Haerlin - Hamburg
Old-school elegance
Rating: 18/20
Where: Hamburg, Germany
When: Dinner for 2 on 21 June 2025
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 350 Euro, Wine pairing 205 Euro
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: Light, seafood-focused French cuisine
It's not often that I write about a restaurant less than a year after my last visit. But in the case of Hamburg's “Restaurant Haerlin” there was a great reason - the restaurant had just received its third Michelin star. “Finally”, one might say since Haerlin had been considered a serious contender for several years. During my last visit, I had thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the experience but had nitpicked that some dishes were too busy and that there was no connecting theme among them. How would things fare in 2025? Only one way to find out.
At a high level, the restaurant's menu looked unchanged. Nominally it is a “six course menu”, its printed version looked much longer (see below), since it included the appetizers and the bread course. Dietary restrictions were readily accommodated, and there was also another way to modify the menu: four additional dishes could be substituted for any of the existing courses, or (if one was really hungry) even added onto the menu. Between the two of us, we tried three of these extra dishes, only skipping the cheese course. A wine pairing was available as well, but it “only” covered the main courses (and possible added courses). The wines were quite good, and a bit off the beaten path (for example, two Portuguese whites, and others from lesser known wine regions).
We started our dinner with an aperitif and appetizers in front of the kitchen, down a flight of stairs from the main dining room. Standing at a wooden high-top, we had a good view of the cooking action. A glassed-in private dining room was visible behind the kitchen. The decor here was notably more modern than in the ornate, early 20th century main dining room. One could argue that this setting was actually a better fit for the restaurant's food, which is relatively light in terms of sauces and preparations. For me, the over-the-top luxurious dining room suggested a heavier, more traditional French fare.
Our first three bites were served at the same time. A shrimp tartlet contained char roe and a calamansi cream. The dish had a great seafood flavor, the roe added some popping texture there was a nice fruitiness from the calamansi. A great start to the meal, full of bold flavors 19. Next, a potato cracker that was topped with a cured sardine and a feta cream. The potato base had a great crunch and the sardine had a lightly fishy flavor (in a good way). There was also a hint of citrus. Probably the lightest bite of the three 18.
A finely ground beef tartare was served in a Parmesan cracker shell. The tartare's texture and seasoning were done in a way that made it hard to tell that this was beef. A coarser grind or more acidity might have put this closer to “regular” beef tartare. The Parmesan shell was unfortunately not very crunchy. Still a decent bite, but a small step down from the previous two 17.
The last appetizer served at the kitchen table was a mushroom broth, made from the first chanterelles of the season. In addition to mushrooms, the broth also contained a quail egg and a small roulade of quail meat. The strong mushroom flavor here was lovely - this would have been fine even without the quail and its egg. The quail meat was tasty - of course, it didn't hurt to be surrounded by the wonderful broth. The egg managed to have a liquid yolk even though the soup was quite hot - a matter of careful timing, no doubt 18.
Seated at a corner table in the main dining room, we were treated to a presentation that was uniquely Haerlin: the butter cart. Lightly salted butter from Alsace could be ordered plain, mixed with chives and parsley, or with oranges and Amalfi lemon zest. All of these would then be mixed tableside. In addition, we received a cream cheese with herbs and roasted onions as well as a dip made from paprika and cucumbers. All of this was served with a warm sourdough bread, a Japanese milk bread, and (optionally) some gluten free bread. The sourdough bread was nicely crunchy, and both it and the milk bread were taste-neutral enough to go with either the spreads or the sauces that followed. Only the nutty gluten-free bread was a less than ideal fit for the sauces 17.
The following dish was technically still considered an appetizer, as evidenced by the lack of a wine pairing. A Scottish salmon filet was served between two very thin layers of bread, creating a kind of sandwich. Next to it was a buttermilk sauce, peas, cucumbers, asparagus and salmon roe. The sauce was relatively light, making this a true spring-time dish. There were lots of textures here: the bread added a bit of crunch, as did the cucumbers and peas. The salmon itself was not quite as memorable as the sauce, but that was a minor issue in an otherwise lovely dish 18.
A ring of pulled crab meat was served with a crustacean sauce in the middle and a lime foam on the outside. The crab ring was topped with a cracker lattice, coriander and onions. The crab meat was fresh and of good quality, although somewhat light in flavor by itself. The sauce was lightly acidic, and the cucumbers and the cracker added some crunch. Nicely balanced flavors, although definitely lighter than in the earlier appetizers 18.
At this point, we tried two dishes that we had added to our tasting menu. First, there were two preparations of Gillardeau oysters. One was a pre-cut oyster that was served in its shell with crunchy vegetables and a hollandaise foam (top left in picture). Nicely buttery, but not feeling too heavy thanks to the added vegetables. Second, there was a poached oyster, also pre-cut and served with a bit of horseradish, a sorrel sorbet, cucumbers and clover. Arguably, the oyster was the weakest part of this dish, it was mainly there for texture. But the sauce was lovely, the horseradish provided a light sharpness and the baked tuile on top added some crunch 17.
