Any place that serves sparkling wine in a coupe instead of a flute automatically shoots to the top of my list. It's a silly little detail, sure, but drinking out of a coupe feels special and a little glam and I really kind of love it. It always makes me think of Marilyn Monroe trying to seduce Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot. This is to say that our late dinner at Bar Raval on Friday got off to the right start.
I loved the space, a sort of sprawling corner restaurant on Görlitzer Park with bar stools and high tables in one corner and cozy wooden tables and banquettes in the other. Daniel Brühl, the half-Spanish, half-German actor of Goodbye Lenin fame, is one of the owners. Rumor has it that he's been to every tapas bar in Barcelona.
Our Spanish waitress was a doll. She was a little harried, but so professional and friendly and kind. She even apologized when a drink got delayed - something that hasn't happened to me (the apology, not the delay) since I left New York.
With our drinks came a complimentary little dish of olives, juicy, salty, green ones that we found ourselves fighting over. When we placed our order for tapas, we mostly stuck to the classics: pa amb tomaquet, tortilla (with vegetables), boquerones, croquetas, salt cod fritters and my very favorite, pimientos de padròn.
The pa amb tomaquat was lovely - the bread was toasted over an open flame and charred in places, the crumb was nicely soaked with tomato and olive oil. I could have eaten the whole plate (though I'm a bread-and-tomato fiend, so take that with a grain of flaky salt). The pimientos were piping hot and crunchy with salt. It's hard to get these wrong, isn't it? Max got three out of the four spicy ones, poor guy. The spicy one I had was so hot it made my eyes water.
The tortilla looked pretty classic, but when we sliced into it, we realized that the eggs were a thin casing around a juicy filling of mixed vegetables: zucchini, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, onions and mushrooms. It was incredibly filling. It wasn't the most ethereal tortilla I ever had, and Max said he would have preferred the classic potato tortilla, but for a change, it was nice.
The salt cod fritters were greaseless and crisp. And the ham-and-cheese croquetas, two to an order, were fantastic. One of those with a glass of cava and you'd have yourself the very best bar snack. I could barely finish mine - they were quite filling and rich with hammy flavor.
The boquerones (marinated white anchovies) were the one misstep in our meal - they didn't taste particularly fresh.
Still, it was one of the nicest dinners we've had out in a while. I loved the atmosphere in the restaurant, which was relaxed and jovial at the same time. We weren't really hungry at all by the end of dinner, but couldn't resist ordering the molten chocolate cake for dessert (so dated, it's true, but so delicious, too).
It was flavored with a little too much orange for my taste, but this didn't stop either one of us from practically licking the plate. The filling to casing ratio was sort of perfect and the hot chocolate mixed with the cold vanilla ice cream on the side, well, there's a reason this cake took the world by storm. And this was a darn good version of it.
When we got our bill, we were given two complimentary shots of an herbal liquor that tasted like fennel. Max was driving the car and I was so happy with our meal that I found myself enthusiastically drinking both. We walked out into the Kreuzberg night feeling pleasantly aglow with food and drink. It was such a good night.
Bar Raval
Lübbener Strasse 1
10997 Berlin
(030) 531 67 954
I'm so glad to read this, we've been having the worst luck with eating out since we got here...I'd almost given up!
Looking forward to giving it a try.
Did you book by the way?
Posted by: Liz | August 26, 2011 at 09:24 AM
aha. it sounds like you found a decent tapas bar (not that all bars in spain are decent, mind.)
I wish there were some over here. I gave up years ago... buñuelos de bacalaooooooo. aaaaaaaay ;)
Posted by: la ninja | August 26, 2011 at 04:47 PM
Liz - I'm so sorry. It can be a rough town, esp. if you come with high expectations... Did you end up at Raval? We didn't book, since it was a spontaneous decision at 10:00 pm. Have you had any better luck?
La Ninja - so good! I need to learn how to make those.
Posted by: Luisa | August 28, 2011 at 04:00 AM
Luisa,
Tryingt to hone in on 4 resturants for a trip over. NY anaology would be good quality but not Daniel prices. Will book small French place you mentioned. that leaves three? Thai/Indian/Turkish/German/Austrian?
Help is much appreciated
Posted by: VB1 | August 29, 2011 at 01:39 PM
VB1 - unfortunately, forget the Asians. For an Austrian meal, go to Café Einstein on Kurfürstenstrasse and for very good classic German head to Renger-Patzsch. If you want something more show-stoppy, Reinstoff is supposed to be amazing (my friend Suzy, whose taste is impeccable, highly praised it) - 75 euro menu.
