Restaurant in Berlin, Germany
Michelin-noted Korean precision, below starred prices.
NaNum earns its Michelin Plate with ingredient-led Korean contemporary cooking rooted in fermentation and Brandenburg-sourced produce. At €€€, it's a price tier below most of Berlin's Michelin-recognised creative dining rooms, with a natural wine pairing and a calm, conversation-friendly room opposite the Jewish Museum. Book two to three weeks out for the seven-course Friday or Saturday service.
NaNum is one of Berlin's most focused contemporary Korean restaurants, and at €€€ it sits a price tier below most of the city's Michelin-recognised creative dining rooms. The Michelin Plate (2025), a Google rating of 4.8 across 327 reviews, and a format built around ingredient-led precision make this a confident booking for food-focused diners. If you want a quiet, considered dinner with natural wines and a kitchen you can actually watch, this is a better choice than louder, higher-ticket alternatives like Rutz or Nobelhart & Schmutzig.
NaNum operates on a tight schedule: five-course set menus (vegetarian or with meat) on Wednesdays and Thursdays, seven-course set menus (vegetarian or with fish) on Fridays and Saturdays. That's four services a week, which tells you this is a kitchen working at its own pace. Chef Jinok Kim draws on Korean fermentation traditions and sources some ingredients from the restaurant's own garden in Brandenburg, giving the menu a regional specificity that distinguishes it from more generically European creative dining rooms.
The open kitchen is visible from the dining room, which keeps the atmosphere engaged without being theatrical. The space itself is pared back — no dramatic interior design to distract from the food. Noise levels are calm; this is a room suited to conversation, not celebration noise. If you're looking for comparable Korean contemporary cooking elsewhere, Nae:um in Singapore and Restaurant Ki in Los Angeles operate in the same register, though NaNum's fermentation focus and Brandenburg garden sourcing give it a distinctly local character.
Natural wines are the pairing format here, matched to both the vegetarian and the meat or fish set menus. This is not a venue with an extensive cocktail program or a deep cellar built for exploration — the drinks function as an extension of the food's ethos: low-intervention, ingredient-aware, and in service of the menu rather than competing with it. For diners who find conventional wine pairings at creative tasting-menu restaurants either too formal or too generic, NaNum's natural wine approach is a practical differentiator. If a serious independent wine program is your primary reason for booking a tasting-menu dinner in Berlin, Rutz offers greater depth. But if you want the wine to support the food without overshadowing it, NaNum's approach is well-matched to its format.
The address is Lindenstraße 90 in Kreuzberg, on a small square opposite the Jewish Museum and close to Checkpoint Charlie. The terrace is a practical asset in warmer months , it's an unusually pleasant outdoor setting for this part of central Berlin. The building also houses Jinok Kim's ceramics studio, and the crockery used in the restaurant is made there, which gives the dining experience a material coherence that most restaurants can't claim. Service is described by Michelin as very friendly, which at this price point and format is worth noting: tasting-menu restaurants in Berlin can run toward formal stiffness, and NaNum appears to avoid that.
NaNum works leading for two people who want a focused, ingredient-led dinner without the formality or the price tag of Berlin's starred rooms. The limited weekly schedule (four services) means you're booking into something intentional rather than a restaurant running at volume. It's a good fit for food-focused visitors who want Korean contemporary cooking interpreted through local German ingredients, and for diners who prefer natural wine to conventional pairing menus. It's less suited to large groups, last-minute plans, or anyone who wants an à la carte option. For more context on what else is worth booking in the city, see our full Berlin restaurants guide, our Berlin bars guide, and our Berlin hotels guide.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. Given the limited weekly schedule and the Michelin recognition, securing a table two to three weeks out is advisable, particularly for Friday and Saturday seven-course services. Walk-in availability is unlikely given the format.
| Detail | NaNum | Nobelhart & Schmutzig | FACIL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price range | €€€ | €€€€ | €€€€ |
| Cuisine | Korean Contemporary | Modern German | Contemporary European |
| Format | Set menu only | Set menu only | Set menu / à la carte |
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Moderate | Moderate |
| Award | Michelin Plate 2025 | Michelin Star | Michelin Star |
| Location | Kreuzberg | Mitte | Tiergarten |
NaNum offers both vegetarian and meat/fish variations of its set menus, so vegetarians are well accommodated within the existing format. Beyond that, specific allergy or intolerance requirements are leading confirmed directly with the restaurant before booking, as the set-menu structure limits flexibility.
No formal dress code is listed, but at €€€ with a Michelin Plate, smart casual is the safe call. The room is pared back and unfussy, so you don't need to dress up, but you'd look out of place in activewear.
Yes, with the right expectations. The set-menu format, open kitchen, handmade ceramics, and natural wine pairings create a considered dinner that feels occasion-appropriate without being stiff. For a birthday or anniversary dinner for two, it's a stronger choice than louder Berlin creative-dining rooms. It's not a venue for large group celebrations given the format.
Two to three weeks in advance is a reasonable target, particularly for Friday and Saturday services. The four-service-per-week schedule limits seat availability, and Michelin recognition will have increased demand. Don't leave it to the week before, especially for weekend dates.
For higher-budget creative tasting menus, Nobelhart & Schmutzig (Modern German, €€€€) and FACIL (Contemporary European, €€€€) are the closest comparisons in format and ethos. CODA Dessert Dining is worth considering if you want something more experimental. For Korean contemporary cooking in other cities, see Nae:um in Singapore or Restaurant Ki in Los Angeles.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| NaNum | Korean Contemporary | €€€ | Easy |
| CODA Dessert Dining | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Rutz | Modern European, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Nobelhart & Schmutzig | Modern German, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| FACIL | Contemporary European, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Horváth | Modern Austrian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
A quick look at how NaNum measures up.
Yes, and the format is built around it. Both the five-course and seven-course menus come in explicit vegetarian variants — the Wednesday/Thursday menu offers vegetarian or meat, while the Friday/Saturday menu offers vegetarian or fish. If you have restrictions beyond those categories, check the venue's official channels before booking, as the set-menu format leaves limited room for ad-hoc substitutions.
The space is described in Michelin's own notes as pleasantly pared back with friendly service, which points toward relaxed rather than formal. Smart casual is a reasonable baseline — think the level you'd dress for a serious neighbourhood restaurant, not a starred dining room. Overdressing would feel out of step with the atmosphere.
Yes, particularly for two people who want something considered without the stiffness of Berlin's starred rooms. The ceramics are made by chef Jinok Kim herself, the terrace opposite the Jewish Museum is a good pre- or post-dinner setting, and the Michelin Plate recognition gives the evening a credential to anchor it. It works better as an intimate occasion than a group celebration, given the limited seating and set-menu format.
Two to three weeks out is advisable. NaNum only operates four evenings a week — Wednesdays through Saturdays — which compresses demand significantly. The Michelin Plate recognition for 2025 has raised its profile, so weekend sittings in particular are likely to fill faster than the schedule suggests.
Nobelhart & Schmutzig is the closest comparison in format — regional-ingredient-led set menus with a strong point of view — but it runs higher on price and formality. Rutz and FACIL operate at Michelin-starred level with broader menus and more conventional fine-dining formats, better suited if you want wine pairings beyond natural. Horváth offers Austrian-influenced contemporary cooking at a similar seriousness level. CODA is a dessert-focused tasting menu and only relevant if you want something genuinely unconventional. NaNum is the right call if Korean fermentation-led cooking and ceramics-as-craft is specifically what you're after at €€€.
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