Ophelia - Konstanz
Dining room seen from the kitchen counter
Rating: 17/20
Where: Konstanz, Germany
When: Dinner for 2 on 31 July 2025
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 285 Euro ($315), Wine pairing 179 Euro ($200)
Accolades: 2 Michelin Stars
Why: Local influences from the Lake Constance region in a solid two-star meal
Konstanz is a city on the Western shore of the Bodensee (Lake Constance), where the Rhine river starts its long journey towards the North Sea. The healthy number of villas on the lake and the proximity of Switzerland might explain why this city of only 85,000 or so boasts a two-Michelin-starred restaurant. “Ophelia” is part of the five-star RIVA hotel, but has a separate entrance, so there is no need to wander through (and possibly get lost in) the hotel lobby. We had to ring a doorbell to be let inside (an echo of Frantzén, maybe), and started our dinner in a lounge, where appetizers and aperitifs were served.
Ophelia offers a single tasting menu, but on our visit there were a few possibilities to adjust the menu. One could add a duck liver course (plus 20 Euro, about $22), leave out the sweetbread course (minus 20 Euro, $22) or replace the main course of pigeon with locally grown wagyu beef (plus 25 Euro, $28). We added the duck liver, skipped the sweetbread and tried both of the main courses. A wine pairing (179 Euro, $200) and a non-alcoholic pairing (119 Euro, $135) were also available, with prices adjusted based on the number of courses one ordered. The wines were decent, though generally better with the food than by themselves. I particularly liked the red Italian wine served with the main course (see list below). Also of note: a relatively high-end selection of wines were available by the glass via Coravin, including a glass of DRC for a hefty 298 Euro ($330).
Back to the lounge, though. Its interior design was something you could call modern classic - neither ostensibly modern nor terribly old-school. The same held true for the main dining room. The adjacent open kitchen, on the other hand, was kept in a more minimal, black-dominated, modern style. Four counter seats flanked the kitchen, but didn't feel very separated from the main dining room (see picture above). That's where we ended up sitting, allowing us to observe the plating of the dishes, while trying to decode the blackboard used by the kitchen to keep track of each table's progression throughout the dinner.
There were a total of four appetizers served in the lounge, all based on cracker shells that were topped with various, locally inspired fillings. First, a “dünnele”, a local specialty made with yeast dough and vaguely similar to an Alsatian tarte flambée. It was topped with onions (variety Höri-Bülle), crème fraîche and trout roe. The pastry had a solid crunch, and the topping was fresh with a light onion taste 17.
Next, a nori cup that contained diced salmon, apples, radishes, eel from Lake Constance and garden cress. The tartlet had a good crunch and the fillings were quite acidic with a bit of creaminess from the eel. The flavors mixed seamlessly 17.
Another cracker cup contained marinated red beets and veal head dressed with vinegar, mustard and horseradish. This bite was served warm and had a hint of spice. Overall, this tasted more of vegetables (beets in particular) than of meat, and was fresh and light. I liked that all the preparations up until now had been takes on German food with local ingredients 17.
The final snack was a marinated venison tartare served with celery and cranberries. The filling was surprisingly crunchy, maybe due to some nuts? This also wasn't a particularly meaty bite, no flavor really stood out, and there was a hint of sweetness 16.
We continued our dinner at the kitchen counter, which explains the reflective surface in the photos - the tables in the dining room had white table cloths. Our first course consisted of three related preparations. First, a chopped oyster served with cucumbers, crème fraîche ice cream, an oyster foam and caviar. Creamy, cold and flavorful, this was an ostensibly simple dish, but very tasty. (And the best of the three, rating 18 individually.) Next was the tartare of a sardine from Brittany, served with caviar, fermented white asparagus, and a cucumber/olive oil vinaigrette. The sardine did not taste very strong, but its fattiness added weight to the dish. The crunchy, acidic asparagus was a good counterpoint. Finally, a warm sardine foam soup felt very creamy at first, but then also had a notable seafood flavor (and lots of salt). On average for the three, 17.
Our second course was the optional duck liver preparation, which was served in the form of a cake slice. The “cake” had a glaze made of elderberries, apples and port wine, a middle layer made of dried apples and almonds, and a fruit bread at the bottom. On the side: a goose liver ice cream, arugula leaves, and apples, as well as a toasted slice of brioche. I liked that this dish had only a hint of sweetness. Actually, all flavors were pretty light: the liver taste was not very strong, the ice cream was not particularly heavy and was lightened even further by the raw apple slices. The brioche was unmemorable by itself, but added a light crunch when combined with the rest of the dish. A well done execution of a duck liver dish 17.
