GourmetGuerilla on the way: The GOLDNEUN in Berlin. Somehow different.

Was It Good? But yes. But no. But yes. But again from the beginning: There are restaurants that I think are great. There are restaurants that I find terrible. And there is the GOLDNEUN in Berlin - directly under the TV tower. As part of fashion week I had the pleasure to be invited to the restaurant after the shows. I think to this day how I actually found it. Please do not misunderstand me: the whole thing is of course whining on a high level. But I can not remember a restaurant that so confused me.

IRRITATION NO. 1:
The location is actually Berlin. The shuttle driver has difficulty finding the whole thing and puts us down near the house number. Thankfully, a chalk-painted folding display shows us the right way. You enter a very functional, somewhat run-down concrete building on a main thoroughfare.

The entrance reminds of a vacated furniture store. We climb up a flight of stairs and stand in a huge, dark room. Huge. Really. In the distance I vaguely recognize table tennis tables. Table tennis? A light installation wanders over a wall. It smells a little unventilated, that could be stale cigarette smoke. But maybe that's just because of the fabric that covers the floor in this huge room. Did I just imagine that? No, I think it's a velor carpet of indifferent color. But actually, it's actually too dark to spot anything.

Then a man comes and greets us warmly. The jackets are taken from us and hung on a clothes rack in an even darker niche. I feel awfully stuffy because I'm thinking for a moment about whether somebody will emerge from the darkness of this huge room and steal my jacket. But hey - I'm a big girl from a (other) big city and now just believe that everything is going to be okay.

We enter the actual dining room through a door. The atmosphere changes abruptly. The long side of the room consists only of windows and gives the view of a good piece of Berlin and the radio tower free. A huge (intentionally) shattered mirror hangs on the short sides of the room. A lady in oil and frame at the other. Ball lamps donate very discreet light. You sit at white-backed tables on red 1970s plastic chairs.

We sit down. The restaurant is well visited. The people around us are relaxed, in a good mood, talking and laughing every now and then. Yes, it is very nice here and I like it. Relaxed, I lean back and enjoy the view and the bustle around us. The regional/seasonal menu comes along and we choose our menu.

IRRITATION NO. 2
Fresh Kid Salad | Essential herbs | Dried pumpernickel | Apple Boskop, fresh
The salad is good, the dressing is super delicious and very fresh due to the herbs. The apple works just fine. Everything is very pleasing, until I bite heartily on the dried pumpernickel. Good gracious! For a moment I think about whether a piece of tooth has broken off.Through the drying process, the pumpernickel has become small, jerky crumbs, which have no special taste. But a ... uhhhh ... strong presence in the salad. Since the pumpernickel is distributed throughout the salad and I do not want to run the risk of having to visit a dentist tonight, I take the appetizer very consciously to myself. Tasty - but weird.

IRRITATION # 3
Ruppiner Weidelamm | Back, liver | Fennel in variants | Butter Carrot
The plate is beautifully arranged. The saddle of lamb surprises, though, because it comes more than bleu. In the case of cattle, I usually have no problem, but almost raw lamb makes me hesitate for a moment. I dare to the liver, but find it too strict. The fennel puree with bite-resistant fennel pieces is quite expressive. The butter carrot is a butter carrot. Actually, a nice-looking plate that rips again with a curiosity from the usual (and expected) taste sensation. But I'm starting to get used to it.

IRRITATION NO. 4
Cherry, pots and pumpernickel | souffled, smoked and frozen
A small baked cheesecake, cherry sorbet and concentrated, incredibly fruity cherry sauce make a really delicious trio. And then we have the salad again: the cherry sphere (outside jelly, liquid inside) is smoked. Of course, no one can guess the extent. I feel as if, after all the familiar sweets, I suddenly started licking a barbecue. That really bothers me now. I'm tired of these taste challenges. I'm almost relieved when the espresso is just a salty espresso after dinner.

But I'm very happy to have a look in the kitchen. Here we meet the highly concentrated, very nice team, who works tirelessly and prepares plates. Promptly I get a guilty conscience that I did not appreciate one or the other component. Somehow one senses that here is a concept at the start, that maybe just wants to break a bit of the conventions. This is ensured by experiments with drying equipment, smokehouse and essences of all kinds and impossible things. It should not be too harmonious. Simply Berlin.

AND AFTER THIS
Glorious! When you're done with the meal, you get up from the table and just walk through another door into the loungy bar area. Again, it is clear that the boys and girls like to experiment in the kitchen. Some of the drinks are made with home-made, unusual essences. And here I really have no objections anymore - that's absolutely delicious! The DJ plays great music, through the huge windows the Funkturm TV Tower (Na!) And the night city beckons. Here you can spend an evening and the whole night. And suddenly the table tennis tables make perfect sense.Vöslauer is the official mineral water and sponsor of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

IRRITING GOOD.

UPDATE: THE RESTAURANT WAS CLOSED LONELY IN JULY 2013.
GOLDNEUN
Bar & Restaurant
Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 9 - 10178 Berlin