Travelling and spending time in Berlin feels like such a long time ago. One of our gastro highlights was a splurge at one of Berlin’s several one Michelin starred restaurants. A former Jewish primary school for girls turned fine dining without an air of stuffiness. Service is casual – like every trendy hipster in the city, the vibe is laid back, friendly and fun… and refreshing from the usual formal stuffy service of Michelin starred restaurants that I’ve been to in Europe and even in Hong Kong.
We went for lunch and weren’t particularly dressed for the occasion since we were biking and walking around all day, there was no one to greet us at the front, we have to peek around and entered the dining room before the maitre d’ miraculously appeared (he was chatting with friends at the lounge area where we entered), so we didn’t feel so out of place being under dressed!
We also had a pretty good view of a lady server that was completely massacring a freshly baked loaf of bread with her bare hands and a bread knife – crumbs sparking away. I took myself too seriously thinking that Michelin service standards applied across the board… then again greasy Yat Lok roast goose hole in the wall in Hong Kong has 1 star and people are shouting orders over your head at every moment while you share tables with strangers and be careful not to slip on the greasy tiled floors on your way out as there is not always tattered cardboards lining the floor. So, I guess there isn’t a benchmark!
The interiors were simple and gorgeous, tastefully decked out with fox taxidermy, long windows, murano glass chandeliers and green banquet seating, but I’m afraid we couldn’t say the same for the food. It was a simple three course menu of crispy quinoa, green asparagus (why not white as it was gloriously in season?) and corriander mousseline, followed by a dry and uneventful piece of sucking pig cutlet served with sweetbread served with cauliflower and sherry vinegar and gravy and sugared carrots with passionfruit, butter sorbet and yoghurt mousse. Set lunch menu 50€ – I think pretty pricy for Berlin standards, Les Puits St Jacques, a 2 Michelin starred restaurant 30km from Toulousse where I ate an amazing dinner does three course set lunches for 28€.
There have a gorgeous outdoor dining area, but we settled on inside because there was mad construction going on and we opted out with the side of dust and deafening noise that came with it.
An interesting and new experience for me and dooplex. We’re glad we managed to get lunch reservations there – it was full for the rest of the week, and it’s a gorgeous neighbourhood to walk/bike around.
Pauly Saal
Auguststraße 11–13
10117 Berlin Mitte
+49 30 33006070
Opening Hours:
Mon–Sat 12:00–15:00
daily from 18:00