Probably in anticipation of the upcoming, more sauce-driven courses, we were served three different breads made by a local bakery called Brotalgut: a spelt sourdough bread, an onion bread and a “Seele” bread made with cumin seeds. They came with a lightly salted raw milk butter. All the breads were quite good and very crunchy. The onion bread had more of an onion aroma rather than a strong onion taste, and the Seele was a bit on the salty side 16.
A filet of Scottish salmon was served with sliced zucchini, a fermented tomato puree and a pine nut couscous. The sauce was a mixture of a beurre blanc and a hollandaise. Plenty more of this sauce (and similarly for the following courses) was served on the side in a sauce pan, kept warm over a tealight. The fish itself was excellent, it essentially melted in the mouth. The zucchini were surprisingly flavorful, the tomatoes added a bit of acidity, and the sauce was just a touch heavier than a beurre blanc. Only the pine nuts didn't really fit into this dish, they had a noticeably different texture from everything else. Without them, this dish might have rated an 18, but as it stood, a 17.
Monkfish was served with spinach, onions, a blood sausage, artichokes and mussels, as well as a beurre blanc incorporating more mussels. This was another lovely dish, with a firm fish and a very flavorful sauce. The spinach added a slightly bitter note, but, to nitpick, the artichokes tasted a bit too marinated 17.
As a palate cleanser, we received a bowl filled with a champagne granita and a lemon sorbet, over which some champagne was poured tableside. Crunchiness from the granita and acidity from the lemon - a quite pleasant dish. Not complex, but perfectly fitting the bill of a palate cleanser 16.
We chose two different main courses, one featuring pigeon and the other a local wagyu beef. The sides were pretty much the same for both: a cauliflower puree, hazelnuts, sliced black truffles and a jus from the appropriate meat. In a separate bowl was a semolina cream with either chopped pigeon offal or beef tongue. The standard choice for the tasting menu was the pigeon, which was pretty gamey in taste - not my favorite. The puree, bursting with cauliflower flavor, was actually much better. A bit salty maybe, but with the hazelnuts, etc, it delivered a nice blend of textures. The dish on the side reminded me more of potato foam rather than semolina, and incorporated a bit of crunch. The pigeon meat here was reminiscent of dark meat from, say, chickens 15. The wagyu came with a 25 Euro ($28) surcharge, but was also the much better dish. The beef was aromatic, marbled and not too fatty. The paired 2012 Italian red wine was a terrific match. The meat inside the foam was much lighter flavored and not quite as impressive. This side dish in particular felt a bit more rustic than what had come before 17.
The following cheese course started with a piece of goat Camembert served on a spoon. Next to it was a bowl filled with goat cream cheese ice cream, cherries and honey. The Camembert was relatively firm in texture, and generally fine, but not too memorable. The sweeter part of this dish had a strong goat milk flavor, was fruity but not too sweet, and had some texture from hazelnuts and the crunchy cracker on top. Not mind-blowing, but nice enough 16. The pairing didn't include a wine for this course, but our server recommended the same red that had been served with the main course. While it indeed went fine with the Camembert, it was a poor match for the (sweeter) rest of the dish.
The main dessert was a take on a “Bavarian cream”. There was a plum compote, a buttermilk ice cream and an olive/chocolate sphere filled with the Bavarian cream (I think). On the side were some roasted plums topped with a plum ice cream. In a sense, these were two separate desserts in a single course. I liked the plum and buttermilk ice cream in the first dish, but felt that the chocolate sphere had too much of an olive taste, making for an oddly savory bite. The smaller side dish, a take on a plum streusel cake, was more to my liking. Interestingly, my dining companion liked the first dish better 16.
Some petit fours concluded the dinner. First, Ophelia's take on a “Prinzen Rolle”, a popular German confection that has a chocolate cream sandwiched between two cookies. This version was smaller and much crunchier than the original, but also quite chocolaty 15. Next, we tried citrus marshmallows topped with fir dust, which had a mousse-like consistency and a lightly herbal flavor 16. A salt caramel praline was unfortunately made with white chocolate, making it much sweeter than the more common dark (or even milk) chocolate versions would have been 15. Finally, we had a little apple tarte topped with a mountain mint flower. It was pretty light in flavor, with some crunch from the apple and a creamy filling 15.
Overall: This was a really solid two-star experience. I liked that there were many nods to local ingredients and preparations, but the dishes were equally enjoyable for someone not familiar with these inspirations. Impressively, there were no misses throughout the meal, but - on the flip side - also no dishes that pushed into three-star territory, although the salmon dish and the beef (without its side dish) got close 17.
