Four of us had dinner here midweek. The first time we called the evening before, we were told it was closed for a Christmas party. The second evening we got lucky and got in.
Taxi was challenged to find the place because it faces a pedestrian walk. The picture on Yelp helped. The entrance door is plane and not obvious.
I liked the ambiance. The room has a high ceiling, flattering lighting, and a low murmur noise level. No music.
I got the rugula salad, pasta with black truffles, and the grilled salmon. Friends got the Caprese salad, pasta with ricotta and salami, and the Chicken. and the octopus, salad.
They brought bread to the table. It was delicious and obviously homemade: crusty on the outside with a chewy center. We ate two baskets. With the bread, they bring an empty dish, parmesem cheese, EVOO, and balsamic to the table to make your own dipping sauce. We did which is probably why we ate two baskets of bread!
The arugula salad was delicious. It had red ripe tomatoe quarters. The arugula (aka rocket) is stronger in Europe than we get in the US so the flavor goes a long way.
The caprese salad had fresh mozzarella nice hard cherry tomatoes but was a little bland. My friend added salt, pepper, and some balsamic vinegar.
The polo (octopus) salad was also good. The octopus was tender and it contained pickled carrots that added a nice contrast.
The pasta courses far exceeded our expectations. The pasta with salami in a cream sauce was ordered by two people and they raved about it. The salami was made from pigs fed fennel. Outstanding! I had the pasta with black truffles and could have licked the plate or just ordered another bowl! Wow. The shavings of black truffle on top were generous.
The salmon was excellent and portion large. Very fresh. The chicken was juicy and spicy. We asked to talk to the chef who spoke Italian in addition to German. Despite no language barrier he did not share his secret recipe of spices on the chicken. He did tell us the chicken was organic. There was a choice of three desserts but they were out of one. We tried the other two. Mine was a "parfait" but more like a slice of something with a consistency between mousse, pudding, and ice cream and had crunchy things in it. I really don't know what it was but I highly recommend it!
The bill was 240 euro. We didn't realize they did not take credit cards and we scrambled to pay the bill. Someone had to take a walk to a nearby (5 blocks) ATM.
We paid with three 100 euro bills and there was a misunderstanding about getting change. We called her back and cleared it up quickly. The meal ended with tiny complementary chocolates individually wrapped. I asked for more and she eagerly gave me a handful! read more