Hotel Goldner Anker in Bad Elster

The initial response to our table reservation was rather unfriendly. The food itself is very tasty, but changing a side dish costs an extra €2 (!!). Even a second helping of cranberries (it was just a small dollop on the dish) was charged at an additional €2 (!). In both cases, a heads-up from the waitstaff would have been appropriate; otherwise, we were surprised when the bill arrived. It was probably mentioned somewhere on the menu, but people might not have noticed it, as it's unusual for a restaurant in this price range (which isn't exactly cheap) and also unreasonably priced (the effort required for both requests was minimal). For comparison, we found €5.90 for dessert to be a reasonable price. It seems they don't prioritize customer loyalty, since they're constantly bringing in new people from rehabilitation and spa treatments. A real shame: despite the good food, we can only give this restaurant a qualified recommendation. If you don't care about the complete package of good food, reasonable prices, and good service, and you don't have any extra charges, then this is a good place to eat. However, since the overall package wasn't quite there in our opinion, we're only giving it 3 stars.

Food in this establishment is tasty and deserves 5 stars. But the service is surly and rude. No concept of customer first. Beware, all tables are forever marked reserved despite the place being half empty. They could do with staff training. And then this will be the place to go.