Posted by: Luisa | August 29, 2011 at 03:50 PM
Huge thanks. Would you say he tapas place over a Turkish spot? Cheers from nyc.
Posted by: vb1 | August 29, 2011 at 05:30 PM
Sorry if you had to poick a starred rest citywide which would you go for (one non meat eater in mind). Cheers again.
Posted by: vb1 | August 29, 2011 at 05:31 PM
A starred restaurant? As in Michelin stars? Can't really help you there. As for tapas over Turkish, it's really a personal taste thing. Whatever you're in the mood for. There's great Turkish food in NYC, too...
Posted by: Luisa | August 30, 2011 at 04:32 AM
What perfect timing for me! I just returned home after spending three weeks driving around Spain and Portugal - my first time there - and the food was so inspiring. Simple but so fresh and refreshing. I made a big Spanish mixed salad for dinner last night... and lunch today too!
One trip to Spain certainly does not make me a tapas expert, so I'll be easy to please. If Bar Raval has Estrella Galicia (as shown in your photo) they can count me in. It was the only truly excellent beer I found in all of the Iberian peninsula, it made me as happy as the big coupe of cava made you! I'll be sure to hit this bar soon, and maybe they can give me a tip on where to buy some salt cod in Berlin so I can make my own tapas, too. Thanks as always for your great tips!
Posted by: Leslie | September 1, 2011 at 09:51 AM
we made our second attempt to get there tonight but got sidetracked at the italian place opposite (which was pretty good:)\
Next week it will happen!
http://kartepaper.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Liz | September 28, 2011 at 04:39 PM
Hey again, I still haven't been to this place even though I'm very eager to - and a friend is having paella night at her house on Saturday so I'll get another Spanish fix and possibly not head to Bar Raval for another few weeks. BUT I did finally go to your Bundesallee bibimbap shop today and it was so good! There was hardly a soul in there but I had a magnficent bibimbap and left with tubs of tofu and doenjang for soup-making.
To go from Korean back to Spanish, though, my friend Sarah, LA-based Korean-American foodie, just posted a great how-to on padron peppers here:
http://winnercelebrationparty.com/home/post/44038/warning-addictive-padron-peppers/
Posted by: Leslie | September 29, 2011 at 12:06 PM
very nice work! berlin looks great! best from paris, joerg
Posted by: joerg | October 10, 2011 at 08:05 AM
Anybody home?
Posted by: Sonia | October 10, 2011 at 02:47 PM
Sonia - yup, can I help you?
Posted by: Luisa | October 10, 2011 at 04:27 PM
Just missing a new post...But I know you were honeymooning and finishing your book (congratulations!!!!!), so I'll wait.
Posted by: Sonia | October 10, 2011 at 11:43 PM
Hey Luisa!
Am a recent but committed addict to your blog after arriving in Berlin. Can't wait to get to this place, handily on my side of town!
Gave you a little mention on my fledgling blog, now migrated to Berlin! http://thecolourofpomegranates.blogspot.com/
Look forward to more posts.
Lucy x
Posted by: Lucy Wallwork | October 20, 2011 at 03:12 AM
Hey Luisa!
I'm an American living around Amsterdam, and this November will mark my first Thanksgiving out of the US. It was always my favorite holiday and I can't imagine just missing it (the horror!!) How do you manage? What day do you actually make the dinner? Have you found it pretty easy to find whole turkeys/turkey breasts? I'm a little worried that I won't be able to cook an American-sized feast in my (tiny!) European sized kitchen.
Help!
Posted by: Sara | October 21, 2011 at 03:30 AM
Sara - Just because you're in Holland doesn't mean you have to miss Thanksgiving! ;) Here, we always celebrate on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, just because it's no fun to have Thanksgiving dinner after a full work day. It's no problem finding whole turkeys here in Berlin - there are a lot of farmers in the region around Berlin that raise them...and more and more butchers know that Americans in Berlin need their turkey at Thanksgiving. You can even go out into the countryside and pick out your turkey at a farm, if that's what you're in to. (I would just order one from my trusted organic butcher.) I find that it's key - as in any Thanksgiving feast - to not do everything yourself. Thanksgiving is about community, so invite a bunch of friends to your celebration and make each one make a side or a dessert, so that you can concentrate on the turkey, stuffing and gravy, hard enough work as it is. How big is your oven? The thing to look out for is to make sure you don't buy a turkey bigger than your oven - do some measuring and have a conversation with your butcher. I'm sure you'll find a turkey that fits. Let me know if you have other questions and good luck!
Posted by: Luisa | October 21, 2011 at 04:12 AM