The Kieler Sprotten — smoked Baltic sprats — are the defining food of Eckernförde, and eating them fresh from the smokehouse is one of the better simple pleasures on this coast. Several family-run smokeries operate along the harbor, smoking the fish over beechwood in traditional iron smokers. The sprats are sold in paper cones or small wicker baskets, still warm, and the correct way to eat them is immediately, standing at the quay, with dark bread and perhaps a bit of butter.
If you want to sit down, several of the harbor restaurants serve sprats as a proper meal — on a board with bread, pickles, and salad — and some offer other smoked fish alongside. The quality varies; the smokeries that do only takeaway tend to be the most serious. Räucherei Bock and a couple of other long-running harbor smokeries are the reliable choices. Avoid anywhere that sells sprats in vacuum packs as a souvenir — the fresh version is incomparably better.