The 5 best food shops in Hamburg

Opinions on Franzbrötchen vary. Some like them mushy, some dry, or wild with pumpkin seeds or exclusively classic with cinnamon. Mutterland’s are different. Mutterland’s take on Hamburg’s speciality bake, whose origins go back to Danish prehistory, are fluffy high-risers and come with coarsely chopped chocolate or apple. Incomparable!

Oschätzchen has a high density of truffle hogs. This is where the breakfast mavens come to find exquisite ingredients for their granola-baking project, or where the average gourmet stocks up on Maldon smoked sea salt. But non-experts also find inspiration here for their gift baskets, which normally have to contain at least one bar of the homemade chocolate. The ‘lime and sherbet white bar’, for example.

A source of interesting studies of humanity even in Hamburg: walk-in refrigerator, caviar safe and personal shopping advice if you have difficulty deciding. FrischeParadies’s own bistro is where chic posh suburbans and amateur chefs who cook with gas meet for bouillabaisse. In this place, you get the right summer blossoms for your side salad even in winter.

If you reach the dizzy heights despite all the consumer temptations of the lower floors, you’ll get a well-earned rest from the luxury hustle and bustle on the fourth-floor gourmet boulevard. Under artistic domes, it’s very easy to remember whether you’ve run out of truffles or saffron. Hamburg’s top address for delicatessen, champagne chat and fresh oysters.

Market hall at the back, restaurant at the front: Thomas Sampl has been running a catering business with the Hobenköök since 2016, and buys fresh ingredients for it from North German growers. Vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and dairy products and many more local delicacies can be purchased in the hall of the old freight yard. If it’s ripe, it ends up in the restaurant’s open kitchen – healthy and sustainable!