe straãe, kreuzgasse off schildergasse shopping street. at lunchtime they usually have a special, that will give you a square meal for 6-7 euro.
pepe
Spanish style food, tapas and cocktails (http://www.pepe.de/spanis...) antwerpener straãe 63, near stadtgarten and west of friesenplatz, open 1800-0200, cool crowd. usually booked out after 1900, make a reservation by phone or e-mail the day before.
El Inca
Gã¶rresstrasse 2, near rathenauplatz. (http://www.el-inca.de/) latin-american restaurant, open 1800-2400.
Top end
Landhaus Kuckuck
Olympiaweg 2, near mã¼ngersdorfer stadion aachener straãe. (http://www.landhaus-kucku...) exquisite german, but also international meals, open tuesday - saturday 1200-2300 - sunday 1200-1800.
Fischers Weingenuss & Tafelfreuden
Hohenstaufenring 53, between zã¼lpicher platz and rudolfplatz. (http://www.fischers-wein.com/) exquisite french-like and modern food, great arrangements of wine and cheese. after noon you can get quite cheap 2-way dishes of the day including water or a glass of wine. you have to book quite early in advance and a menu will be created on your wishes.
Cologne has a wide variety of restaurants, both German and otherwise, as a glance in the colored pages of the local telephone book will illustrate.
ethnic scene
If you are looking for a snack, you can either head for one of the Middle-Eastern or Asian places, or you can make use of the traditional fast food places like Mc Donalds, Burger King etc. Italian restaurants in Cologne seem to attempt to aim for a higher quality than in the UK, though it is debatable whether they achieve it, and whether their prices often 150-200% of UK prices are justified. There are several Indian restaurants across the city, which serve a fair fare, though the visiting Brit may be slightly disappointed to find that German 'curry culture' is rather akin to that of the UK in the 1960s: menus are neither large and varied, nor regionalised and specialist, and although ingredients are fresh, the food without exception appears to be tamed-down for the conservative German palate and the cooks are rather hesistant to spice it up even if you ask for it. "Clay Oven" Luxemburger StraÃe near Südbahnhof and "Bombay" near EifelstraÃe tram station do make a vindaloo that will satisfy the most hardy customer, though. More recently, Japanese and Thai restaurants have become more common; both are quite expensive.
traditional scene
One can eat pretty well in most traditional-style Kölsch restaurants, and in fact as a visitor, you should try some of the local food, which is quite rustic, but tasty, hearty fare.
The brewery taps Früh, Sion, Pfaffen, Malzmühle etc. in the old town south of the Dom are worth taking note of to that respect, although they tend to be expensive for what you get.
Places out of the way such as Schreckenskammer and Max Stark (http://www.max-stark.de/) north of the train station, the former being within crawling distance of the Station Backpackers Hostel, Päffgen Friesenstrasse and both of Cologne independent brewpubs Hellers Brauhaus (http://www.hellers-brauhaus.de/ on Roonstrasse and Braustelle (http://www.braustelle.com) in Ehrenfeld) offer cheaper, better food that the old town tourist traps. Besides, most of these places have tons of atmosphere, which doesn't hurt ! You may also experience the deadly dry wit of the Köbes traditional name of the blue-clad waiters in most of those places. If it happens to you, don't get upset, just enter the game, send the Köbes packing with a dig and a smile and you'll be all right.
You'll mostly find typical Rheinland dishes in those traditional Kneipen. Classics include :
- Halver Hahn : nice big slab of dutch gouda with a rye roll Röggelchen
- Himmel und Ãd mit Flönz : fried black pudding with mashed potatoes "earth", apple sauce "heaven" and fried onions.
- Soorbrode / Sauerbraten : joint marinated in vinegar with raisins, usually served with red cabbage and a kloss potato dumpling. The joint may be beef or horsemeat, so you may want to ask first...
- Dicke Bunne mit Speck : boiled white beans with hefty boiled bacon slices on top.
- Schweinshaxe grilled; Hämchen cooked: pig's leg, usually a bit of a monster ranges from 600 to 1400 g, including the bone
- Rievekoochen / Reibekuchen : flat fried potato cakes usually on offer once a week, and served with a variety of sweet or savoury toppings, which may include apple sauce, Rübenkraut the beet-sourced equivalent to black treacle or smoked salmon with horseradish cream.