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With potential for a Michelin star – but shouldn’t have one yet: Restaurant Elements (16. October 2021)

| December 18, 2021 | 0 Comments

When you enter the place, you’re wowed since the place is actually super nice in terms of atmosphere and design. Secondly, the tables are placed sufficiently apart so you feel comfortable right away. Once you’re seated, someone attends you immediately and suggests you one of the specials of the day. I went for the “Soho Sling” (EUR 11.00) which was super refreshing and generally delicious.

Once you have chosen your menu, the some bread and spreads are served. The “parsley hummus, olive oil, and mushroom cream” are okay but not really exquisite in terms of flavor, respectively, the mushroom cream was too intense for me and the parsley hummus was a somewhat uncommon combination not entirely to my liking.

The amuse bouche, the “salmon panna cotta with mussels, yellow caviar and crayfish” was great though and made me hopeful for the rest of the evening.

And with the first course of the menu, my expectations were exceeded easily. The “butternut-fondant, buttermilk, granola” (EUR 22.00) was absolutely mouth-watering. The combination of the butternut with the roasted quinoa, the slight acidity of the apple and the coconut flakes were an absolutely delicious combination. And I was a happy customer.

Well, at least with the dishes. They don’t offer a wine pairing which I already considered a bit surprising given the level of the restaurant but fair enough, they created some kind of wine pairing. What definitely didn’t work was the timing. More than once we had the dish served but the responsible waiter for the wine wouldn’t be ready and we had to wait for the wine to be brought to the table with the dish.

Second in line was the “Jerusalem artichoke, chestnut velouté with Serrano ham” (EUR 15.00) which was fine in terms of different flavors and even the combination of the soup with the Serrano ham and the roasted rosemary twigs was perfect. The fact that they had added the roasted quinoa again in two subsequent dishes was not understandable to me (at all) and it didn’t add to the dish either.

As a main, I went for the “US Onglet, black angus, potatoes from the Andes, colorful beets, radish” (EUR 45.00) which was not part of the tasting menu. And I must say the meat was good, perfectly cooked (although they had not asked me how I wanted it, it was great) and the sauce was of an intensity which was super enjoyable. Probably too intense for many, but exactly to my personal liking. The potatoes and beets on the side were good and added a bit to the dish but personally I would have hoped for a bit more side dish elements since the dish was relatively dominated by the meat.

The “iced French cheese cake, pumpkin seed oil” (EUR 15.00) was a good finish to the dinner. Nothing mind-blowing but decent. And the pumpkin seed oil went very well with the iced French cheese cake (which was basically ice cream).

Something I absolutely didn’t understand was the “friandises” served. It was two of us – and we got two chocolates and one macaroon? I mean, what? How does that make sense in any kind of world?

The attitude of some of the waiters was also not really what one would wish for. When I got a red wine (Gigondas, 2015) I told the waiter that it missed length and that I very often have had this experience with French wine, he reacted by saying “I hope it has enough length although it’s French” when serving the dessert wine. And not in a joking way. So, personally, while I get it that most people would not comment on your cooking or your serving or your wine pairing skills because they don’t dare to or they are not used to such cuisine, I expect waiters in a 1 Michelin Star restaurant to behave more professionally and engage in a conversation instead of snapping back.

So, all in all, the Restaurant elements is fine – the food is good, no question. But personally, only one dish was on 1 Michelin Star niveau. The rest was good but not there. And the same is true for many other things – the service was fine, but the water glass wasn’t refilled, the wine glasses weren’t ready more than once for the pairing with the dishes, so, personally, I’m happy to give the place another try further down the line once things have improved. For now, I would visit other places in Dresden when there again.

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Elements

Königsbrücker Str. 96

01099 Dresden (DE)

Tel.: +49 351 272 16 96

E-Mail: lebensart@restaurant-elements.de

Homepage: http://www.restaurant-elements.de

About the Author:

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.
EUR 280.00 (incl. tip) Filed in: Dresden (DE), Restaurants
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