An unexpected birthday celebration for a friend revealed the most exquisite cuisine in Berlin, and one that could be happily embraced by those with restrictive diets.
The first time I was lucky enough to dine at Time Raue in Berlin it was a surprise in so many ways. For a start, I had no idea it was on the cards. I was completely delighted that it was also the celebration of the birthday of a good friend, an artist whose show had opened on that night in a gallery in the same building in central Berlin, near to the famous Checkpoint Charlie.
What I remember of the tasting menu was course-upon-course of exquisite Asian-influenced food that just happened to be, like the other artist in the duo whose show opened that night pointed out, suitable for those who are lactose-intolerant. Like her, apparently, Tim is too and designs his menus to all be lactose-free.
And in his Michelin-starred hands, that is hardly a handicap.
Of course I cannot remember everything that was on the menu that night all those years ago in a restaurant that has had many years of working on its ever changing menu since then—least of all after the liberal lashings of bubbly at the opening before we even sat down to dinner.
But, in that hardwired part of my memory I remember two exquisite dishes in particular. One was a very delicate fish marinated in lapsang souchong tea, the other was a dessert—and I’m not a big pudding person—that involved something a little akin to a macaron with what might have been some kind of rice milk mousse inside, dripping with the flavour of fresh peach.
If you want to experience a Berlin that is not the stuff of cheap nightclubbing-focussed city breaks and to get to grips with what the city really has to offer on the culinary spectrum, there is no better place to put in the must-do column of your schedule.
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