Restaurant Remake

Patrick Berlin, Restaurants, Unique

Remake is quite the little find, offering interesting experimental cuisine combining flavours and techniques you’d pay much more in other restaurant in even other parts of Berlin. It’s a shame that whenever I’ve walked past it’s been fairly empty and on the evening we went, it was only us and another table. The food deserves much better than that.

We chose to go with a five course tasting mean, something I’m guessing from the freshly printed paper, changes regularly. This excites me because it means you get to try lots of different things.

Unlike many other places in Berlin, we were actually served a bread basket and this time with a choice of either whipped garlic butter (yum!) or a delicious olive oil both strangely accompanied with a piece of beetroot on a stick. Maybe my pallette wasn’t refined enough but I couldn’t tell if there was something else with it.

Our first dish was based around prawns, and my memory failing me a little bit now was accompanied with some sweet potato, dollops of sour cream constrained by gelatine skin that would burst upon contact with a from and strands of pickled ginger. Firstly, great points for serving three of these giant prawns. They could have easily served a single one and the dish would have been fine and the sweetness of the potato was well contrasted with the slight tang of the pickle and the additional richness and sourness from the sour cream. A great start to the meal.

The second round was a simple dish packed with huge flavour, a yellow capsicum gazpacho with scoop of sour cream ice cream. The dish was wonderfully chilly, not too cold to numb the taste buds and the choice of sweet yellow peppers really shone through the coldness. Instead of a scoop of just cream, they opted for an ice cream, in keeping with the cold theme that I think worked really well as well.

One of the reasons we opted for the five course menu was because the four course wasn’t going to have the pork cheeks and for the most part, they are always, always good things to have. In this adaptation and keeping with the theme of three things, the pork cheeks arrived atop small circular discs of watermelon and based with pureed mint pea. At first, I thought was a strange combination but actually on trying it worked really well. Firstly the watermelon wasn’t as overpoweringly sweet as I’d feared, instead acting as a strange but complementing alternative to the apple one is normally served with pork. The pork itself, not the softest I’ve ever had was still packed with flavour and the green pea puree provided a nice colour and texture contrast to the plate. Well executed and flavoursome I would come back for this dish alone.

Following up on the pork dish was the main star, a stuffed spring chicken served with chantarelles, foam and a clump of minced apricot. Despite being quite a generous portion, I disliked this dish probably the most mainly because the chicken skin was cloyingly fatty and not as crisped up as I’d hoped it been. The chantarelles provided amazing depth to the dish but at these same time seemed wasted with the super sweetness brought about by the apricots.

Fortunately dessert won out without being excessively sweet. We had some poached pears, accompanied by a white chocolate mousse and a scoop of ice cream, all the elements except for the strands of caramel adorning the ice cream nicely balanced and provided a fresher end to the meal instead of a cloyingly sticky alternative I’d feared.

I enjoyed the food in this restaurant and while I feel that I like the idea of a changing menu, they definitely still needed to refine a few elements to their existing dishes. Maybe this is why restaurant are best off to sticking to the normal stuff. We did, however, try quite a different set of flavours and combinations I would never expected and it worked really well.

Name: Remake
Found at: Große Hamburger Straße 32 10115 Berlin
Website: http://www.restaurantremake.de/

Spuntino

Patrick American, Restaurants, UK

Alright I’m a little behind the times about eating and blogging about Spuntino. It’s hard given that I’ve spent most of my year working in another country for a different client. Fortunately I managed to agree to catch up with my sister for an early dinner (just before 6pm) on a Sunday. It’s a good thing too with the queue for seats starting almost as soon as we sat down.

Saying that there’s not much space is a bit of an understatement. It’s pretty much just a U-shaped countertop serving probably about twenty people. With the young hipsters behind the bar mixing cocktails and various things to drink it’s quite all up for show.

The waiting area behind the “dining area”.

As soon as we sat down, they served us some popcorn with chilli oil. You can see them pop the corn with a proper cinema popcorn maker although it really felt a bit too greasy for me. Didn’t really taste the spice either.

The idea behind this New York inspired dining eating is small plates for sharing. It works in a whole lot of ways. You can eat progressively, as much as you like or as little as you like without feeling like you’re constrained to a normal two or three course meal, though you can do that as well. My recommendation to you is to do make progressive orders as the space on the countertop doesn’t really let you stack that many plates. Now on to the food that we ordered.

Although the both of us aren’t particularly fond of olives, I’d read good reviews of their stuffed olives (£4). Imagine a mini version of scotch egg except that instead of an egg, they use an olive and the stuffing is an anchovy mix. I can’t really say that worked for us and I found myself eating them all myself. Terribly salty (olives + anchovies) and honestly a little bit greasy. But hey, that could work for you if you’ve been waiting in line and drinking for a little bit already.

