Bandol sur Mer

Rating: 16
Author: Gault&Millau

Torstraße 167, 10115 Berlin, Germany

16/20
Remarkable Restaurant

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Chef: Andreas Saul
Cooking: French | Gastronomic | German | Local | Vegetarian
Services: Terrace
Style: Casual

Gault&Millau's review 2025

The Bandol is, contrary to what the name suggests, quite typical Berlin: The former kebab stand was furnished by Andreas Saul with finds from the former Palace of the Republic of the GDR, plus a few bistro tables on the street (despite the cramped seating, there is room for less than twenty guests inside) and of course – how could it be otherwise in Torstraße – with a focus on vegetarian cuisine, the dishes written on the large table. Fish or meat are only available as additional dishes to the six-course vegetarian menu. Everything from the best provenance from the surrounding area (let's be generous and count North Frisia as part of the extended Berlin foreland) and largely in organic quality: just as we would like contemporary, seasonal, product-oriented cuisine. It comes across as rather opulent here and, with a Mediterranean, at least clearly French-influenced influence, shows why the restaurant bears the name of a southern French city and not a Scandinavian city, which we have to think of spontaneously again and again when we think of vegetarian cuisine since Rézepi. It doesn't come across as purist here, but rather sloppy, which may be due not least to the use of home-made oils. The fact that it's worth ordering the fish and meat courses with it is shown by the fact that the cooking here is vegetable-focused, but pleasantly without dogma – the zander with chicken sauce offers just as independent a taste experience as leaf porling (a sponge mushroom, better known by its Japanese name maitake) with grilled plum. In any case, the frequently changing menu with consistently rather unusual combinations and ingredients (such as the candied porcini mushrooms for dessert or puree from grilled apple to celery leaves) invites you to come back again and again. Plus: The wine list has developed – upwards in the selection, but not in the prices.