Victor’s Fine Dining by Christian Bau

Best meal I ever had. The staff were all very kind and the chefs are so humble and talented. Every bite had a wow factor and I can see why they have 3 Michelin stars. I have to say not all 3* restaurants are created equal and this one seriously blew me away. It's definitely worth a trip.

Must visit, one of the best three stars in Germany, and the best Japanese fusions in Europe

Food is very good as one can expect. But for the value there are some issues. 1- The Japanese infusion part is exceptional. However, the French part starting from angelotti does not keep the same quality. The continuation from the Japanese part does not smoothly follow but more abrupt. Going from perfect dashi and tuna to very heavy sauce of angelotti not balanced. 2- Angelotti was way way too salty. I eat salty food but this was extreme. I raised the point and they said it is to enhance the truffle. However there was not much truffle on the plate so earthiness cannot be balanced well. I do not see the point in this dish. It also ruined the taste of the following two courses. I also read the same comment in a website but did not believe so. It is indeed true! 3- There is an issue with the communication. We start at 19:30 and by the time we get the menu it was around 20:20 all good with amuse-bouche. We were told we cannot order from the specials menu as it past 20:00. How on earth I would know when I get the menu in the restaurant although I saw it can be ordered before 20:00. It would be much easier to say if your reservation is later than 19:00, then you cannot get specials. Assuming the guests knows the time line is very rookie. 4- I find cheese selection rather basic, I am able to find much more variety in many places in Germany from a good cheese shop. I expected to see some special selection that would be very well selected rather than regular quality stuff. Overall, the first part is excellent, the quality is top notch. However, I do not think it worth the price as the excellence does not seems to be there. I expected a flawless experience.

My honest rating is 4.5 stars, but since there are no half stars, I went with four. To get the negative portion of our evening out of the way before going into the positives (there are a few), two of the dishes were rather on the salty side. One of the dishes involving the white fish and white asparagus was salted a bit too much on my wife's plate when compared to mine. My plate was great, but after I tried hers, it seems like the salt factor was kicked up to 11. The dish after that with the cabbage roll was also overly salted to the point neither of us could finish it. With that out of the way, here are the positives. The staff were completely amazing, very friendly and tentative to what we needed. The appetizers were so good, we could've eaten them three times over and be completely satisfied. The deserts were also all good (minus the fresh fruit) and the atmosphere was spot on. Each dish brought a unique taste and not withstanding the two dishes mentioned above, the food always gave us a pleasant surprise of new flavors. Would we recommend it...yes. If you love seafood and want to experience a fusion of French and Japanese flavors, then I recommend dining here.

The best restaurant on earth. It can't be done better. You could maybe do it differently but not better. Perfect on every single course, elements of service. Amazing personable engaging staff. Stellar pastry, baking, desserts. Tuna sashimi with caviar and Osaka vinaigrette. Mind bending great. Absolute perfection. It's hard to get to. I had to fly to luxembourg. But I wish I could go again. Cristian Bau is a god among chefs. And his staff are spectacular. Every single detail was flawless. I am grateful that I was able to have this experience. It has left a watermark so high, I fear I'll never experience it again.

This is really excellent cooking and if Japanese flavors are your thing, it will really hit the spot. Flavors are well thought out and presentations beautiful. I have a few quibbles - the meal is long (both visits I clocked in at over 4 hours and they are unable to improve pacing even when asked) and I find the atmosphere somewhat oppressive due to the setting and rigidity of some rules. That said, judged solely on the food this is a world class restaurant.

A Michelin-starred restaurant transforms the upcoming experience into a special one. Each dish is not just to satisfy your appetite, but a work of art for intellectual saturation. In order to describe this extraordinary experience, I, as an artist, will use the values and my understanding of the work of art. But in the end, I will tailor my impressions using restaurant criteria. 1. Idea and Personality of Cuisine. It was a 13-course Paris-Tokio menu. Restaurant Victor's Fine Dining is located in Germany on the border with France, not far from Luxembourg in the old castle Schloss Berg bei Perl-Nennig the first mention of which occurs in 1180. Getting into the pompous atmosphere of the past, you do not expect to see fresh tuna or kampachi fresh fish on the plate. Choosing such a menu brings freshness to this region of Germany since the traditional cuisine is rich in meat and is a bit heavy. At the same time, the very idea of combining the experience and techniques of French cuisine with the traditions of Japan makes it possible to learn something new, to combine the incompatible, to think about the general features of food culture, globalisation and inspiration. 2. Colour, contrasts, shape. The gastronomic journey began with the dish "Karotte. Joghurt. Curry". Two dishes are connected by a green colorful spot. One green is light and crispy, while the other is oily and bubbly. "Joghurt" is a multi-layered experience consisting of different consistencies and temperatures, while "Curry" is one texture where the taste complements the first course and sets the tone for all subsequent action. This is a colourful beginning, where contrasts are cold and warm, crispy and soft, and moderately sweet and sour. Each subsequent dish is a carefully thought-out composition of taste and products. Chef Christian Bau's working principle - is "Do things with passion or not at all." It seems to me that not only this passion but also exquisite taste, an exceptional understanding of colour and form, and enjoyment of nature and life are manifested in each of the dishes. 3. Rhythm, movement, time. Seasonality is brought to the dishes with autumn leaves, emphasized by the first frost in the form of ice balls with taste, and the catch of the hunting season in the form of a wild rabbit. The dishes are served according to the rhythm from light and cold to heavy and hot and back to light, cold and sweet. Sometimes the serving intervals between dishes are a little stretched, but perhaps this is the director's idea so that we stop to rush and run and our inner world comes into harmony. 4. Quality of Products. One of the features of Japanese cuisine is the use of fresh products and the desire to preserve the natural colour and taste. Knowing this, the role of simply serving pieces of fresh fish with a delicate sauce becomes clear. The quality of the products leaves no doubt about their perfection. This is how fresh fish or black caviar should sound. 5. Mastery of Flavour and Cooking Techniques. My absolute favourite is Rouget Barbet. The scales of this fish become the main feature of this dish. Here it seems to me that the mastery of the cooking technique is especially obvious. As a viewer, I don’t have the slightest idea what needs to be done so that each of the scales is wrapped in a tube, remains crispy and does not come off the peel. And in the flavour, you can recognize all the shades that are in balance from sour to sweet. 6. Value for Money. This is a sensitive and very personal question, I think. On the one hand, I won’t be able to come here for lunch once a week, but visit a restaurant whose menu was created by a person who contributed to the development of culinary business in Germany (Federal Cross of Merit 2018) since 2005 has consistently had three Michelin stars and in 2022 it is in the top 10 of the international restaurant ranking La Liste, is worth it. Since the age of fourteen, Christian Bau has been a passionate cook, so I believe that this person "can think taste"!

