Wine and Food

The Grand, Restaurant and Bar, Berlin, Germany

5,5 points

Being asked many times about the best steak house in Berlin I always miss to name “The Grand”. Maybe because it is somehow a “trendy” place for posers of film, music and fashion. This bar and restaurant belongs to hot spots where German celebrities as Til Schweiger party birthday or during fashion weeks hip fashion brands invite for exclusive, very cool events. Am I jealous not being a member of this VIP world or do I hate shallowness? Indeed, I do not like share my time with braggy cockalorums! And a part of The Grand’s target audience are such subjects which leaves one sometimes with an ambivalent feeling!

But put this aside as the owner and Rainer Möckel, the host and manager of the restaurant deserve big admiration! Since the wall came down the ownership of the building frequently changed upon he and his courageous partners reconstructed and redesigned the entire house. They succeeded to establish an impressive, probably successful restaurant, bar and event location at a place you would expect it: close to Alexanderplatz, in the surrounding of Berlin’s Hofbräuhaus and other unattractive addresses. You always need such trendsetters to re-develop a district or street.

Aside of a nice bar (where you are allowed to smoke!), there is some extra space for events. The restaurant has three rooms. Ask to sit in the main one: high ceiling, surrounded by a balcony with an impressive candelabra in the middle: glamor, metropolitan atmosphere! And then go for meat!

The menu offers a rich variety of different beef mostly from German farms. It is carefully selected, reasonable aged and in respect to different cuts The Grand offers steak for ladies and gentlemen. They grill the meat on an American South Bent Grill which grants perfect condition and consistence of each singly piece. Still somehow unique in Germany: you can be sure that you get real medium rare if you like to get it, means absolutely perfect.

As a satisfying counteroffer there is one special on the menu, which is an ox chop, minimum 800 g of pure and wonderful meat: much too much real essence for all diet fetishists among the unimportant fashion gurus and models! This is the very best!

Side dishes are classics – a bit French inspired – as potatoes au gratin, French fries, spinach (with chili and orange) etc. Some of this dishes are too much and heavy as for instance bacon beans as it covers the amazing roasting aromas of any grilled cut. Otherwise you can order just salad.

Never tried any other appetizer since I really like Artichoke with three different dips.

The wine selection is proper but not special. The card contains mostly solid German, Austrian, Spanish and French wines. No special highlight unfortunately and no experiment. Although I would say at least the half of visitors have no idea of wine it would be an improvement if the waiters would just say: “good choice” but have some basic knowledge at least of the wines you can get.

So if you like to experience a metropolitan fancy and entertaining evening you could probably choose some other places as well as for instance the Berlin flagship of hip restaurant Borchardts. But if you like either to have really great high end steak you go to “The Grand” – which comes along with described atmosphere.

I like to say that this is the best steak house in Berlin, so for the meat experience I would give 6,5 points. For the location probably 6, but for the rest only 4. My conclusion ends in 5,5 points.

Find more about the restaurant at http://www.the-grand-berlin.com/en/restaurant