Tim Raue, Rudi Dutschke Strasse, Berlin

Another trip to my favourite city, this time visiting Tim Raue‘s restaurant. He has a reputation for recreating the flavours of dishes from many asian countries in his two-star Michelin restaurant, located near the dreadful Checkpoint Charlie Museum.

Tim Raue’s place is sleek, the waiters wear a uniform which feels more like Hamburg than Berlin, but it’s an interesting contemporary feeling the restaurant gives off. The amuse bouche selection is world class. A selection of bowls with little tibits are served from a crunchy and slightly spicy japanish radish (daikon?) to a lovely thinly sliced pork belly, these are all exciting little things to get your appetit whetted.

Most interesting dishes were a Kaisergranat (langoustine) covered in crunchy green rice, powerful & surprising soja based sauce complementing the Steinbutt (turbot) and the pork chin. The elegance of the dishes does the restaurant right. There was one disappointment however, the famed Peking Duck a la Tim Raue. Peking duck typically served with crunchy vegetables, pancakes and bean sauce comes as a perfect bite. The sweet sauce, spring onion, cucumber and crispy skin wrapped in the soft pancake creates an almost unbeatable finger food. Tim Raues (interpretation, not imitation) fails on a few levels. The broth is good, the liver with the sauce gives you part of that yummy taste and the duck meat is cooked perfectly. But ultimately it fails to give you the same satisfaction as a traditional Peking duck.

The place is expensive, it seems to be frequented by people in the second half of their dining career and the chef didn’t show himself at the end of the meal. While this is necessarily mandatory, whom else do you discuss the food with ? The maestro who has the overall ownershop or the waiter which has no influence on the menu ? Certainly worth a visit, but I’d stick to the regular menu and leave the duck to the side.