Ribe is small but eats well. The two famous old town-centre inns — Sælhunden ("The Seal") and Weis' Stue — have been pouring beer and serving traditional Jutland food since the seventeenth century and are still the most atmospheric places to eat in town. The contemporary scene is led by a handful of restaurants doing modern Danish food with local ingredients from the marshes and the Wadden Sea.
The signature local dish is lammekølle — slow-roasted lamb from the salt-meadow flocks that graze the marshes; the salt content of the grass gives the meat a distinctive flavour, particularly in late summer. Wadden Sea oysters are another speciality (now sustainably harvested by the Vadehavscentret), as are pickled herring, eel, and lightly smoked Wadden Sea shrimp.
Most kitchens close by 9.30 p.m. Reservations are a good idea on weekend evenings, especially May–September.