A huge winner and something I don’t think that you can indulge in everyday was the truffled egg toast (£5.50). What arrived was a huge piece of bread, with melted cheese and aromatic melted cheese enriched (like it needed any more!) with a puddle of egg yolk on top just to add that extra bit of egginess. It was good to split this between two people as I can imagine as a dish for yourself might be a bit much.

We ordered a couple of the “sliders” that are basically an American name for almost bite sized burgers. I say almost because these were pretty big and you would hope so for the prices. We tried the ground beef and bone marrow (£4.50) and the lamb and picked cucumber (£5). Both tasty, moist and served on a nice tasty bun that wasn’t too dry.

The next few dishes almost arrived at the same time meaning we struggled for counter top space – swapping drinks for meals and lightly arranging dishes so they maximised the tiny counter top that we had. We split the next dish, the zucchini, chill and mint pizzeta (£6.50) in half. Thin base, perfectly balanced spicy, cool and fresh vegetables made this dish a big winner in my eyes. Probably one of the better valued dishes as well.

Like we didn’t have enough stodge in our meal, my sister wanted to try the famous mac and cheese (£8) that we probably should have split with our neighbours that there was so much and so rich. Whilst good, I think we were craving the small bigs of truffle shavings of truffle oil that has made this dish an even bigger winner for me in other restaurants.

Pretty much full after this huge amount of food, I opted out for dessert, instead just trying a bit of the peanut butter and jelly “sandwich” (£6.50) dessert that my sister ordered. It’s a cleverly constructed dish with the “bread” made out of slabs of peanut butter ice cream, filled with jam and sprinklings of crunchy, sweet peanut brittle providing the perfect amount of crunch to the dish. Had I not eaten so much, I probably would have enjoyed this dessert although my only criticism is that it was far too sweet for my taste and I barely even touched the jam with the small amount of ice cream I had.

I can see why this place gets great reviews. I think the bill was reasonable considering the amount of food we ordered. The price would obviously go up as soon as you hit the alcoholic drinks, and if you’re interested in some of the interesting bourbon based whiskey cocktails, there were definitely a few interesting ones to go for. Service was cordial, prompt and much deserved of their 12.5% service I think. Be warned that it’s worth going early if you don’t want to wait, but I guess half the fun could be indulging in the tiny crowded space imagining that you’ve been transported to some part of New York.

Name: Spuntino
Found at: 61 Rupert Street, Soho, London, W1D 7PW (it’s not very well signed and we walked right by it but maybe look out for the large group of people that may be queuing.
Website: http://spuntino.co.uk/

Japonais

Patrick Asian, Chicago, Japanese, Restaurants

I only had a short weekend to Chicago and had plenty to do so didn’t really have much time. Unfortunately there was no trip planned for Alinea, however Ajit suggested the very swank and busy Japonais. I’m always up for trying everything so Ajit booked it in with a lot of us.

Located by the river in Chicago, it obviously was a popular location. Plenty of tables and many of them full for the duration of our dinner obviously indicated it seemed to be one of the go-to places of the moment. It felt like it was trying to be a bit like Hakkasan, but seemed a bit frantic instead of the cool interior charm.

After almost no sleep in 24 hours, I found the intensity of all the questioning from the attendants honestly a little bit overwhelming but it was good that we could share a few of the starter dishes. I’m not really sure what this dish was involving fish and I can’t seem to match it to anything on the menu.

This one was the Ahi Tuna Ceviche – I love yuzu and this was one marinated with some white soy. The contrast between sharp citric and salty soy was great and didn’t overpower the tuna.

I think this is the Wagyu Robata – Smoked american wagyu-style with green and white asparagus, and wasabi ginger ponzu. The ponzu sauce worked really well. The shavings of green and white asparagus didn’t really do that much, even for texture.

Who doesn’t like steamed buns can just leave the room now. We ordered these Manju buns filled with braised pork, scallions and a sweet sour sauce. I made the mistake of trying the buns with the sauce and they were perfect without it. Unnecessarily weird fusion food going on here. I’d order these again and then just leave the sauce.

The Chilean seabass cartoccio arrived wrapped in plastic before the parcel was opened at the table. Many of the components failed to really work well except for the strong flavoured tomato compote that I was scraping against. Can’t really say that soy-butter really does it for me being surprisingly bland and dreary.

My main dish was the Tuna steak. It was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be (a good thing with all those appetisers) served with a roasted scallion potato puree and picked celery salad. It came with some tempura too FTW. Nicely cooked, delicious fish and plenty of flavours that actually worked well together.

Controlling my urge to order the Japanese Ribs, Gaz did that instead. What arrived was a pretty great sight that I was told tasted pretty good. I’m a bit skeptical to see how much of the red miso BBQ really came through, but they looked pretty darn good.

