I'm going to Cologne next week and am looking for fun restaurants, not necessarily the most expensive (but that would be ok if they're great), but great food, atmosphere, location...the must-do restaurant. Any suggestions? And should I make a reservation now or am I alrady too late?

Very typical for Cologne are the Brauhäuser where "Kölsch" (Cologne-style beer) is brewed and traditional fare is served at moderate prices. Most recommendable are
- Früh (Am Hof 12-16, right near the cathedral)
- Gaffel Haus (Alter Markt 20 - 22)
- Sion (Unter Taschenmacher 5-7)

A fun restaurant in the style of the 20ies with a weird collection of historical music instruments is
- Brauhaus Papa Joe`s "Klimperkasten" (Alter Markt 50 - 52)

All these restaurants are in the city center and casual-style; you do not need reservations.

For Michelin-star-awarded gourmet cuisine you may drive to:
- Restaurant Dieter Müller in Schlosshotel Lerbach (3 Michelin stars) in Bergisch Gladbach
- Restaurant Vendome in Schloss Bensberg (2 Michelin stars), in Bensberg
- Restaurant Steinheuer (2 Michelin stars) in Bad Neuenahr (south of Bonn)

Reservations are required.

You may also look here:

http://www.koeln.de/en/whatson/eatingout.html

You should also walk into the main station (Hauptbahnhof). There you find more than a dozen informal snack bars, some of them have surprisingly good food at low prices. Just browse and decide what to take.

You should try one of the brewery pubs in Cologne. The Frueh is probably the most toruristy close to the Dom, but still okay. Personally I like the Paeffgen. The food is traditional and heavy but good (go for Himmel and Aed, Heaven and Earth. It's fried blood and liver sausage with mashed potatoes and apple sauce.). And the drink is of course the Koelsch, the local beer (Frueh and Paeffgen are both breweries).
The Boennsch in Bonn is a similar brewery pub but serves, surprise surprise, Boennsch instead of Koelsch..

I agree, you have to try at least one Brauhaus. Mühlen Kölsch (Heumarkt 6, 0221/21 01 17) is my personal favorite and the least touristy, I find.

Other than that, what type of food do you prefer? When friends visit, I always take them to Nana's (Pfeil Str 15, 0221/25 73 070, near Rudolfplatz) - really yummy Italian food and fun atmosphere. The crowd is mostly in their 20s and 30s.

If you tell me more about what you're looking for, I'll have a better idea on what to recommend.

We're going to be there for such a short time (5 days) that I feel I'll want to eat local fare although I do love Italian and may want a change of pace. We'll try anything as long as it's good (although I don't think I can do the fried blood thing someone recommended!) My husband is a beer drinker so we'll definitely spend time in brauhauses. Any other must-dos you'd recommend? Can day trips on the Rhine be done from there? Thanks!

You should be able to catch a Rhine cruise. (see http://www.k-d.com/englisch/index.html) Because of the schedule, I usually tell friends to take the train from Cologne to Linz and then take the cruise back.

Other than brauhaus visits, you may want to try some Turkish food. Because of the large population of Turkish here, Turkish food is quite popular. But I must admit I only regularly eat Döners in fast-food-type places, so I cannot recommend a "nicer" Turkish restaurant.

Something different may be unsichtBar, a restaurant where you eat in TOTAL darkness. The point is to experience what it is like if you lose your sense of sight. All the waitstaff is blind. There are three such restaurants in Germany (Cologne, Berlin and Hamburg). I'd recommend it for the experience, but the food is only so-so. I thoroughly enjoyed it but a friend had a slight panic attack right after his salad was served.

The name of the dish is "Himmel un Ääd" which means "sky and earth": The sky is mashed potatoes, the earth is fried blood sausage. You should try. It is very good and in no way strange or disgusting (it is not like innards). Another option is "Kölsche Kaviar" (Cologne caviar): a roll with cold blood sausage and onions.

Of course, there are lots of other options. Most Brauhäuser have menus in English too.

The boats depart directly in Cologne. From the cathedral you walk just down to the river. Here is the website of the largest company:

http://www.k-d.de/englisch/index.html

Gilden Brauhaus (food and K&ouml;lsch in K&ouml;ln). The <i>sauerbraten</i> is to die for. Go to the Keupstraße S-bahn stop, walk across Clevischer Ring to the west side and continue north about ten minutes. The restaurant is on the ground floor of the Park Consul hotel.

http://www.gilden-brauhaus.de

B&ouml;nnsch (food and B&ouml;nnsch in Bonn). I had a fantastic <i>rahmschnitzel</i> (but you might not, because their menu is seasonal). Go to the Stadthaus

http://www.boennsch.de

stop on the S-bahn, and cross the tracks to the Sterntorbr&uuml;cke (a pedestrian street), then walk a few steps to No. 4.