20° RESTOBAR

Should You Go Back to 20° RESTOBAR?

If your first visit left you curious about what the kitchen is really capable of, a return trip will likely give you a clearer answer. 20° RESTOBAR on Mutter-Ey-Platz in Düsseldorf's Altstadt holds a Michelin Plate for the second consecutive year (2024 and 2025), which signals consistent quality rather than a one-year flash. For contemporary Spanish cooking at the €€ price point in Düsseldorf, this is one of the more credible options in the city, and a second visit gives you the room to push past the obvious choices and test the depth of the offer.

The Space

The address at Mutter-Ey-Platz puts 20° RESTOBAR at the edge of a compact Altstadt square, which means the physical room matters: this is not a sprawling restaurant where anonymity is easy. The restobar format suggests a layout that crosses dining and drinking in a single, connected space rather than separating them into formal and casual zones. For a returning visitor, that is worth thinking about before you book. If your first visit was at a table, consider whether the bar area works better for a solo evening or a two-person session that mixes food and drink without committing to a full sit-down arc. The spatial intimacy typical of this format also means noise travels, so if a quieter evening is the priority, earlier sittings are the practical answer.

Spanish Contemporary in a German City

Contemporary Spanish cooking in Düsseldorf sits in a specific competitive gap. The city's upper end skews heavily French and European: Im Schiffchen and Jae occupy different registers, but neither is doing what 20° is doing in terms of cuisine identity. Spanish contemporary as a category, when done seriously, involves technique-led cooking that draws on Iberian produce logic: preserved fish, cured meats, acidic reductions, and the kind of wine pairings built around varietals most German wine lists ignore entirely. Whether 20° fully commits to that ambition or uses the label more loosely is a question the Michelin Plate endorsement doesn't fully resolve, but the rating does confirm that the kitchen's execution is considered above-average by professional standards. For context on what serious Spanish contemporary looks like elsewhere, Molino de Urdániz and El Jardín de Orfila give useful reference points on the format's ceiling.

The Wine Program: Where This Gets Interesting

The editorial angle that matters most at a venue calling itself a restobar is the drink side of the offer. At €€ pricing, a wine list built around Spanish and Iberian references would be the logical expression of the cuisine identity, and if that list is well-curated, it changes the value calculation significantly. Spanish wine at this price tier can deliver genuinely serious bottles: Rioja reservas, Ribera del Duero, Galician whites, and producers from Priorat or Bierzo that rarely appear on German restaurant lists. If the wine program at 20° is drawing from that well rather than defaulting to a generic European list, it is a meaningful differentiator from other Düsseldorf mid-range options. A returning visitor's clearest test of the kitchen's confidence is to order a pairing or ask for a recommendation and see how specifically the list connects to the food. A wine program that can explain why a particular Txakoli or Manzanilla works with a specific dish is doing something different from one that simply stocks a few Spanish labels as decoration. The broader Düsseldorf dining scene doesn't have a deep bench for this, which makes 20°'s potential here worth probing.

Value and Booking

At €€ pricing with a Michelin Plate, 20° RESTOBAR sits in a comfortable position: accessible enough for a mid-week dinner without planning anxiety, credentialed enough to justify the occasion. Booking difficulty is low. The 4.4 Google rating across 1,285 reviews is a useful signal of consistent crowd satisfaction rather than occasional brilliance, which is exactly what you want from a local regular's restaurant. For a first-time visitor in Düsseldorf deciding between this and a €€€€ option like 1876 Daniel Dal-Ben or LA VIE by thomas bühner, the decision is direct: 20° costs less and the format is lower-pressure. For a returning visitor, the question is whether the kitchen has evolved since your last meal. Two consecutive Michelin Plates suggest it has maintained rather than slipped, which is its own kind of recommendation.

How It Connects to the Wider Düsseldorf Scene

If 20° RESTOBAR is on your list, it's worth knowing what else Düsseldorf offers across formats. Agata's covers the creative end at a different price point. For a full picture of where to eat, drink, and stay, see our full Düsseldorf restaurants guide, our full Düsseldorf bars guide, and our full Düsseldorf hotels guide. If you are using Düsseldorf as a base for a wider German dining trip, venues like Vendôme in Bergisch Gladbach and Aqua in Wolfsburg are within reach for a day trip at the higher end. For serious wine-led dining elsewhere in Germany, Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn, JAN in Munich, and ES:SENZ in Grassau show what the category looks like with more formal ambition. CODA Dessert Dining in Berlin is the clearest example of a German restobar concept pushed to its furthest extreme, and worth knowing as a reference point for what the format can achieve.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I eat at the bar at 20° RESTOBAR? The restobar format is built around exactly this. Eating at the bar is the intended experience for solo visitors and pairs who want a less structured evening. It also gives you direct access to the drinks program, which at a venue with this cuisine identity is where the most interesting decisions happen. If bar seating is available, take it over a standard table for a second visit.
• Is the tasting menu worth it at 20° RESTOBAR? At €€ pricing, any tasting menu here will be priced well below what you'd pay at Michelin-starred options like Im Schiffchen or 1876 Daniel Dal-Ben. The Michelin Plate confirms the kitchen is operating at a level where a tasting format makes sense. Whether one is offered is not confirmed in the available data, so check directly when booking. If it exists, the value-for-money case at this price tier is strong.
• What should I wear to 20° RESTOBAR? The restobar format and €€ pricing suggest smart casual is the right register: no need for a jacket, but you'd be underdressed in trainers and a T-shirt given the Michelin recognition and Altstadt address. Aim for what you'd wear to a confident neighbourhood restaurant rather than a formal dinner.
• Is 20° RESTOBAR good for solo dining? Yes, and it is one of the better solo options at this price point in Düsseldorf. The bar format means solo visitors are not parked at a small side table, and Spanish contemporary cuisine lends itself to a grazing approach that works well alone. The 4.4 rating across over 1,200 reviews suggests a consistent, welcoming operation rather than a room that makes single diners feel like an afterthought.
• What are alternatives to 20° RESTOBAR in Düsseldorf? For a step up in formality and price, Im Schiffchen is the city's clearest fine-dining anchor. For creative cooking at the leading end, 1876 Daniel Dal-Ben and LA VIE by thomas bühner both sit at €€€€ and operate in a more ambitious register. For Mediterranean at €€€, see Jae for a different cuisine angle at a comparable effort level. 20° is the right choice if Spanish contemporary and a relaxed format matter more than prestige.