Photo: DPA

 

This wine bar and restaurant in the posh Mitte (central) district rejoiced this week upon receiving its second Michelin star, calling itself “one of the capital city’s most successful restaurants”.

 

Michelin praises Rutz for its “perfect marriages of exquisite ingredients” by its chef, Marco Müller,  as well as an “excellent” wine list – which has 800 varieties.

 

What kinds of things can you expect on the menu? A sample one online includes Baltic Sea salmon with beets and honey, pigeon with elder capers, as well as onion plants with egg yolk and ox marrow.

 

2. Facil

 

 

Located on the fifth floor of the Mandala Hotel off of Potsdamer Platz, this modern, tranquil location described by Michelin as “an oasis of calm amid the hustle and bustle” is categorized as having “creative cuisine”. Chef Michael Kempf arranges dishes in an art-like form where food starts to look more like the nature from where it came than the cooked form.

 

Michelin notes that it is “worth a detour”.

 

3. Fischers Fritz

 

 

A more traditional-styled venue than the previous two, complete with chandeliers and rich wood panelling, Fischers Fritz looks more classically English than it does German. Michelin praises chef Christian Lohse’s seafood fare, the high quality of the produce and the “painstaking preparation” that has helped this establishment on the ritzy Französische Straße secure two stars for the past seven years.

 

4. Horváth

 

 

Michelin recommends this Austrian restaurant along the Landwehr canal in Kreuzberg for those who “fancy some really imaginative cuisine full of interesting combinations, full-bodied flavours and intensity”.

 

With set dinner menus ranging in price from €89 to €129, it has slightly more affordable options than its fellow two-star recipients, and prides itself on being “unpretentious” within the “lively and urban” neighbourhood of Kreuzberg.

 

 

A photo posted by Les Grandes Tables Du Monde (@lesgrandestablesdumonde) on Feb 3, 2016 at 7:10am PST

 

Located in the famous Adlon Hotel – a top choice for celebrities and royalty alike – this restaurant overlooking the Brandenburg Gate is called “eminently elegant and luxurious” by the Michelin Guide.

 

The restaurant says it aims to take guests “on a journey – through the world of flavours”. Chef Hendrik Otto says his culinary creations all have a “personal element”, deriving inspiration from recipes passed among family and friends.

 

6. Reinstoff

 

 

Yet another Mitte establishment, Reinstoff offers an experience that is “sometimes unorthodox”, Michelin says, with recommendations that may involve drinking a beer with a starter, or vermouth with a dessert.

 

The restaurant asserts that it is different – “here, everyone may be as he is” – and says it strives for a “warm, natural and relaxed” environment. But that doesn’t mean it’s prices are whatever you want them to be: fixed dinners range from €110 for five course to €198 for nine.

 

7. Tim Raue

 

Photo: DPA.

 

This stylish eatery around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie was founded by a chef who is Berlin through and through. Raised in the Kreuzberg neighbourhood in which his restaurant now lies, Tim Raue grew up in this area of town when it was much poorer and riddled with crime. Raue himself was a member of the street gang 36 Boys, of which rapper-turned-jihadist Deso Dogg was also a member.

 

The cuisine at Raue’s self-titled restaurant is inspired by southeast Asian food, and is “sweet and savoury, mild and sharp, soft and crispy… a riot of contrasting textures and flavours,” writes Michelin.