Review: Restaurant Tim Raue Berlin

When planning our visit to Berlin, my friend suggested we go to Restaurant Tim Raue for a meal. With cuisine described as, “a blend of Japanese product perfection, Thai aromas, and Chinese culinary philosophy” it sounded like something we would both like.

Much to my delight, he decided it was to be his treat so I was in. We made a booking for lunch on our second day in Berlin and I was quite looking forward to it. There is a Netflix series called Chef’s Table and one episode is about Tim Raue so that is worth seeing beforehand.

Lunch Menu

Menus and pricing are all on the Restaurant Tim Raue web site, so check it out before you go. Since I am fond of Asian cuisine in any form, it all looked good to me.

The main question in my mind was how many courses to have, but I decided to wait until the day. There’s planning and there’s too much planning and everything sounded nice to me.

Arriving At Restaurant Tim Raue

Berlin chose to be snowy on the day of our visit, so walking the streets from the U-Bahn to the restaurant was a memorable experience. Lucky I had my coat, gloves and scarf so it wasn’t overly cold. On arrival, our coats were taken and we were shown to our table.

Friendly staff immediately offer Champagne and who says no to that? Not me! Next come the menus, then hot towels are delivered so you can refresh your hands before your meal.

While deciding on your choices, there is a selection of amuse-bouche to nibble on. The Bok Choy was calling to me, so I selected a piece and the taste made my eyes pop wide open in surprise. What a startlingly wonderful taste of warm spices and texture!

All the others were equally lovely, especially the thinly sliced pork belly. Forgive me for not taking detailed notes on what the others were – I was too busy enjoying the experience to note things down. Even taking pictures was a stretch!

Three Courses It Is!

Time to order and I decided to have the dim sum “chicken stock, scallop and bamboo mushroom”. Next I would have the suckling pig, dashi and Japanese mustard.

From the very beginning of my dim sum, it was clear I was going to savour the meal and not hoof it down. What an interesting variety of tastes! It not only looked good, but it tasted exquisite.

My friend started with the wasabi langoustine and the sliver I got to taste was exceptional. Next up came my suckling pig and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Nothing beats the crispy skin on the outside which was jaw dropping in its deliciousness. Coupled with the Japanese mustard and the rest, it was truly a taste sensation. Again I had to hold back from inhaling it, it was just so good!

A Small Interlude

I noticed the lady at the table next to us taste a red wine and her eyes went wide with unrestrained pleasure when it hit her mouth, so I decided I’d have some of that. Our waiter came over at a glance from me and shortly my glass of red wine arrived.

On tasting it, it was definitely the right move. Meanwhile, my friend had purloined the tea menu and ordered a pot of Earl Grey. The only minuscule downside of the entire day was the fact they brought just one tea cup rather than the requested two. A visit to the cosy bathroom followed and then…

Peking Duck Interpretation

A signature dish of Restaurant Tim Raue is the Peking Duck Interpretation. This comes in three separate bowls which comprise the duck, a consommé with duck tongue and other parts in it and a terrine.

When it comes to duck, I am not the biggest fan as the taste is quite strong however I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are so many flavours dancing over your tongue that it is truly difficult to fault anything about it. I devoured every morsel!

Sure, Let’s Have Dessert!

Having a bit of a sweet tooth, there was no way I was leaving without dessert. My friend was full, but I had room for dessert and ordered the yuzu cheesecake and caramel beurre sale. I’m very glad I did!

It comes with a hard shell shaped like a fish and I was hard pressed to eat it slowly. Stunning in every way! Once done, chocolates arrive and we split those before paying the bill, retrieving our coats and leaving after two or so hours of bliss.

Overall Thoughts

Besides great food and excellent service, the atmosphere of Restaurant Tim Raue is very appealing. Soft seating and interesting furnishings, arresting artwork on the walls, little plants on the tables – the attention to detail in the surroundings is notable.

Would I come here again? Absolutely! There are so many more items on the menu to try and I really enjoyed everything about it. If you’re in Berlin, you can’t go wrong by having a meal here.

Have you eaten here or do you have another favourite in Berlin? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image via Restaurant Tim Raue.