The ECB quarter mixes riverside terraces with working institutions like the Rindswurst maker on Hanauer Landstraße.
OOSTEN serves Mediterranean plates around a preserved harbour crane on Frankfurt's Ostend riverbank, its terrace facing the ECB tower and the Main.
Order: Grilled fish on the terrace with the skyline over the Main
Tip: Sunday opens at 10:00 for the long riverside breakfast; in summer the crane terrace books out before the dining room.
Masa Japanese Cuisine on Frankfurt's Hanauer Landstraße holds a Michelin star for washoku tasting menus that read Japan through Hessian produce.
Order: The Chef's Choice menu; the €115 lunch version is the shorter road in
Tip: The room seats very few and books out weeks ahead; reserve through the site rather than calling and watch for lunch releases.
OOSTEN's terrace under the old harbour crane doubles as Frankfurt's best riverside drinks deck, skyline sundowners over the Main every clear evening.
Signature drink: A sundowner on the harbour-crane terrace
Tip: Drinks-only guests do best on the upper deck; time it for the hour before sunset and let the ECB tower do the lighting.
Gref-Völsings has made Frankfurt's Rindswurst since 1894, and its Ostend Braterei window still sells them hot with a roll at lunchtime on weekdays.
Try: Rindswurst, hot from the Braterei window
Tip: The all-beef sausage was born here in 1894; eat it standing with mustard and bread, then buy a vacuum pack for home.
Gref-Völsings sells Frankfurt's founding Rindswurst hot for pocket money, a 130-year institution disguised as an Ostend lunch window on weekdays.
Try: Rindswurst in a roll at the Braterei window
Tip: Weekday lunch only; the price has crept up over 130 years but remains one of the city's great food bargains.
OOSTEN opens Sundays at 10:00 for Frankfurt's best riverside breakfast, plates under the old harbour crane with the ECB tower opposite across the water.
Order: The long Sunday breakfast with the skyline across the Main
Tip: Reserve the terrace side explicitly; indoor tables lose the reason you came. Holiday Mondays follow the Sunday schedule.
OOSTEN's multi-level terrace around the old harbour crane gives Frankfurt its open-air riverside nightcap, skyline lit across the Main until closing.
Tip: The upper deck at dusk is the shot everyone posts; drinks-only visits are easiest on weeknights.