Philipp Soldan

Rating: 16
Author: Gault&Millau

Untermarkt 18, 35066 Frankenberg (Eder), Germany

16/20
Remarkable Restaurant

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1 PHOTOS

Chef: Erik Arnecke
Cooking: French | Gastronomic | International | Local | Seafood
Services: Access for people with disabilities | Accommodation | Electric charging station | Private Parking | Private Room | Terrace
Style: Bar | Casual | Elegant | Exceptional setting | Romantic | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

For ten years now, Erik Arnecke has been shaping the cuisine in the three stately houses of the Hotel Die Sonne in the middle of Frankenberg in northern Hesse. The namesake of the modern restaurant in the vaulted cellar basement on the Untermarkt is a late Gothic sculptor, whose works adorn the town hall next door. Erik Arnecke serves a five- to six-course menu, which can be expanded with a few specials and is colourful, aroma-rich and as precisely as aesthetically prepared and served on the table, at the same time for all guests from 7:00 p.m. onwards. He sometimes relies on regional products, but acts quite cosmopolitan, and a slight Nordic touch in the provenances of his consistently high-class ingredients such as Icelandic aibling or Irish oysters is unmistakable. The portion sizes, on the other hand, are not Nordic-purist, but consistently light, and if you add one or two extra courses to the menu, you will fall into the pleasant beds of the adjoining hotel more than just well satiated. We like the fact that Arnecke does not rest on signature dishes, but presents his menu in a completely new way every time we visit – and not only by changing a few side dishes, but by completely rethinking and making dishes, always on a classic French, perfectly crafted basis. On Sunday lunchtime, he serves a three- to four-course menu for gourmet beginners, and whether it's as crispy as dark pink roasted breast of challans duck with red-shell pineapple or tartare of semi-dried red beetroot with purple mustard ice cream: you can look forward to finely balanced contrasts, surprising components and sensorially sophisticated compositions right up to the very good desserts.