Where to Dine - Mosel & Black Forest

Good local nosh (mainly):

Cochem: http://www.mosellandhotel-enderttal.de/

Beilstein: https://www.hotel-lipmann.de/

Bernkastel-Kues: Up the hill a bit, good view if you book early enough https://www.burglandshut.com/

Kloster Machern, just before you reach Graach. Attractive restaurant: https://speisekartenweb.de/restaurants/bernkastel-kues/weinbistro-im-kloster-machern-84202

Good Italian in Freiburg: https://www.doc-freiburg.com/

If you are going Staufen way, we ate well here. Looks like it's been renovated and changed hands since we were there: https://bahnhöfle-staufen.de/

Café Bachbeck Konditorei in Schiltach is the tops.

If you visit Burg Landshut, which you should, stop off at this spot for continued great views and hearty fare. https://waldschenke-bernkastel.de
We ordered the Chef's Platter, which featured several kinds of meat, potatoes and veg. It was so gorgeous that someone from the next table took a photo of it. We had to take a lot of it to go, but we weren't cycling.

Thank you both for the suggestions.

RE: the climb to the old castle near Bernkastel, Burg-Landshut, it certainly looks like we would work up an appetite!

The websites make all look interesting. Too bad I cannot find an EN button, but that must speak to their authenticity as sites for natives. (LATE NOTE - Thank goodness for Google Translate)

Hotel Schloss in Zell is very good.
https://hotel-schloss-zell.jimdosite.com/ristorante/

Kloster Matchern is one of my favorite places to sit and watch the boats go by while having a beer.

Frankly what i usually do is just stop at the local bakery and grab a sandwich and something to drink and then find a place to sit. Look for a "Donor" sign and grab one of those; it'll beat any Big Mac you've ever had.

Some towns in that area are really small, so your dining options may be limited, especially if you’re there on days when restaurants are normally closed.

I'm in my 70's but have the tastebuds of a 13-year-old, so I recuse myself from food judgments and recommendations. But I have understood from multiple sources that those with sophisticated taste buds genuinely like the Black Forest town of Baiersbronn, located in the Murg River Valley - and they like it a lot:

https://thefoodellers.com/en/baiersbronn-black-forest-germany

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g187279-Baiersbronn_Baden_Wurttemberg.html

Russ. I think you and KGC must have a lot in common, apart from your knowledge and love for southwestern Germany. I’ve not had a Big Mac in somewhere between 30 and 50 years.

But I will look into Baiersbronn as it is just 35 to 40 minutes by car from where we will be spending one night, Schiltach, while we are on our 3-day drive from Geislingen-an-der-Steige to Freiburg, with one night stays in Tubingen and Schiltach.

Love all the suggestions here, though we can’t try them all, especially with multiple suggestions for Bernkastel alone as we pedal through there on our way from Trittenheim on to lodgings in Zeltingen. I had already flagged Bernkastel for a weinstube and a wine museum. I did notice, however, that KGC’s “Bernkastel” suggestion looks like it is just across the river from Zeltingen.

Russ, both you and KGC have offered a lot of great advice - some accepted and some rejected - and we will be cycling the Mosel (with an added day on the Rhine to Boppard and Marksburg) due to advice that each of you previously offered. We’ll be spending the one night in Tubingen again due to advice we’ve both accepted and rejected from both of you. One just can’t do everything. But again, danke.

When we stopped in Bernkastel in 2023 a number of restaurants and food stalls had minimums to use a credit card, so have some cash on hand. The minimums ranged from €5-€10.