Cookies Cream in Berlin (1 Michelin Star): Restaurant Review

It is a December 30th. It is 10 pm. It is 2 degrees. I walk between the industrial buildings, in a dark backyard a few steps from the Friedrichstrasse. There is nobody there. In the recess of a concrete wall is a door, dimly lit. When you get close enough, you see a bell next to the closed door.

I ring the bell.

The door opens.

A man with a Spanish accent and long hair greets us with a smile.

"Welcome to Cookies Cream!"

Anyone who has ever had the chance to eat in a Michelin-star restaurant knows that most of the restaurants recommended by the guide are rather stilted, meeting rather rigid codes on the quality of the cuisine, obviously, but also on the service.

So it's quite a surprise when we arrive at the vegetarian restaurant Cookies Cream, 1 Michelin star, with a slightly underground Berlin style, hidden at the end of an alley as if it were a speakeasy.

We first take a cocktail at the bar to wait. The bar is very cosy, and the drinks surprising, with ingredients used for the dishes of the restaurant. The evening starts rather well.

A waiter comes to announce us that our table is ready. We go up to the first floor and we discover a dark room in the trendy industrial style. On the wall, a thick "Ficken" is painted. The tone is set.

We are seated at a table, the light is perfect, it lights only us. The room is animated, joyful, far from the hushed atmosphere of the Michelin-starred restaurants where I already ate. The waiters are also far from the standards of gastronomic restaurants of this standing: pierced, tattooed, but all of great professionalism.

We choose the 5-course menu at 90 € (reasonable for a Michelin-starred restaurant), we can choose what we want among the starters, main courses and desserts.

Jerusalem artichoke tartare with apple cashew cream, celery caper salsa
Baked eggplant with Edamame - papadam - savory - onion
Kohlrabi stewed in truffle teriyaki juice spinach & roasted onions

We also take the signature dish as an appetizer (which we were advised to try at all costs): Onsen egg yolk with seaweed caviar. A masterpiece! A magnificent presentation full of inventiveness with a play on the textures.

The dishes follow one another, each one more tasty than the other. The mixture of melting eggplant and edamame is sublime. The beet juice is wonderful. The dishes are light, airy and extremely creative.

I steal a bite or two of the Parmesan dumplings with white truffle from my girlfriend. A treat.

I go for the wine pairing while my girlfriend decides on the non-alcoholic beverage accompaniment. Even more than the wines, the non-alcoholic drinks go wonderfully with the dishes, they even enhance certain flavors.

When the last plate is finished, it is past midnight.

We leave, thinking about the ingenuity of the chef and all these original combinations of flavors. So many surprises and discoveries in the space of one dinner.

Cookies Cream
Behrenstr. 55, 10117 Berlin (near Friedrichstraße)
Tuesday-Saturday: 5pm-11pm