tulus lotrek

Berlin has several tasting-menu restaurants at the €€€€ tier — tulus lotrek is the one most worth the difficulty of booking

If you are deciding between tulus lotrek and Rutz for a serious dinner in Berlin, the choice comes down to what you want from the evening. Rutz trades in German produce with a wine program that draws real specialists. tulus lotrek, operating from a former French bistro on Fichtestraße 24 in Kreuzberg, leans into a more playful Modern European register under chef Maximilian Strohe. Both hold a Michelin star. Both are hard to book. tulus lotrek edges ahead for guests who want a tasting menu that feels progressive rather than authoritative — less lecture, more conversation.

The room and the mood

The space carries traces of its French bistro past without being precious about it. The atmosphere runs warm rather than hushed , this is not a reverential, white-tablecloth temple where the silence signals seriousness. Expect a room with enough ambient energy to feel like an event, but not so much noise that conversation requires effort. For a food-focused evening with a partner or a small group of three or four, the mood is close to ideal: attentive without being stiff, relaxed without being casual. If you need somewhere completely quiet for a working dinner, this is the wrong choice.

The tasting menu arc

tulus lotrek's reputation rests on how the tasting menu progresses rather than on any single dish. The Modern European framing gives Strohe room to move between registers , lighter, more acidic early courses that open the palate, building toward richer, more textured mid-sections, with dessert courses handled with enough restraint to avoid the sugar-heavy finish that weakens many comparable menus. The Opinionated About Dining guide, which tracks classical European cooking with serious rigour, ranked tulus lotrek at #234 in Europe for 2025 (up from #291 in 2024 and a recommendation in 2023). That upward trajectory over three consecutive years is a more useful signal than a static ranking: the kitchen is improving, not coasting. The Michelin star, held for at least two consecutive years, confirms technical consistency. For guests who follow the OAD list, this is a meaningful data point in Berlin's competitive fine-dining field, which also includes Nobelhart & Schmutzig and CODA Dessert Dining.

How it fits Berlin's fine-dining map

Kreuzberg is not where most visitors instinctively go for a €€€€ dinner, and that geographic friction is part of what keeps tulus lotrek from becoming as internationally over-booked as some of the city's more central addresses. It sits within Berlin's broader restaurant scene that covers everything from neighbourhood wine bars like Barra to the full-throttle Chinese-influenced tasting menus at Restaurant Tim Raue. Among Germany's single-star restaurants with serious European rankings, tulus lotrek is comparable in ambition to JAN in Munich and sits below the three-star tier occupied by venues like Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn and Aqua in Wolfsburg. Within Berlin, it occupies a distinct position: more chef-driven and personal than Rutz's produce-focused rigour, and more conventionally structured than the experience-format dining at CODA.

When to go

tulus lotrek is a dinner-only venue. It opens Thursday through Monday from 6:30 pm, with Tuesday and Wednesday dark. Friday and Saturday are the hardest nights to secure, particularly for two-person bookings at prime seating times. If you have flexibility, Thursday opening is your leading option for getting a reservation without months of lead time , demand is lower and the kitchen is typically at full energy early in the week's service run. Sunday dinner is worth considering if you are extending a weekend trip, though confirm availability well in advance given the Monday closure that follows. There is no lunch service, which means the evening commitment is the full experience.

Practical details

Reservations: Book well in advance , this is a hard booking, particularly on weekends. Check the venue's reservations page or third-party booking platforms for availability. Address: Fichtestraße 24, 10967 Berlin. Hours: Thursday–Monday 6:30–11 pm; Tuesday–Wednesday closed. Price range: €€€€. Dress: Smart casual is the baseline expectation for a Michelin-starred room at this price point; there is no indication of a formal dress code, but jeans and trainers would read as underdressed. Getting there: Kreuzberg is well-connected by U-Bahn; U8 to Schönleinstraße is a short walk from the address. For a full picture of where to stay nearby, see our full Berlin hotels guide. For bars to continue the evening, see our full Berlin bars guide. The full Berlin restaurants guide covers the wider dining field.

The verdict

Book tulus lotrek if: you want a tasting menu that rewards attention, you are comfortable at €€€€ pricing for a multi-course dinner, and you can plan ahead. The combination of a rising OAD European ranking, two years of Michelin recognition, and a Google rating of 4.8 across 538 reviews suggests the kitchen delivers consistently for paying guests, not just for critics. For Modern European tasting menus at comparable depth elsewhere in Europe, The Ledbury in London and Vendôme in Bergisch Gladbach occupy similar serious-but-not-austere territory. Within Berlin, this is the tasting menu most likely to feel like a complete evening rather than an exercise in technical demonstration.

How It Compares

See the comparison section below for how tulus lotrek stacks up against Nobelhart & Schmutzig, CODA Dessert Dining, and other €€€€ Berlin options. For a broader view of what Berlin's fine-dining tier offers, including venues like Restaurant Haerlin in Hamburg for a northern Germany comparison and ES:SENZ in Grassau for alpine contrast, the Pearl Berlin restaurants guide and Berlin experiences guide give fuller context. Wine-focused visitors should also check the Berlin wineries guide for what the region offers beyond the restaurant floor. Guests planning around Gidleigh Park-style country-house escapes can find that category covered at Gidleigh Park in Chagford.