It is a very exciting evening for me hearing my favourite pianist at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and just before the concert we decided to catch a quick dinner at Fassbender & Rausch just behind the hall in Gendarmenmarkt.
While this famous chocolate shop might not seem to be an obvious choice for a proper dinner, it has developed a reputation in the city for its unique pairing of chocolate with savoury dishes. Touting itself as 'the biggest chocolate house in the world' offering the complete chocolatey experience, the café-restaurant situated on the first floor offers a selection of pastries, hot chocolate and main courses using various types of chocolate in their sauces and garnishings. For chocolate lovers like ourselves, this was an opportunity not to be missed.
First up, hot chocolate made with 70% bitter chocolate from their El Cuador plantation, topped with fresh whipped cream and chocolate powder.
The deep and slight fruity taste of the chocolate was evident, though we certainly wished for more viscosity and intensity. Perhaps we have been spoilt by our hot chocolate experiences in Belgium and France, where they make it really thick and luxurious, often tasting like pure melted chocolate! Since then it has been difficult for hot chocolate in other countries to match up, including this one I must say - though the lovely whipped cream gave it a slightly richer texture and taste.
This was followed by bread before our main courses, accompanied by pumpkin seed crème fraîche with dark chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil. The bread was just ordinary but the dip was excellent - the powerful nutty flavour of pumpkin seed in all its manifestations was perfect when combined with the rich bitter chocolate chips. Tasty, healthful and unique, it was certainly a sign of things to come.
Main courses: corn-fed chicken with amaranth carrots, watercress salad, diced peaches and baby tomatoes, in a pool of green horseradish sauce and shavings of Nouméa 35% milk chocolate.
The chicken was well-roasted, with tender and succulent flesh, and a nicely browned and somewhat crispy skin. Its lovely aromas and caramelised taste were very well enhanced by a piquant horseradish sauce. I had initial misgivings since horseradish can be piercingly spicy, but this sauce was surprisingly fresh and mild, with a slight hint of sweetness. Dark chocolate gave the whole dish a fuller body and further sweetness without detracting from the natural flavour of chicken, while the generous multitude of fruits and vegetables were the most apt complements to the delicate overall sweetness and spiciness of this dish. Very unusual composition of ingredients I must say, but they worked extremely effectively together.
The other main: trout fillets on fennel celery, with orange slices, dill bulgur, and orange & white chocolate sauce. Garnishings of thyme, saffron, poppy seeds, and white chocolate shavings.
White chocolate was the highlight here, and I thought that its buttery sweetness was very apt for the milder flavour of this fish. Also, one usually sees lemon with fish but here the juicy and tangy pieces of orange were also very effective in enhancing the delicate sweet taste and moist texture of fresh fish. The other accompaniments were rather more conventional; you couldn't go wrong with the distinctive aromas of fennel, dill and thyme in each mouthful of fish. The bulgur was great too; it provided essential weight for this relatively lighter dish, whilst retaining a delightful powdery fluffiness akin to what one might expect of high-quality couscous.
Desserts: chocolate tart, consisting of dark ganache on a crisp chocolate biscuit with chocolate pieces, all encased within a dark chocolate outer shell.
Not for the faint-hearted, but chocolate lovers will definitely appreciate this chunk of unadulterated sin! The description speaks for itself, and the dark chocolate used for this was definitely of a very high quality, possessing a deep and complex flavour with mildly acidic hints of red fruit in the long aftertaste.
The other morsel from heaven, 'mocha cream symphony': layered mocha cream and chocolate ganache on sponge biscuits.
Alright, so the design is a little tacky - and why not since we're right behind the Konzerthaus?! - but as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and on that count it certainly didn't disappoint. I actually preferred this slightly over the previous chocolate overload. The rich and smooth layers of mocha cream provided additional textures and aromas to this confectionery, while the layers of sponge helped to lighten things up somewhat. A more sophisticated creation, I thought.
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| Very tall and eye-catching plant at one end of the dining room. |
Almost time for the concert (and closing time for this place) by now, so we made a quick trip to the main chocolate shop downstairs for some last-minute purchases. There are also some pretty impressive chocolate sculptures you can admire if you have more time.
In summary, a very unique foodie experience revolving around chocolate - to my knowledge, there is no equivalent anywhere else in Europe at this time with regard to their savoury offerings. The idea of having chocolate in a non-dessert role might seem weird to many, but with good judgement it really does work - do try it with an open mind!
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