Imbiss Rau & the Borkum Fish-Snack Tradition
On an island surrounded by the North Sea, the best meal is often the simplest: a fat Matjes herring sandwich eaten standing up with salt air in your face. Imbiss Rau, a beloved snack stand in the heart of Borkum since 1994, is where locals and regulars come to eat exactly that.
What to order
Matjes — young, lightly pickled herring — is the defining North Sea snack, served tender and tangy with onions and apple, often tucked into a soft roll. Pair it with a crisp local pilsner and you have the quintessential Borkum lunch.
Imbiss Rau offers daily-changing homemade menus alongside a broad selection of fresh island delicacies, keeping things seasonal and genuinely local rather than tourist-trap generic.
The wider food scene
Café Sleeboom, at the entrance to the pedestrian zone, is the place for a slow morning: a proper portafilter espresso and homemade pastries in a quiet spot before the day's beach crowds arrive.
For something more substantial in the evening, Bistro Buddelhus focuses on regional and sustainable ingredients — veggie or meat — in a contemporary style that sits comfortably between casual and considered.
The beachfront kiosk ritual
No visit to Borkum is complete without at least one stop at a beachfront kiosk for a fish sandwich made with the day's catch. The salty air, the crunch of the roll, the view of the North Sea — it is one of those travel experiences that sounds mundane and turns out to be perfect.
The weekly island market is the place to stock up on homemade jams, artisanal cheeses and fresh produce — a genuine local gathering rather than a tourist market, and the best place to taste what Borkum actually eats.
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