Restaurant in Dermbach, Germany
Two Michelin stars. One small town. Plan ahead.
BjörnsOx holds a Michelin star in both 2024 and 2025 under chef Jack Logue, operating a creative tasting-menu format in the small Thuringian town of Dermbach. At €€€€, it is a deliberate destination booking — rated Hard to reserve — that rewards food-focused travellers willing to plan ahead and make the trip. Book early; the rural location gives you no fallback.
Yes — if you are willing to plan ahead and travel for it. BjörnsOx holds a Michelin star in both 2024 and 2025, operates out of a small town in Thuringia that most fine-dining travellers have never considered, and is led by chef Jack Logue under a creative menu format. That combination — consecutive star retention, a destination address, and a €€€€ price point , means this is not a casual midweek booking. It is a deliberate trip. The question is whether the experience justifies the logistics, and for food-focused travellers, the evidence says it does.
Dermbach sits in the Rhön, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in central Germany, and BjörnsOx is on Bahnhofstraße 2 , a village-scale address that tells you immediately this is not a city-centre destination with foot traffic to fall back on. Venues in locations like this survive on reputation and repeat bookings, not passing trade. Spaces of this kind tend toward intimacy by necessity: compact dining rooms, limited covers, and a service dynamic that feels closer to a private dinner than a restaurant floor. The physical environment at BjörnsOx is not documented in full in the available data, but the combination of a rural Thuringian address and a maintained Michelin star across two consecutive years implies a deliberate, controlled dining room rather than a sprawling operation. If spatial intimacy matters to your experience, this address works in your favour.
The cuisine category is listed as Creative, which at the €€€€ level almost always means a tasting menu format with a fixed progression rather than à la carte selection. Chef Jack Logue is the name attached to the kitchen. The creative designation at this price and award level typically signals technical ambition: composed plates, ingredient-led development, and a format where you surrender the ordering process to the kitchen. This is worth knowing before you book. If you want flexibility or a shorter meal, this is probably not the right fit. If you want the kitchen to dictate the pace and direction of the meal, this is exactly the format for it.
On the question of takeout and delivery: a €€€€ creative tasting menu is not a format that translates off-premise. Michelin-starred tasting menus depend on sequence, temperature, plating precision, and service timing. Nothing about this category of cooking travels well, and there is no indication in the available data that BjörnsOx offers any off-premise option. If you are considering BjörnsOx, the entire value proposition is in the room, at the table, in the sequence the kitchen sets. A delivery order from a venue like this would not resemble the actual experience in any meaningful way.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. For a single-star creative restaurant in a small German town with limited covers, this is not surprising , it is the natural result of a concentrated reputation and restricted capacity. The practical read: if you are planning a trip to the Rhön or building an itinerary around this region, BjörnsOx should be your first booking, not an afterthought. Booking windows for venues at this level in Germany typically run four to eight weeks minimum, and given the rural location with limited alternative fine-dining options nearby, last-minute availability is unlikely. Check the restaurant's booking channel directly and move quickly once dates are set.
For travellers planning around the Rhön Biosphere region more broadly, see our full Dermbach restaurants guide, our full Dermbach hotels guide, and our full Dermbach bars guide for the wider picture. If you are combining this trip with wine or producer visits, our full Dermbach wineries guide and our full Dermbach experiences guide are worth consulting before you finalise the itinerary.
Reservations: Book as early as possible , Hard difficulty rating means availability moves fast and the rural location gives you no fallback for the same evening. Budget: €€€€, consistent with a multi-course tasting menu format at Michelin-starred level; expect a per-head spend in line with Germany's leading creative restaurants. Dress: Not specified in available data, but a Michelin-starred creative restaurant at this price point warrants smart dress as a baseline. Getting There: Dermbach is in Thuringia; a car is the practical choice for most travellers given the village location. Google Rating: 4.8 from 26 reviews , a small but consistent signal of strong guest satisfaction.
