Lu Liba Restaurant Levantine cuisine at Guldsmeden

Lu Liba is one of our latest discoveries. It has just opened in the Hotel Guldsmeden at the top end of Potsdamer Straße. The young chef Leonhard Hochhuth serves an excellent Mediterranean-Lebanese fusion cuisine that is a pleasure to eat and is made from more than 90% organic and sustainably produced ingredients.

We are initially impressed by the interior of Lu Liba. The Danish owners brought almost all of the furnishings - as well as those of the hotel - from Bali. The uneven, shimmering green tiles, the customised tables, the teardrop-shaped ceiling lights and, of course, the carpets on the floor. - Potsdamer Strasse is immediately a distant memory.

To welcome us, we order a sour, which is served vegan at Lu Liba, i.e. with Aqua Faba instead of egg white. This makes the foam even better in our eyes. Incidentally, all spirits, wines and other drinks are also certified organic.

The theme of sustainability runs through the entire concept of Hotel Lulu Guldsmeden and therefore also Lu Liba. While most of the raw materials are supplied by an organic supplier, the meat always comes directly from the surrounding area from the Gut Kerkow organic farm. The baked goods are freshly baked daily by the Berlin bakery Zeit für Brot.

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Hamburg-born Leonhard Hochhut, who completed his training at Café Paris in Hamburg and has already worked at 3 Minute sur Mer and Neni in Berlin, conjures delicious dishes from the high-quality ingredients. The family-style sharing concept suits his cuisine perfectly. The menu is straightforward and delicious.

There are snacks such as grilled olives, marinated feta or hummus with home-baked bazlama flatbread to accompany drinks and cocktails from the bar. The "Green Fatoush" with cucumber, courgette, pistachio, yoghurt and herbs as one of the two starters is one of our highlights.

It is incredibly fresh and very flavourful. And anyone who has tried it knows that adding serious flavour to a cucumber is a real challenge! But the "cilbir" - two poached eggs on tzatziki with Aleppo pepper and dill - also turns out to be absolutely gorgeous (again with the aforementioned home-baked flatbread).

The main dishes also end up in the middle of the table to share, and everyone gets to taste the grilled prawns with harissa aioli, the classic chicken tagine with olives, lemon and potatoes and the delicious "LIBAganoush" made from aubergine, tomatoes, almonds and fresh herbs again and again. The sharing concept really makes sense here!

Lu Liba is a lovely place to sit with friends and have a good time. We will definitely be going back!

Constanze Hallensleben

Founder Creme Guides