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Restaurant & Oyster Bar Diekmann Creative cuisine and oysters not far from Ku'damm

Wednesday, August 24 2022
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Tuesday to Saturday: from noon

Holidays: from 6:00pm

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Restaurant & Austernbar Diekmann
Meinekestraße 7
10719 Berlin-Charlottenburg
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+49 30 883 33 21
.diekmann-restaurant.de

Reinventing oneself while remaining true to one's identity is a fine line that does not always work. Restaurants, in particular, quickly fail to make regulars happy and, at the same time, keep up with the times. Restaurant Diekmann, not far from Ku'Damm, on the other hand, manages this balancing act with flying colours.

Since 1982, German and French cuisine have taken centre stage at Diekmann. The focus has always been on the high quality and freshness of the ingredients from the region. It all began with soup and sandwiches prepared by Josef Diekmann in the old colonial goods shop from the 19th century. The Diekmann quickly became a good and popular restaurant in Charlottenburg.

Today, with the finest oysters from Cancale and monthly changing tasting menus, Diekmann is a little more dignified and a little more contemporary. The team around charming restaurant manager Antonia Meiffert is young. Chef Max Günther is just as young, even if his convincingly executed culinary craft does not make it easy to believe. As is customary today, close contact with producers such as farmers in the region or the oyster fishermen in Brittany is maintained.

It is, therefore, obvious that we start the evening at Diekmann with a dozen oysters. We are served Tsakskaya, Fine de Claire and Irish rock oysters. If you are a friend of the special oyster and have never tried different varieties at once, you should definitely do so: not only do they look different, but you can also tell the difference in taste! 

Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg
Austernbar Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg (2)
Austernbar Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg (11)
Austernbar Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg (3)
Austernbar Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg (4)
Austernbar Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg (10)
Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg (1)
Austernbar Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg
Austernbar Restaurant Diekmann Charlottenburg (9)

At Diekmann's oyster bar, they are served classically with lemon wedges. Under the metal stand holding the oyster plate, there is just enough room for the delicate brioche, sourdough bread, and delicious (!) salted honey butter. The small but beautifully decorated tables are reminiscent of Paris. We enjoy a glass of champagne, tinglingly attuned to what is to come this evening: and it reads exciting and delicious.

So we are excited and start with a culinary surprise: the amuse-gueule is usually neglected and accepted as such. Nevertheless, we are so thrilled by the one at Diekmann that it should definitely be mentioned here: the mussel spuma with crevette tartare and tagetes turns out to be finely seasoned and very aromatic. A wonderful start!

The starters follow, and we are surprised anew by the accessible yet creative plates that find their way to our table: Cauliflower, for example, in various delicious ways. It tastes as fine as pana cotta, as it does as a cream. A croissant of red peppers filled with North Sea prawns, a crustacean stock and passepierre (also known as sea asparagus) bring in subtle sea flavours.

However, we are particularly impressed by the other starter: potato, creme fraiche, and caviar. Because we definitely wouldn't have expected a potato ice cream here. Yes, you read correctly. And before you ask yourself, equally irritated, whether it tastes good, let us tell you: yes, very much so. Ponzu and trout caviar complement the unusual potato round-up of potato cream, marinated and pickled potato spaghetti.

And us? We are impressed by Diekmann's ingenuity in actually serving a potato ice cream. Max Günther's plates creatively follow the potential of his product-focused cuisine without losing sight of what is essential: taste. Lots of flavour in the main course, too: the sweetbreads are tender and damn tasty, the Beuschel, a ragout of lungs, and other offal also have an incredible depth.

Perhaps it overshoots the mark a tad in the combination of many components: while all the details are delicious in their own right, in our perception, they don't quite come together on the plate. Nevertheless, the course is very well executed and creative and shows great courage. The smoked pigeon with a jus of orange and ginger on a melon salad with bean cream also demonstrates a lot of taste and a nice variation of the French classic.

Again, we are very taken with the chicken skin dessert. What makes you wonder at the beginning actually turns out to be a crunch to the otherwise profoundly chocolatey dessert. Otherwise, it remains puristic and there it is again: the focus on the product, without over-complexity or flavour combinations that take some getting used to - simply pure, sumptuous chocolate enjoyment in diverse and flawless craftsmanship.

Yes, reinventing oneself is an art that not everyone has mastered - but there is no question that Restaurant Diekmann can still be recommended, now as then. And in our opinion, that is the main thing when a restaurant reinvents itself.

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Restaurant & Oyster Bar Diekmann – Creative cuisine and oysters not far from Ku’damm
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