Lokal — Restaurant in Berlin

Arriving at this understated and friendly restaurant, I knew it was going to be a good night: I kissed my girlfriend's cheek, thinking I was being subtle, only to be spied by our waiter and mockingly air-pecked as he jokingly tried angled for one himself. Nothing too serious here, then, and welcoming so.

We sat down to a board of delicious breads with perfectly warmed unsalted butter that spread like a dream. The menu arrived and even with my "lingo", seemed remarkably understated. No verbs, no adjectives, just ingredients and commas. My girlfriend and I have a collective German linguistic ability that is best described as 'alright', yet courting our own willingness to get the full experience, explained as best we could to my new-found admirer in cod Deutsch that we "Essen Alles", so would leave it up to him. Unfazed and assured, he nodded and sached off after only asking if we'd drink red, white or both. So far, so gütt. And so it began; pan fried Char with firm turnips and swede, and a salad of smoked Wild boar with Trompettes, to start set us off. Crispy fish skin and a light vinaigrette; tangy carrots and cheek meat, accompanied by a full bodied glass of white, perfectly cold. Next came a bottle of German Pinot Noir, the colour of ribena and shortly joined by two excellent mains: A Roulade of Pig with more tubers - all al dente, was a revelation, as was my girlfriend's Rabbit Leg with more carrots and some kind of candied pumpkin or quince (we never got to the bottom of which it was; the waiter said quince, but a short conversation with a chef in the toilet at the restaurant's close claimed it as some kind of pumpkin). It was nevertheless, all exemplary. The real winner though, was the provenance, simply and unpretentiously announced as a postscript caveat at the foot of the menu, declaring that everything was organic, seasonal and locally sourced, if not grown - yes, GROWN, on their own small-holding just around the corner in a kitchen garden somehow smackbang in the middle of Mitte (excuse the pun). We ended with cheese; something Appenzellerish but drunkenly forgotten; a stunningly tart, soft and fresh goats cheese and another medium-hard cheese, again akin to something like a Comté. All served on a bed of trompette, girolle and roasted peppers. Oh yes, and a nice glass of port.

It's not often that EVERYTHING is right, not even in Germany. This is one of those places.

Great service with humour; unpretentious yet ambitious cooking; a warm-sparse restaurant, and most importantly, three courses, two beers, a bottle of red, two further glasses of white, then two of port, for 150 Euros. What's not to shout about, then?

Oh yeah, and if all that wasn't enough, the table next to us had a large and beautiful Airedale Terrier sleeping under it.

Top draw, Lokal -...

Wasn't planning on leaving a review but after being cornered, gaslit over my refusal to pay a tip on my bill of 150 eu and reading other reviews regarding tipping. I feel it is my duty to warn others. We had a reservation there were no additional remarks made about the reservation, concerning a table or a bar seat. When we arrived on time. We where left a the door in our coats. The restaurant was overbooked and staff was clearly working hard to catch up. We waited patiently opened the door for other guests, greeted them with a smile (we where having fun with our predicament). After 30 minutes we where seated at the bar, finally take our coats off, sit down and hastily look at the menu as the kitchen would close within 30 minutes. We orderd and they asked if we wanted to move to a table (we where not thinking about this particular remark in the moment but it will come back at the end). We were seated at our table, the wait staff was doing good enough with the volume of guests the manager aloud to he seated that night. But it was clear they where all under pressure. The amount of bumping bottles and plates into things on our table made is apparent they did not have the mental space to do there tasks mindful was noticable. We are pretty sure they took a way our bottle of wine before is was completely empty for instance. The food was nice but not great and not prepared perfectly for the price we paid. At the and they asked us if we wanted cheesecake as a dessert with himberen. In the end it contained raw apple, let that just be one of the things I'm allergic to and not mentioned when the dish was explained to us. We let that one slide as we noticed on time. But all together it was just a bit of a let down. When I paid the bill the waitress asked if I wanted to leave a tip I said "no", she ask "why", I then gave a general explanation. She already started to protest a bit. That felt a bit awkward. But when I got up to leave the restaurant. The waiters stopped me to tell me (after she spoke to here manager) that we where never meant to be seated at a table and we should have been grateful to be switched from the bar to a table. That last little ambush in the middle of the restaurant really was one of the most inhospitable things happen to me at a higher end restaurant. I don't think this is everyone's experience but this was ours, do with that information...

We were here for a business dinner as a large group. As we arrived, the staff was quick to take our drink orders and made us feel very welcomed. The drink, rhubarb spritz was very unique in its taste (different to Aperol) and therefore I would recommend it to Spritz lovers!! The bread in combination with the beetroot dip was absolutely delicious. The appetisers, especially the potato gratin, were also sensational. The Gratin was one of the best ones I ever had as the potatoes were tender and well coated in the cream. The “Schnitzel“ was crunchy and very delicious, however I thought the sides with the Schnitzel were a bit too hard(especially the cauliflower). Nonetheless, the other dishes including the duck and fish were absolutely delicious. All ingredients used for the dishes seemed very fresh, hence the name „Lokal“. The dessert (apple crumble and cheesecake) were also very tasty. My personal favourite was the cheesecake with the berry sauce on the side. Moreover, the staff was very friendly and took their time when taking our orders and were quick to bring out everything smoothly. Additionally, some of us only spoke English. However the waitresses were fluent in both German and English, making it very easy for us to communicate. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone that enjoys a more „high-class“ German dinner with fresh ingredients as the dishes were absolutely delicious and unique. Definitely a great...