The BEST meal I've had in recent months was at the Andreas Keller restaurant in Leavenworth, WA. My wife and I shared an appetizer sampler and then each of us had one of that evening's specials for dinner and a great dessert. We don't taste each other's food very often, but sometimes when we have something especially delightful we really want our partner to share the experience. That evening we were dropping forkfuls of tasty morsels on each other's plates all the time. You know how there are times when something tastes so great that you find yourself stopping to savor the first taste -- you sit up straighter, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and slowly sigh ""uuuhmmmm"" through you r closed mouthful. With a really good meal, your first taste of the main entree produces that reaction reflexively. With this meal at Andreas Keller, I had that reaction to most of the items on my plate, and often more than once for the same delicacy. I don't know how else to describe in words the extent to which the flavors were wonderful. It was completely delectable.\r
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I scanned the menu while waiting for our table. I knew it would be difficult to choose just one dinner, since so many different things looked so inviting. Without having tasted the food yet, I thought the prices were a bit higher than I had expected. But prices are always a bit inflated in tourist areas like this, and I was prepared to pay a little more than usual to enjoy a nice meal during a micro-vacation with my wife. What I didn't know at that moment was how thoroughly I would enjoy the dinner. By the time I had tasted every item on my dinner plate, I knew that I was buying one of the best food values ever. This is a fine gem of a gourmet restaurant hidden inside a quaint little tourist place. The food is worth twice the price.\r
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The ambiance held a delightful surprise too. The owner of the restaurant, Heidi, was playing hostess that evening. We had a nice conversation while waiting for our table. She had a way of making me feel like a long-term friend of the family, even though we had just met. Throughout dinner, I had the sense that this restaurant feels very much like a cross between TV's ""Cheers"" and a real neighborhood pub in Bavaria -- an authentic German restaurant where everybody knows your name. This is a casual, friendly restaurant, with fun live music, and with surprising 5-star fare.\r
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I really enjoyed spending a weekend in Leavenworth. There were many memorable highlights. Dinner at Andreas Keller was the highest. I'll be back.\r
Pros: Outstanding food
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