After last night’s wonderful dinner and our outing to the Fasanerie, Bill and I decided we’d take another trip to lovely Eppstein. I wanted to explore the temple on the side of the mountain I noticed when we visited Eppstein Castle a couple of months ago.
The Kaisertempel. Right next to it is a very nice Italian restaurant called Ristorante Kaisertempel.
After a rather scary, white knuckle ride up a steep, narrow, mountain pass, we came to the restaurant, a large, charming building with a stone oven for pizzas and a full bar. The area is full of walking trails, so there were plenty of bikers and hikers, although there are precious few spots on the narrow road that make it easy to pass cars going the opposite direction. It wasn’t a problem when we went up the mountain, but it was when we came back down. In any case, we had a very lovely lunch. Here are some photos.
My very first view of the view… Absolutely stunning!
They ask for a small donation at the door.
A little info in German…
The inside of the temple, which opens out into Eppstein’s most beautiful view.
What the temple looks like from the lookout point, where there’s a telescope and a bench for taking in the gorgeous panorama.
We spent a few minutes gazing at the beautiful landscape, then went to the restaurant. We didn’t have a reservation, although I have read they are a good idea to have, especially at dinner time. They don’t take a pause.
The inviting front door. You pass the bar and the stone oven before you enter the beautiful dining room. I wouldn’t have minded eating in there, but of course the weather was fine. We sat outside, right next to the soul stirring view.
The menu had a number of options. There were a few pasta dishes, pizzas, and main courses like steak and fish. They also had a special fixed price meal that could be ordered in courses or on their own.
I decided to have lasagne. It was very good… maybe not the best I’ve ever had, but definitely tasty. It was Bolognese style, with bechemel sauce and ground beef.
Bill had a buffalo mozzarella pizza. It was delicious! I don’t usually go for pizzas in Germany, but the crust on this was magnificent. We paired our dishes with the usual sparkling water and a glass each of Montpulciano.
Total bill came to about 45 euros. Bill gave them 50 and asked them to keep the change. Then, we took the white knuckle ride back down the mountain. Kudos to the guy who was coming up as we were going down. He backed much of the way down the last stretch of road so we could pass. It really is a scary drive up, but well worth it at least once, if only to see the views. It’s gorgeous up there. There was a nice breeze and it was noticeably cooler, too.
I could see it’s a very popular place for bikers and hikers, but there was plenty of free parking available. I’d go back, as long as someone else does the driving.
Eppstein is so beautiful!