Haerlin

There's always a question (in my mind, anyway) as to Michelin's accuracy/usefulness outside of France. In the US, it's not very helpful at all and in Europe ex-France, I've found it hit and miss. Haerlin represented only my second stab at a two-star in Germany and the first meal (Heinz Winkler), while a thoroughly wonderful overall experience, felt like the second star might have been a stretch. Not so at Haerlin, this was a two-star meal that stands fork-to-fork with any I can remember.The food is stylized to within an inch of its life, but close to flawless in both conception and execution. Outside of a large selection of generally unremarkable breads and a luke-warm roasted onion broth added to an amuse at table side that probably should have been hotter, the meal was simply one perfect dish after another. Maybe the sorbet intermezzo was a little old school in such a fashion forward meal, but - hey - it was delicious! Keep it.The room is suitably formal, luxurious in a traditional style, and quite comfortable. The pace of service might be a little leisurely for some (I ate alone and the four-course menu (seven + courses, including amuses, etc) pushed it a bit, stretching just over three hours. However, the friendly and attentive staff kept an eye out the entire time and stopped by if the time between courses presented the opportunity.The somm, in particular, was a great diversion, visiting from time to time to discuss the varied and interesting wines on offer. He provided useful insight into the outstanding selection of trocken Rieslings on the list. He guided me to a 2001 Burklin-Wolf GG that, at Eu 150, was both a great bottle of mature white and a tremendous value for a wine of this quality in this type of restaurant. (Good luck finding a white burgundy of this quality at this price at any multi-star restaurant - or at retail, for that matter.) He also suggested a wonderful German Pinot Noir by the glass that worked perfectly with the meat course and wasn't terribly expensive. The list is extensive, but not the tome you see at some restaurants, but don't be fooled - wine service at Haerlin is both a major plus and represents notable value in the context of multi-star restaurants.I'm not going to argue two-star vs three-star because that distinction often seems to be kind of mysterious (and tangentially related to the food), but I will say that this place certainly deserves two stars. I had just a flat-out great meal. If you can work in a visit, Haerlin should be high on your list.

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I know we have the French Laundry in California and are terribly spoiled, but the food at this restaurant was a 4. The service started out great and deteriorated to unacceptable over the evening, so I would put that at a 3. When they served one of our party the wrong dessert, instead of apologizing and offering to serve the correct dessert, she said "the other dessert is basically the same, just black currant vs strawberry." what the heck?! we said, that was fine, that they could make up the mistake on our petit fors that we were getting to go (because we were too full). They gave us the petit fors to go, but did not include anything extra. We paid for accompany wine and no dessert wine was served. They did not offer coffee or any other options at the end of the meal. We have received expected service at other restaurants in Germany, so I don't understand. $511 euros for a dinner should get exceptional service. Boo to the Haerlin!

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We needed a place to eat for our one night remaining in Hamburg and we didn't want to be disappointed so we went for a sure thing, a 2 michelin star restaurant near where we were staying! We were not only not disappointed, but we were delighted with the excellent service and incredible food here. We also were impressed with how affordable it was compared to a similar restaurant in Los Angles. We are grateful to all the wonderful staff who helped us and spoke english to us, danke!

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Beautiful, old chique, restaurant. Do not go there if you want something lively.We had the 4-course meal, which was amazing!After three wonderful amuses the meal started. Every course was of a very high level and very tasteful.The Riesling wine was amazing as well as the red wine from Lebanon(!).Service was impeccable, friendly and relaxed.

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From food to service, from ambiente to the rythm in the exit of the different dishes: simply perfect.Two stars well deserved, excellent restaurant.

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