Hi Natascha,
We did quite well following your recommendations. Starting with Hamburg, Nil was excellent. There were four of us, each one of us had something different, and each of us was delighted. We also had a pretty good Spanish, or perhaps Basque, meal at Dr. José, highly recommended by a young lady at the front desk of the hotel. Another recommendation from the hotel staff was Casa Romana, really excellent Italian food in Hamburg!
In Berlin the two stars were Wok Show and Txokoa. The Chinese dumplings at Wok Show were some of the best I’ve ever had. We tried both the fried and the boiled. Both great. Last year we tried something I’d read about in Paris. Not in the same class. If I lived in Berlin, I’d be there once a week.
Txokoa was another hit out of the park. Most of the dishes were superb, and the ones that didn’t rise to that level were excellent. Funnily enough, I was a bit disappointed in the 24-hour pork belly. It was excellent, and the others at the table loved it, but I missed the soy sauce that would have been in the Chinese version.
We ate at District Mot again, but whereas I liked it, I didn’t like it as much as the last time we were there. And we had a burger at The Bird. I was probably expecting too much. I did like it, as did my wife and cousin, but my burgers are better. Immodest, yes, but …
We ate at the upscale and rather expensive Italian place called A Mano. It was good, but expensive. The cheapest wines were EUR 32.50, and from there into the stratosphere. It was good, but I do not feel the need to return.
Renger Patzsch, which you and @dlobo recommended, was a mixed joy. All five of us ordered different things, and all five of us enjoyed our meal immensely. Unfortunately, my wife and I experienced some post-prandial distress, most likely as a result of a shared dessert (tarte tatin). Happens. None of our friends had any problems.
On our last evening we wanted to go to Salt n Bone. I made a reservation via the internet, tried to call to confirm, didn’t get through, so we went anyway. It turned out that they were closed that day because of electrical problems in the kitchen. The next day I received an email from them. So we walked around the area and ended up in a Viennese place, Bistro Stadt Salettl, a very pleasant small place, where I had a true Wiener Schnitzel, good wine, and my wife and cousin also had desserts. This is a place that I could imagine returning to.
Another place that we just chanced upon was Al Dente on Greifswalderstr. We were just looking for someplace for a quick lunch. It was excellent.
The only disappointment was Friedel Richter. In the first place, they didnt’ have the chicken skin appetizer the day we were there. In addition, my schnitzel was not enjoyable. But my wife’s mustard eggs with mashed potatoes, which I had to finish, were quite good.
So, thanks again for your input, and Bon Appetit!