The second optional dish was a presentation of lobster. (The original version also contained sweetbreads, but we opted for a pescatarian variant instead.) In addition to the lobster, there were tomatoes, green asparagus, a morel mushroom, a zucchini roll, a yuzu beurre blanc and lobster foam. Here and in the following, we received extra helpings of the sauces in little sauce pans, to be added as desired. This dish was the only one on the menu that reminded me of my previous concern: about presentations being too busy. Adding sweetbreads would probably not have helped in that regard. But to be fair, this wasn't that bad - without my PTSD, I wouldn't even have noticed. The lobster was cooked fine, but its texture was a bit chewy. Overall, this dish was not very heavy, only the morel mushroom was a bit buttery. Much of the flavor came from the lovely lobster taste in the sauce 17.
Coming back to the standard tasting menu, we still had two fish courses to go. A filet of sole was served with artichokes (grilled and as a puree), and a little tortelli filled with wild garlic and a citrus fruit. Olive oil and artichokes had also been added to the fish jus sauce. The fish was good, but the creamy and acidic sauce was even better. Thanks to its citrus filling, the pasta was surprisingly acidic 18.
A filet of John Dory had been wrapped in zucchini blossom leaves and served on a saffron polenta, a fennel salad and a paprika foam. The fish was cooked very nicely, with a little bite - not too soft and not too firm. The sauce had a lovely paprika taste 18.
The final savory course was venison, glazed with balsamic vinegar, topped with roasted buckwheat and sitting in a jus made with red wine and red beets. Also on the plate: a dollop of fermented black garlic, an olive/parmesan tortelli and kohlrabi, the latter both marinated and rolled up. In a separate sauce pan was a light-green colored juniper hollandaise. The latter was mousse-like and not too heavy, but its taste was not really my thing; having an odd aftertaste. I assume that the sauce was served separately to avoid disturbing the pretty presentation, but that also made it easy to avoid. The rest of the dish was much better. The venison was of great quality and cooked perfectly: very tender, without any gaminess. The buckwheat sprinkled on top of the meat added a compelling crunch. I was told by the chef that he sources the venison from a single hunter, and whenever that person goes on vacation, the venison disappears from the menu. I can see why. As for the rest of the dish: the black garlic was quite intense in flavor, the kohlrabi nicely crunchy, but the pasta merely ok - there was nothing too special about it. Unfortunately, I also wasn't a big fan of the main sauce, it probably had too many beets for my taste 17.
My dining companion (aka my sister who happens to live in Hamburg), forewent the venison and received a pasta course instead. Basil bottoni had been filled with burrata, and came with lightly roasted white asparagus, an asparagus foam and an herbal sauce. A lovely pasta with some great white asparagus 18.
Our first dessert had recently been featured on Michelin’s list of the best dishes in Germany. A pineapple-saffron sorbet sat on top of a white “chip” made from mezcal, that in turn covered pineapples and finger limes. A sauce made with jalapeños and basil surrounded the dish. The mezcal chip provided some creaminess, the pineapple pieces underneath the chip had some crunch, but there was only a faint lingering spiciness from the jalapeños. I thought that the dish had a slightly odd aftertaste - not sure from what. Not bad, but unfortunately not my favorite 16.
The second dessert combined two presentations of strawberries. The more prominently plated one featured little wild strawberries on an oat ganache, some fir cream and an elderflower sorbet. The berries were lovely, but not very sweet, and the elderflower flavor was pretty light (16 for this part). A separate bowl contained Clery strawberries, a quark foam and a wheatgrass granita. These strawberries were much fruitier and much sweeter than their little cousins. Essentially, this was a fancy (and delicious) version of strawberries and cream. The lovely wheatgrass ice cut through the “cream”, which admittedly wasn't that heavy to begin with (19 for this part). Overall 18.
A collection of petit fours concluded our dinner. A biscuit cake made with pistachios and raspberries was fruity, but not particularly nutty 17. A nougat praline interestingly also had a slightly fruity taste 16, a passion fruit/white chocolate praline had a notable acidic fruitiness 17, and a marble cake topped with cassis was unfortunately quite dry and felt heavy 13. A cherry macaroon was ok but not particularly fruity 14. A cream puff filled with chocolate ganache and topped with chrysalis was pretty light and fruity, but the chrysalis made this feel a bit autumnal 15. Lastly, a rolled-up yuzu marshmallow was chewy, acidic, sweet, pretty light and, interestingly, a bit fizzy 17.
I already mentioned that my 2024 concern of dishes being too busy didn't apply to this 2025 meal. As for the menu having a story - given its strong focus on seafood, often sourced locally, it seemed reasonable to assume that the nearby North Sea had strong influences on the menu. Light French cuisine with local ingredients, then.
Overall: A lovely dinner of seafood-heavy, relatively light modern French cuisine. Compared to our previous visit, there were subtle changes, all for the better: the food felt more focused and the flavors often more intense. The service was not quite as clairvoyant as last time, but still very good. Michelin's new rating is definitely deserved 18.
