Loumi

Wow, the menu exceeded my expectations. Each course was an explosion of taste in my mouth and I wouldn't be able to tell you which was better than the other. The whole menu and composition of flavors was incredible creative and each plate was a beautiful synergy of ingredients. The Michelin star is well deserved. The delicious food makes me want to come regularly, something to crave. Also great non-alcoholic drink options! On top of that, service was attentive and at the same time easy-going which made it a very relaxed dinner experience.

Fine dining by an autodidact who delights in blurred boundaries. The typical touches are there; you might drink broth made from the carapace of a langoustine you will later encounter poached, a signal of upscale culinary art if ever I saw (ate?) one. But for most of the evening you'll feel like you're inside a free-associating mouth. Toro with strawberry compote; sweet peas and whipped egg boiled in mussel juice and topped with wasabi; Brittany oyster with local rhubarb. My meal had more dynamic range than almost any other tasting menu I've had; I moved between delicately tweezed leaves and deep-fried-in-butter homestyle within minutes. (The latter ensured that the Japanese influence didn't overwhelm.) I found myself struggling to understand what I was eating at times—the flavor profiles were often kaleidoscopic—but the ineffability only seemed to enhance the flavor. Karl-Louis and Mical have made something very special—a Michelin-rated restaurant that serves bold food while retaining the feel of a local eatery. The dining space is intimate; everyone is essentially eating in the kitchen, which throws focus on the cooking as an activity (is "practice" too much?) rather than as simply a means to an end. It's almost like being invited into a food workshop. I'd say that the meal felt accordingly experimental, but that would suggest a much lower success rate than what I encountered. I ate here alone, sitting beside another solitary diner; we struck up a conversation and didn't wander out until closing time, whereupon we both marveled at the experience we'd just had and speculated as to what the owners would do next. Despite how impressive and original Loumi is, it's somehow still suggestive of nascency—by which I mean that Karl-Louis and Mical are on the brink of something, perhaps, that I can't wait to taste.

We went there for the second time. Very good service, very attentive staff. The food was also very good, it doesn't disappoint. From the menu this time, the highlights were the Kinmedai with green asparagus and the Quail with stuffed morel. The desserts were all, without exception, very good. We will definitely be back.

An exceptional experience. A gem in Berlin. Wonderful people and an unbelievably fresh, creative, seafood-centric menu. Highly recommended!