A culinary experience well beyond what one would expect even from a 3-Michelin star restaurant. Cooking innovation, passion and creativity at the highest levels. Excellent wine pairing! All this, coupled with, probably, the most professional, relaxed-but-not-indifferent, friendly-but-not-intrusive, efficient-but-no-hasty, ballet-like service team orchestrated by Thomas (a real Blessing), made it an unforgettable experience. On the way out, the first thought was when we would come back...the second was how better could a second time be?

For all intents and purposes "the" destination meal of a trip to Germany, Victor's Fine Dining by Christian Bau will forever be remembered as the second Michelin 3* Restaurant walked out of, nearly four hours after sitting down and still with several plates to go as the staff largely ignored the solo American in favor of tables speaking German. 26 minutes *average* between courses, including Amuse and Course 1. Guest inquiries about technique or ingredients met by "I don't know" or "I'll find out" with no answer. Empty plates lingering on the table for nine minutes in a room with 1:3 ratio of servers to diners. Same scene repeated every course, such that kitchen could would never know if one table could benefit from faster pacing. And to cap it off, an e-mail to the restaurant explaining the issues entirely ignored. No matter how good the Food, and yes the Langoustine was stunning, there is simply no excuse for an experience so poor, and particularly not at this level or a cost of over 200€ after a quarter was sliced of the total for items skipped en route to better Restaurants.

Let's get one thing out of the way: the food here is very nice; one of the most interesting of Germany. However my experience there was ruined by exceptionally poor service. Here is what happened. My group was seated in a private alcove away from the main dining room. I noticed that there was a note on the table asking guests not to use cameras and flash. I asked our waiter whether they forbid guests to use cameras or take pictures with flash and I was told that as long as I did not use flash I was ok. The dinner went on and I took pictures with my compact camera. We were coming towards the end of dinner and as I was taking a picture of my dish, Daniel Kiowski, the sommelier, admonished me for using a camera, which has been on the table since I arrived. I explained to him that I was told I could by one of his colleagues. He asked which one. A few minutes later he came back and explained that the waiter I talked to was new and did not know what he was talking about. He then went on to giving me the reasons why the restaurant did not allow cameras: they were too big, people requested the light to be changed or they disturbed other guests. All of which he admitted I was not doing. I would totally understand his position had I not checked with the staff prior to taking pictures or I was bothering other guests. But here I was misinformed by the staff. I was in a separate room just among my friends annoying no one. We were nearing the end of the dinner. I have no idea why Mr Kiowski preferred to stick to his policy over customer satisfaction and letting the thing go. I have been to a lot of fine dining restaurants and this is the first time the waiting staff did not put the customer first. How do we say the customer is always right in German? I did complain back then to Yildiz Bau, the wife of the Chef, who was running the restaurant. She listened to me and just walked away. I was baffled by her carelessness. I recently shared this experience with Christian Bau and took a picture of his reply that I am posting. Obviously Chef Bau seems not too concerned about customer complaints and think they must come from bad customers. I expect this attitude from a corner restaurant but not a Michelin 3 star one.

Just dined at this restaurant this Friday Sept 16th A top 3 star Michelin indeed, and among the many factors that I liked (service, decor, ambience everything was perfection / exciting perfection, should I underline), I was really impressed by the ability of this kitchen to combine that many ingredients, through numerous dishes (I had 9 nibbles, 10 main courses) without one single flaw. You can find a full photo & text report of that dinner here: http://tinyurl.com/5t7p76c

3 Michelin stars and well worth all of them. Inventive and perfectly executed Japanese influenced cuisine served with humour and grace by the young service brigade. Special mention for the sommelier, Daniel Kiowski, who provides some mature wines in his "wine-matching" selection.