For travellers building a broader German fine-dining itinerary, BjörnsOx is one of several strong creative options to consider alongside JAN in Munich, ES:SENZ in Grassau, and Schanz in Piesport. For higher star counts and more documented menus, Aqua in Wolfsburg, Vendôme in Bergisch Gladbach, and Victor's Fine Dining by Christian Bau in Perl offer a different scale of operation. The Table Kevin Fehling in Hamburg and Waldhotel Sonnora in Dreis round out the comparison set for travellers who want to weigh destination-restaurant options across Germany. For creative cooking at a European reference level, Quique Dacosta in Dénia and Arpège in Paris are the benchmarks to know.
There is no confirmed bar seating at BjörnsOx in the available data. Given the venue's small-town address, creative tasting-menu format, and Michelin-star positioning, a traditional walk-in bar option is unlikely. If bar seating is a priority for your visit, check directly with the restaurant before planning around it. For casual bar options in the Dermbach area, see our full Dermbach bars guide.
Three things: the location requires a car and advance planning, the format is almost certainly a tasting menu (no à la carte flexibility), and the booking difficulty is rated Hard. First-timers should secure a reservation before making any other arrangements for the trip. The €€€€ price and back-to-back Michelin stars in 2024 and 2025 mean this is a deliberate commitment, not a spontaneous dinner. Treat it like a destination booking, not a local restaurant choice.
For food-focused travellers, yes. Two consecutive Michelin stars under chef Jack Logue and a 4.8 Google rating from guests who made the deliberate trip to Dermbach are strong indicators of consistent delivery. At €€€€, you are paying a destination-restaurant price for a creative format in a low-footfall setting , which tends to produce a more focused, unhurried experience than a city-centre equivalent. If you are comparing value against Germany's three-star rooms like Aqua or Vendôme, BjörnsOx is a lower-stakes financial commitment for a comparable creative ambition at one-star level.
BjörnsOx is the primary fine-dining option in Dermbach. For alternatives at a comparable award level within Germany's creative cooking category, consider JAN in Munich, ES:SENZ in Grassau, or Bagatelle in Trier. If you are already in Thuringia and want a backup option or a different format, see our full Dermbach restaurants guide for the local picture.
Yes, with the right expectations. A Michelin-starred creative tasting menu in a rural, intimate setting is a strong special-occasion format , the controlled environment, personal service dynamic, and deliberate pacing all work in your favour. The €€€€ price is appropriate for a celebratory meal. The main caveat: because booking difficulty is rated Hard, special-occasion visits need to be planned well in advance. Last-minute anniversary dinners are not realistic here. Lock in the date first, then build the rest of the trip around it.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| BjörnsOx | €€€€ | Hard | — |
| Schwarzwaldstube | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Aqua | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Vendôme | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| CODA Dessert Dining | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Tantris | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Bar seating is not documented for BjörnsOx. At a €€€€ creative restaurant in a village-scale setting like Bahnhofstraße 2 in Dermbach, the format almost certainly runs as a structured tasting menu at table — not a drop-in bar experience. check the venue's official channels before assuming walk-in or counter options exist.
Book as early as possible — the booking difficulty is rated Hard, and there is no backup dining option in Dermbach if you miss your slot. BjörnsOx has held a Michelin star for both 2024 and 2025 under chef Jack Logue, which signals consistency, but this is a destination restaurant: you are travelling to Thuringia specifically for it, so build your trip around the reservation, not the other way around.
At €€€€ with two consecutive Michelin stars, BjörnsOx is priced in line with serious creative fine dining in Germany, and the award retention suggests the kitchen is delivering at that level. The case for booking is stronger if you are already interested in the Rhön region or building a broader German fine-dining itinerary — the remote location means the meal has to carry the whole trip. If you want a comparable creative experience with easier access, JAN in Munich or Tantris are worth comparing.
There are no comparable fine-dining alternatives in Dermbach itself — the town is small and BjörnsOx is the destination. For creative Michelin-level cooking in more accessible German locations, consider Tantris in Munich or CODA Dessert Dining in Berlin. If the Thuringia region is the draw, BjörnsOx is the only credentialled option worth the detour.
Yes, with the right expectations. Two consecutive Michelin stars under chef Jack Logue and a €€€€ price point confirm this is a serious occasion restaurant. The rural Dermbach setting makes it more intimate than a city fine-dining room, which works well for smaller parties — couples or foursomes who want a focused, low-distraction evening. Just confirm availability far in advance; the Hard booking rating means last-minute special occasion plans will likely fail.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