Overall a pretty great dining experience. I felt you paid a lot more for the atmosphere than necessarily for the food. Being a “western meets Japanese” concept I think they managed to hit the mark with some dishes whilst others definitely need more work on balancing texture and flavour combinations. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Name:
Website: http://www.japonaischicago.com/
Found at: 600 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Il

Pan Asia

Patrick Asian, Berlin, Restaurants

Our Product Owner took us to Pan Asia for lunch one time and it’s a place that’s definitely worth revisiting with great food and great atmosphere. It’s long red tables remind me of Wagamama, and besides perhaps slightly rushed service (a Berlin trait in general), that’s where the comparisons should really end.

Sticking true to its name, the food cuts across several different Asian continents including fresh sushi and tempura from Japan, Thai curries (you can actually ask for it really spicy but it’ll still catered for German tastes, Malaysian style satay sticks and Chinese style steamed dumplings.

You’ll pay a lot more for the food here than if you went to a more focused restaurant, partly because it’s located in trendy Mitte and also because it aims to attract your Berlin Hipster’s who won’t mind paying for the extra. It’s unlikely you’ll stumble across this restaurant as well, hidden away in one of the Hof’s and only really noticeable by the circular sign hanging out front, or by the trail of people you might see wandering in.

Their duck dish below.

The salmon. Delicious.

The food excellent, the drinks spot on, and a much talked about and decadent toilet area that confuses and bemuses at the same time. It’s just one of those places you’ll have to see for yourself.

Name: Pan Asia
Found at: Rosenthaler Straße 38, Berlin
Website: http://www.panasia.de/

Sunday Brunch at Ming Dynastie

Patrick Asian, Berlin, Restaurants

When travelling to other European countries, I’m always a bit skeptical of eating Chinese food. It’s customary for the cuisine to adapt to local tastes, and when it comes to Chinese food, it normally results in highly salty, fried but otherwise fairly bland food. On a very rainy weekend in Berlin, I decided to head over to http://www.ming-dynastie.de/ to try their Sunday brunch buffet.

Not really expecting as much (typically lower-end quality cuts and mainly fried dishes) I was quite surprised by the selection on offer. The food also turned out to be pretty good as well. There are, of course, the crowd pleasing sweet-sour pork dishes, etc, but they also had on offer a number of interesting things that seemed to take a bit more effort such freshly cooked Cloud ear mushrooms, hot and sour cucumbers, jellyfish salad, duck and fish in black bean sauce.

Even dessert impressed considering Chinese isn’t the most well known for its sweets including the pancake with peanut pastes, Chinese sponge cake and the yummy steamed buns filled with custard.

The reviews I read said that the quality was held pretty high in this branch (not sure about the other two) because it sits opposite the Chinese embassy. I’d definitely say so as well.

Name: Ming Dynastie
Found at: Brückenstrasse 6, Mitte, Berlin
Nearest S/U-Bahn: Jannowitzbrücke S-Bahn
Website: http://www.ming-dynastie.de/

Chipps No. 2

Patrick American, Berlin, Brunch

Apparently there are two of these places now set up in Berlin, started by the very same and well respected chef who started the fantastic Cookies Cream experience. The one I visited was the most accessible from Hackescher Markt where Oranienburgerstrasse meets Friedrichstrasse.

The concept for meals for lunch and dinner – a kind of playful cooking with numbers style where you pick a number of ingredients and they make a playful dish out of it. It reminds me a little bit about those crazy Mongolian BBQ buffet places where you pile everything into a bowl, hand it to a chef and they mix it up. Fortunately unlike those Mongolian BBQ places they don’t let you step too far out of the bounds of what makes sense you rather than ending up with bowls that all taste the same you actually end up with some pretty good dishes.

Strangely enough I didn’t go for the main, hungry for some decent breakfast stuff. The menu here is much easier where you can literally order by the number. Tempted as I was by the infrequently offered, eggs benedict that they playfully call “Bed Head” (€8.50) I decided for the french toast with scrambled eggs and bacon, the “Lumber Jack” (€8) . Just as rich, if not probably much worse for me, it was the perfect cure for the hangover hovering on the horizon.

Unfortunately I can’t really recommend the (milky) coffees with a cappuccino being more foam than coffee, although the espresso tasted pretty good on its own.

From what I can tell, they even do deliveries of their food in their tiny food delivery truck.

Name: Chipps No. 2
Address: Friedrichstraße 120, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
Website: http://www.chipps.eu/

Vego Food World

Patrick Berlin, Fast Food, Vegetarian

Berlin is in no short supply of vegetarian places. However vegetarian doesn’t always really mean healthy. Like Yellow Sunshine, Vego Foodworld supplies vegetarian alternatives to fast food – everything from pizzas, gyros, even schnitzel. Their biggest main selections however are the burgers, all vegetarian including the “bacon and cheese” burgers.

