Innsbruck restaurants

An insider's guide to Innsbruck restaurants, including the best spots for rooftop dining and sampling local fare. By Paul Wade, our Telegraph Travel expert.

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Lichtblick

Forget cosy wood-panelled taverns: this steel and glass restaurant is unashamedly modern. Add in rooftop panoramas of domes and towers and mountain peaks, and it’s well worth reserving one of the 50 seats in this Dominique Perrault-designed glass box. Chef Andreas Zeindlinger, dubbed the ‘kitchen art director’, conjures up flavourful Austrian/European dishes: sweetbreads with a kumquat compote; guinea fowl with a rosemary foam; rich chocolate brownies with caramel popcorn and chocolate sorbet. Ask the sommelier for advice in choosing from the comprehensive list of Austrian wines, and in fine weather book a table on the outdoor terrace. And on arrival, don’t be put off by the entrance, via a lift in the Rathausgalerien shopping mall.

Address: Rathausgalerien, 7th floor, 18 Maria Theresien Strasse, 6020 Innsbruck
Contact: 00 43 512 566 550; restaurant-licktblick.at
Getting there: bus 4123, 4125 or 4169 to Terminal Marktplatz
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 10am-1am
Price: lunch around €30, dinner around €50
Payment type: credit cards accepted
Cuisine: Modern Austrian
Reservations: essential

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Ottoburg Restaurant 

Dinner and history all in one makes the Ottoburg special: think stone arches, wood panelling, the odd helmet and stained-glass windows. Originally a watch tower in the city’s fortifications, the 900-year-old building is now a series of atmospheric stuben, or dining rooms, all on different levels. I like the Herzog Friedrichstube on the second floor, with great views of the Nordkette mountains – ask for a table there. The menu is Austrian through and through, from goulash soup and schnitzel to tafelspitz, a boiled beef dish that Austrians love. Start with the speckteller, home-cured Tyrolean ham served on a wooden board with gherkins and horseradish; finish with apfelstrudel, apple strudel. The list of Austrian wines is wide and affordable.

Address: 1 Herzog Friedrich Strasse, 6020 Innsbruck
Contact: 00 43 512 584 338; ottoburg.at
Getting there: bus 4169 to Terminal Marktplatz
Opening times: Daily, noon-3pm, 6pm-midnight
Price: lunch around €20, dinner around €30
Payment type: credit cards accepted
Cuisine: Austrian
Reservations: recommended

Gasthaus Weisses Roessl

Tradition is everything in Tyrol, and the Weisses Roessl ticks all the boxes: busy since 1600; waitresses in dirndls; wood panelling and hunting trophies on the walls. Each stube, or dining room, is different. I leave the Gaststube to the locals and head for the Rösslstube, where the walls are covered in romantic paintings by local artists. Dishes are old school with a modern twist: frittatensuppe (beef broth with strips of pancake); stroganoff made with venison; grilled trout with horseradish and chives. The hauspfandl, the house special, is pork medallions cooked and served at the table in a small frying pan. In autumn, look for dishes featuring game and wild mushrooms. Bang in the heart of the Old Town, the Weisses Roessl is reasonably priced and good for families with hungry children.

Address: 8 Kiebachgasse, 6020 Innsbruck
Contact: 00 43 512 583 057; roessl.at
Getting there: bus 4169 to Terminal Marktplatz
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 9am-3pm, 5pm-midnight. Closed Sunday
Price: lunch around €20, dinner around €35
Payment type: credit cards accepted
Cuisine: Austrian
Reservations: recommended

Sitzwohl 

When I need a change from dumplings and noodles, I book in to this restaurant named after its chef/owner, Irmgard Sitzwohl. The look is contemporary; menus feature fresh, organic produce; and the clean flavours show Mediterranean influences. Not that dishes are simple: organic pike fillets might be pan-fried and served with a creamy wild garlic risotto; strudel comes as a main course, stuffed with bacon and potato and sauced with a chive dip. If you are in a hurry, sit at the bar for a quick, one-course lunch; after 5pm, this is a meeting spot for cocktails. There is a small delicatessen, the Geislerei, selling Irmgard Sitzwohl’s home-made soups, chutneys, jams and sauces.

Address: Stadtforum, 6020 Innsbruck
Contact: 00 43 512 562 888; restaurantsitzwohl.at
Getting there: bus 4123, 4125 to Museumstrasse
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 11am-2pm, 6pm-midnight
Price: lunch around €20, dinner around €40
Payment type: credit cards accepted
Cuisine: Modern Austrian
Reservations: recommended

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Restaurant 1809 

Innsbruck’s restaurants and hotels vie with one another for great mountain views and Restaurant 1809, with its vast terrace, does not disappoint. The name comes from the most significant year in Tyrolean history, when the peasants revolted against Napoleon’s troops, right here on the Isel Mountain. Standing next to the Tirol Panorama Museum, the glass box of a building is contemporary, but the cooking reflects Tyrolean tradition, with dishes such as gröstl – the revolutionary peasants would recognise this fry-up of onions, potatoes and ham, spiced with caraway seeds and topped with a fried egg.

Address: 2 Bergisel, 6020 Innsbruck
Contact: 00 43 512 589 25921; restaurant1809.at
Getting there: bus C or T to Wiltener Basilika; tram line 1 to Stift Wilten
Opening times: restaurant 1809: Mon, Wed, 10am-5.30pm; Thu-Sun, 10am-midnight. Gourmet 1809: Thu-Sun, 6pm-midnight
Price: lunch around €25, dinner around €30, Gourmet 1809: set-price dinner menus from €45
Payment type: credit cards accepted
Cuisine: Austrian, Modern Austrian
Reservations: recommended

Die Wilderin Bar & Restaurant 

Right in the Altstadt (Old Town), the Wilderin caters to those who fancy a fresh take on granny’s favourites. Black and white, with modern lighting and furniture, the restaurant may look stark, but the busy tables and animated conversation confirms its popularity. After trawling local farmers’ markets for fresh, organic produce, the chefs name check the producers on the big blackboard menus. Although dishes are in German, the cheerful young staff take the trouble to translate and explain. When the plates arrive, the food is beautifully presented, perfect for those travel photos. Unusually for Austria, portions are elegant rather than huge, from salads, schnitzels and quiches to fried chicken, fish from mountain lakes and risottos made from einkorn, the latest trendy ancient grain. The dessert list is short but tempting: leave room for chocolate cheesecake with strawberries or above-average apple strudel.

Address: 5 Seilergasse, 6020 Innsbruck
Contact: 00 43 512 562 728; diewilderin.at
Getting there: bus 4123, 4125 to Museumstrasse
Opening times: Tue-Sat, holidays, 5pm till late. Closed Mon
Price: dinner around €30
Payment type: credit cards accepted
Cuisine: Modern Austrian
Reservations: recommended

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