Seestern

Rating: 18
Author: Gault&Millau

Böfinger Straße 48, 89073 Ulm, Germany

18/20
Prestige Restaurant

BOOK

1 PHOTOS

Chef: Klaus Buderath | Benedikt Wittek
Cooking: European | French | Gastronomic | Local | Nordic | Vegetarian
Services: Accommodation | Electric charging station | Garden | Private Parking | Terrace
Style: Bar | Casual | Romantic | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

There are few restaurants where even pronounced carnivores get in the mood for the vegetarian menu, without wagging a finger, but solely because of the quality of what is on offer. This is exactly the case at Seestern. Because the finesse with which the meatless components of the classic menu are served makes you want more of them. Not that the two chefs (Benedikt Wittek, previously sous chef at Nuremberg's Zweisinn, supports Klaus Buderath in the two-man kitchen as an equal chef) reveal weaknesses when it comes to fish and meat. The menu (six or eight courses, plus various amuses) was not only flawless in this respect, but also inspired us throughout in its sensitive handling of the finest taste nuances of the best ingredients from mostly regional provenance: from the intensely spicy beetroot macaron with sour cream filling and apple slices as part of the amuse round dance to the langoustine lobster accompanied by finely balanced kohlrabi variations in a heavenly nut butter espuma to the perfectly cooked, juicy, tender slice of black-feathered chicken with morel farce and Périgord truffle shell, homeopathically dosed celery and à part of an intensely palatable mushroom consommé. The combination of modern creative cuisine with classic French sauce accompaniment in a whole round dance of flavors across the courses, which are usually served in two parts, comes across as pleasantly unagitated despite all its tweezed filigree (sometimes with a simple Opinel knife instead of expensive coutellerie) and thus fits in with the restaurant, dominated by wood and brown tones, with a flickering fireplace and large glass façade overlooking the lake, where the friendly, competent service contributes to the feel-good atmosphere. And so we find only three things that can be improved: First, that the choice of vegetarian or not must already be made at the time of booking (and the vegetarian menu no longer comes to the table with classic orders, presumably a reminiscence of the resources of the small kitchen team). Second, that the wine list lists only 29 wines, all of which are advertised as biodynamic, but are not consistent. And third, that we, as non-locals, cannot come by more often. Buderath and Wittek have found their style, the inspirations from other houses, which we criticized in earlier years as too clear, still hint here and there, but are now integrated into a thoroughly rounded, independent experience. Congratulations on the well-deserved fourth toque!