Diners enjoy the shade of the more than 170-year-old chestnut trees at Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Even in Germany, it’s uncommon to dine in a place once patronized by revolutionaries, or to sip and sup under 170-year-old chestnut trees in the middle of a bustling city.
At Zum Goldstein in the center of Mainz, you can. The restaurant used to be one of the city’s largest breweries. One after another, most of them closed, but the eatery here remained.
When Germans joined in the uprisings that swept through Europe in 1848, revolutionaries and Prussians got into a big fight here that left five rebels dead. The magnificent chestnut trees that shade the restaurant’s garden also were planted about that time.
On a recent hot, sunny day in late May, my wife and I made our way to Zum Goldstein for a meal under their leafy branches.
There are only 10 indoor tables and about 17 outside, so reservations are recommended. On this day, the small, friendly staff offered solely outdoor service.
Inside Zum Goldstein, an old restaurant in Mainz, Germany. Under the old wooden beams, there are only about 10 tables, so In the summer the action takes place outside under the more than 170-year-old chestnut trees, where the restaurant has about 17 tables. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
The menu also isn’t large: there were six or seven offerings each among starters, salads and main courses. Still, every section has vegan or vegetarian choices.
The beer, unfortunately, is from Bavaria. Nothing against Bavarian beer, but it’s too bad that none of the many excellent local brews were represented. It might be a contractual thing.
The wines served here come from either the Rheinpfalz, on this side of the Rhine, or from the Rheingau, in Hessen, on the other. I chose a sauvignon blanc from Rheinhessen, while my wife had a rieslingschorle, wine mixed with sparkling water.
A tartare of brook char, a fish similar to trout, served with a potato pancake was a daily special as a starter recently at Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Then we studied the menu, which is regularly updated with seasonal dishes. For starters, I ordered a daily special, a tartare of brook char, a fish similar to trout, served with a potato pancake. My wife chose a trio of Mainz specialties.
My tartare was delicious. The chunky chopped fish and vegetables in a mayonnaise-like sauce were finely seasoned and topped with a variety of lettuces. The potato pancake was nicely browned, quite firm and just a little greasy.
For those watching their calories and carbs or looking for a small, light dinner, this would have sufficed.
My wife’s starter offered a quiche with sausage; spundekäs, an herbed cream cheese; and grüne sosse, or green sauce, served with a hard-boiled egg.
The Meenzer Dreierlei starter at Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany. It was small portions of, from left, a quiche with sausage, spundekäs, an herbed cream cheese, and grüne sosse, or green sauce, served with a hard-boiled egg. It was served with bread and butter. Meenz is slang for the city on the Rhine River. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
We were not quite sure what made the quiche a specialty of the city, but we guessed it was the fleischwurst sausage, a type typical of Mainz.
Spundekäs is typical of the Rheingau vineyards and the Rheinhessen area of Rheinland-Pfalz. It is heavily flavored with paprika powder and often served with wine.
The starters were quite filling and we were happy that it took the main courses a while to arrive. If you are in a hurry, Zum Goldstein is probably not the place for you.
The LIM-burger at Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany. It is a cheeseburger made with ground pork and beef, served on a bun with bacon, wild garlic mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, fried onions and topped with grated Limburger cheese, with rosemary fired potatoes as a side. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
For our main courses, my wife chose a quarter of baked chicken, served with grilled asparagus and green sauce, while I took Zum Goldstein’s LIM-burger.
The burger gets its name from the tangy Limburger cheese on top. It had a ground pork and beef patty served on a bun with bacon, wild garlic mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and fried onions. A side of rosemary fried potatoes came with it.
The steak knife that was provided allowed me to slice the rather tall burger in half, making it slightly easier to eat. The patty was juicy, not dry at all, while the mayonnaise was spicy. In summary, delicious.
I’ve been a fan of rosemary fried potatoes since first eating them years ago in Italy with scaloppini. Although I prefer them perhaps a bit greasier, after the potato pancake these were fine.
A quarter baked chicken served with grilled asparagus and grüne sosse, or green sauce, served at Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany. Grüne Sosse is traditionally made with seven different herbs and yogurt ad/or sour cream and is a spring specialty of the Rhine-Main area of central Germany. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
My wife enjoyed her chicken. The quarter was a breast and a wing. She thought that the breast was a little dry, though still tender and tasty. The asparagus, chopped into bite-sized pieces, was crunchy on the outside but cooked through on the inside.
Grüne sosse is traditionally made with seven herbs, yogurt and/or sour cream and is a spring specialty of the Rhine-Main area of central Germany.
The green sauce here was delicious, but unfortunately for Zum Goldstein, a day earlier we had sampled a version of the sauce that recently took top honors at Frankfurt’s Grüne Sosse Festival.
That winning one from Darmstadt’s Ratskeller restaurant proved superior for us, but that’s not a knock on Zum Goldstein’s green sauce.
This strawberry-rhubarb crumble served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream was one of the desserts recently on the menu at Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
A bowl of strawberries topped with with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and served with an espresso was one of the desserts offered recently at Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany. The restaurant’s menu changes with the seasons, offering fresh ingredients in its dishes. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
A strawberry-rhubarb crumble served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, foreground, and a bowl of strawberries topped with with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, and served with a cup of espresso were two of the desserts recently on the menu at Zum Goldstein in Mainz. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
The desserts were refreshing and satisfying. I had a strawberry-rhubarb crumble served with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. My wife had a little bowl of strawberries topped with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and served with a cup of espresso.
The meal was delightfully delicious under the chestnut trees. We definitely want to return, perhaps in the dark days of winter, for a seasonal meal under the ancient wooden beams of Zum Goldstein’s interior.
Zum Goldstein in Mainz, Germany has been a restaurant of some kind since at least the mid-1800s. There was once a brewery here, and diners can enjoy a meal made from fresh ingredients under its more than 170-year-old chestnut trees. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Zum Goldstein
Address: Kartäuserstrasse 3, Mainz, Germany
Hours: Monday to Friday, 5-11 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon-11 p.m.
Prices: Appetizers, 7.50 to 13.80 euros; entrees, 23 to 30 euros; desserts, 7 to 13.50 euros; soft drinks, 3.50 to 5 euros; beers, 3.50 to 5.40 euros; wines, 5.50 to 7.90 euros.
Information: www.zum-goldstein.de