You can order food with just fries, or salad, or both, the latter making it feel like you’re actually being slightly healthlier.

You’ll pay much more for vegetarian burgers although with a drink, fries and salad expect to pay around €10.

You can find Vego Food World tucked in around a trendy street in hip Prenzlauer Berg. Popular for folks eating in and particularly take away

Name: Vego Food World
Found at: Lychener Straße 63, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin
Website: http://www.vego-foodworld.de/

Godshot

Patrick Berlin, Cafe, Coffee, Where's the good coffee?

Berlin is in no short supply of coffee stores. And fortunately for me, they aren’t all like your run-of-the-mill German coffee stores where there is often more milk than in their coffee of their “latte macchiatos”.

One of the coffee stores I’ve been meaning to visit was Godshot. Although it’s not that far away from our workplace, the fact that they don’t open up until 9am doesn’t make it easy to get to before work, and my body’s auto-awake til 3am response with coffee after 2pm doesn’t encourage me to try going after work. So, with that, I had to wait for a weekeend where I stayed in Berlin.

Fortunately it was worth the wait for a good coffee. It’s surprisingly big on the inside, not something you’d really expect from the small front interior – although you’ll probably be nudging people out for any of the seats outside. There’s enough character in this place for you and another one of your alternative ego’s.

I like the fact, for example, the sugar, mixes and tap water stand atop old Austrian Airway dinner trollies and the soft leather lounge chairs make you feel like you’re visiting someone else’s home than just a normal coffee store.

Just like all good coffee stores, this one sells your classic Flat White (offering three different coffee beans from €2.70-€2.90) although on my post-lunch visit, decided to go for a full bodied espresso, that comes accompanied by a nice little biscuit that I failed to eat.

Name: Godshot
Found at: Immanuelkirchestrasse 32, Berlin, Germany
Website: http://godshot.de/

Dunkelrestaurant

Patrick Berlin, German, Restaurants, Unique

I know of at least one restaurant near me that is like the Dunkelrestaurant (Dark Restaurant) that we ate at a couple of weeks ago. Just like one near me, the Unsicht Bar (Invisible Bar) focuses on serving a meal that really pushes your sensory experiences by forcing you to eat your meal in the dark.

It’s a bit like this:

You first sit down in the bar to choose what sort of meal you would like. They cater extremely well for vegetarians, fish lovers or just down right meat eaters. However not to spoil the fun, you get to choose dishes like a soup, “A greek with many names loves to bathe and be seduced by the Asian beauty whose taste is very fine indeed”, or an appetiser “Tender American girls cuddle up against Italian hunks against a green backdrop” so you really don’t know what you’re eating.

Of course, normally this is where I’d share all the photos of the food but obviously it would ruin the experience. Instead you’ll have to imagine what it’s like.

Firstly, our waiter introduced himself. He was, I think, half blind and got us to follow him to the edge of the dining room. Forming effectively a human congo line, though hands on shoulders rather than hips, he walked us through a winding passage way where the bright room gave way to a black void filled with interesting sounds. We could hear tables talking fairly loudly and only got a sense of what the room was like by where all the sounds of the people came from.

Not able to fully focus on the wall as our waiter moved quickly, we suddenly stopped at our table where he told us to stand still as he guided each of us to our chair and sat us down. He asked us to feel where everything was on the table, and using our hands, delicately pushed things around to rediscovery the feel of what would normally be on the table. A good thing our wine glasses were shorter and smaller than normal ones that we’d be more likely to knock over.

Instructed to alert him (how we have no idea) if we needed something, he dropped off some water and wine before whisking away to serve several other tables. At first, it was mighty awkward. Using fingers to guide the neck of the bottle to the glasses and another inserted to sense the overflow, I was amazed to see how we had to adapt.

Our first dish soon arrived and recommended by our waiter to use our hands, decided to poke around on the plate. Michael and I decided to have the beef menu, whilst another Patrick (Pat D) had the poultry. Michael and I had fun trying to guess what we had, and discovering different things on our plates at different times. It was actually a really great event that really got us focused on the different delights of the food we had to eat. Ours ending up being a slice of roast beef, with anti-pasti and salad. Full of flavour and really well cooked.

Our main was quite entertaining, because we knew we had a bit of beef coming and using a knife and fork to cut it proved difficult for the entire meal. Cutting it wasn’t too bad. What was hard was finding out that the fork you had came back empty, or with a chunk far too big to eat without even realising it. Deliciously made though.

Dessert was perfect as well, a white chocolate mousse of some sort with some berry compote or the like.

An awesome experience and definitely well worth going for. In a way, we were also pretty lucky we didn’t get the fourth course, a soup option that I can imagine simple spilling everywhere.

Name: Unsicht Bar Berlin
Website: http://unsicht-bar-berlin.de
Found at: Gormannstraße 14