24. March 2015: Restaurant Caramba Especial

The Restaurant Caramba Especial is very “especial”. I saw the restaurant on TripAdvisor where it was ranked among the city’s best restaurants and decided to give it a try. They offer a lovely “four course menu” (EUR 35.00) which is pretty flexible in its design. Franco, the owner, basically designs the menu every day newly depending on what he got from the market (which is definitely a lovely concept).

While most restaurants offer “bread and spread”, Franco offers “ajoli with olives and bread” which is great. You smell like you ate a whole garden of garlic thereafter but the ajoli is so, so tasty that you can’t stop eating it.

As a first course, you get “prawns with showeffect” …

… which are actually just “prawns in garlic oil”. The prawns are tasty and the garlic is nicely applied so it does not overwhelm everything else but as the fire is caused by alcohol, the whole dish has to some degree an aftertaste of petrol which is not too nice really. A pity as the dish is very good besides that.

The second course is basically a “fish starter plate” which consisted that evening of “tuna sashimi, filled cucumber, cheeks, octopus in red wine, fish with plum, honey mustard sauce”. The selection of the various dishes is nice and the differences in taste as well. However, there is no element on the plate which persuaded me a 100% and blew my mind. The single elements are all good but I had expected a bit more from a city like Hamburg.

The main course consisted of fish again. Personally, this was absolutely fine but it might be a bit much fish for someone whose not too much into it and when you book in advance, respectively check the homepage, the “degree of fish” is not so clear. However, the fish was aromatic and absolutely good.

As a last course, we got served “a small chocolate cake with liquid chocolate inside, a small fruit salad, and icecream”. The chocolate cake was great – although it was a bit hard on the outside, it was supersoft and superliquid inside balancing of the “hardness” and making it a very good dish.

Besides Franco who is very entertaining as he is always joking and being cheerful with his customers, Limberto was our waiter who did a great job. He was very prompt for all requests, incredibly friendly and jovial while being very professional about it.

The place is vivid – due to Franco but also due to the small events (like a live guitar player and singer). Besides that, the atmosphere is nice – it is a bit too bright for my personal taste but absolutely good. The price for the menu is more than fair for what you get which is also omstly true for the beverages (i.e. 0,75l water, EUR 6.00; 0,2L of Franco Especial wine, EUR 8.50). Besides everything, Franco provided us with two bottles of wine (one each) when we left – just as a give-away – which I consider a very nice gesture.

Overall, I can recommend the Restaurant Caramba Especial as the place and its owner is cool, the atmosphere is nice, the service good, and the food tasty – especially for its price. However, bring time – the whole thing takes quite a bit and Franco also likes to explain the dishes exhaustively.

Rating:

Atmosphere:
Service:
Dishes:
Price-Performance Ratio:
Overall Rating:

Contact Details:

Restaurant Caramba Especial

Rambachstrasse 4

20459 Hamburg (DE)

Tel.: +49 174 399 12 26

Homepage: http://www.carambaespecial.com

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.