We woke to a rain – our second rainy day in Berlin and forecast to be heavy and to last all day. A good day to be in a gallery. Clare had really enjoyed the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart (Modern Art Gallery) when she was last in Berlin so we decided to go there. We caught the train into the Berlin Hauptbahnhof – the main Berlin station, a massive affair.
It was raining heavily when we emerged. This is the Berlin Cube, designed by Danish architecture firm 3XN to be a landmark in what is planned to be a new Europa City district; bringing iconic look and a sense of place to this new urban context, near to one of the most recognisable skylines in Europe, including the Reichstag dome, Potsdamerplatz or the Fernsehturm on the horizon. It’s new with commercial tenants moving in this year. It’s all high tech of course – digital, sustainable – all the buzz words. This is exactly the sort of thing they build, and the language they use about architecture in Berlin – and about which Kirsty Bell in The Undercurrents is so scathing. I understand what Kirsty means but I liked this one and it did seem fit in with the station design.
Here it is from another angle – I couldn’t decide which picture was best. Apparently depending on the light it changes colour during the day. Here it certainly reflected the grey, grey day we were experiencing.
And here are some of its iconic surroundings. You can see the dome of the Reichstag if you look closely, over beyond the tour wet and bedraggled tour group huddling under the overhanging sidewalk.
And here is the view down the river. You can see the tourist cruise boats. Hardly the day for it. I was getting quite wet taking these pics.
So off we went to the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart. As you can tell from the name this used to be the railway station from which trains to Hamburg left. It’s an impressive building.
I liked this room inside,, on an upper level outside what is now a restaurant.
Beautiful windows and the grey day outside made them easy to photograph.
We were unlucky in the work on display I felt. A lot of the museum was closed for renovation, including the main gallery which would have been the main station area – a very impressive area. It was full of forklifts and other building equipment. The rooms we were able to enter were full of very modern work, most accompanied by lengthy descriptions of what it represented. I’ve been told about films that the work should stand alone – if you have to explain it you’ve failed. I’m not sure whether the same applies to paintings or installations but I’m sympathetic to the notion it does. I didn’t photograph anything. Joe took this photo of me in an installation he liked.
So back out we went into the rain, back to the station and back to Wedding. A quick rest and back into the city for our second fine dining experience. This time at the restaurant Tim Raue. It’s near Checkpoint Charlie as indicated on the station signs.
This was effectively Joe’s birthday dinner – if a day late, on the 18th of October. He was ready for it, in this modern, tastefully appointed room – lots of space between tables and at table.
We had a choice between a fixed menu of the restaurant’s classic dishes – which Joe chose.
I chose the other option, which is their new – and possibly more innovative dishes.
In choosing a menu you could opt to add or exchange what was there for two other dishes. My Peking Dark was instead of a quail dish.
As was Clare, who, like Joe chose the classic menu, exchanging the chicken for Peking Duck.
This was a starter not on either menu. So beautifully presented and with a card telling us what it was – very useful for this blog! Starting on the far left, Caramelised Chinese walnut, Sichuan pork belly, Pulpo (!?) with charcoal aioli & yuzu, Endamine & pea with lime oil, Fish broth with celery * mandarin juice, Green curry marshmallow coconut & peruvian mint, Grapefruit & timut pepper meringue, Mustard dressing & creme fraiche. I’m not sure how these titles of dishes align with the pictures – going okay until we got to the broth. Oh well, suffice to say it was all delicious!
Here’s my entree, White Kim Chi, elderflower | grapefruit. The full description is on the menu above. It was amazing – an adjective I could use for all of my dishes.
And Joe’s, Imperial Caviar, cucumber | sprat. He was keen for me to include the plastic cutlery.
And here is Joe’s first main course. Ikarimi Salmon, tomato | star anise.
And mine. Sangohachi Pikeperch, sauerkraut | peruvian mint. I’m not keen on normal sauerkraut but this was something else altogether!
And Joe’s Langoustine, lime | nuoc mam. This is one of the dishes the restaurant is known for.
And my Mazara Prawn, pondicherry rosé | chioggia.
Here’s my Eel, wildflower | kaffir lime. Amazing!
Here’s Joe continuing to enjoy the ambience! He was complimented on his German language skill here which he, cynically attributes to the amount of money he was spending here, but which I think was very genuine.
This is Joe’s Saté Chicken, mango | peanut. Great presentation.
He wanted me to take a close up of the accompaniments, which I dutifully did.
I then had what was called Suckling Pig, yellow pea | dashi but as it says in the full menu this was Berlin’s famous knuckle of pork. So glad I had it here and not any other restaurant! Fantastic.
This amazing looking dish is Joe’s Dim Sum Rice Dough, black truffle | tompinambur. Amazing.
I had my Peking Duck. Served on three dishes!
While Joe had Veal, soy | pea. Look at the colour of that sauce!
Next we had a palate cleanser – looked wonderful, was wonderful. Such lovely colour.
Before our desserts. This was Joe’s Pecan, pear | andoa chocolate
And this was mine. Nam Dok Mango, lime | rice. So pretty.
And this is a mystery photo – I can’t recall what this dish is. I think it must have been one of Clare’s. I will ask her when she returns.
And so our meal concludes. Of our three fine dining experiences in Berlin, this was my favourite. The room was lovely, staff attentive but not too much and not at all stuffy, food was fantastic and so was the wine. A great night. And so we ventured out into the night. Checkpoint Charlie is busy all night long – well at least until midnight. Quite the tourist destination. The restaurant is down a side street and very discreetly lit. Wonderful.
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