Facil

Rating: 18
Author: Gault&Millau

Potsdamer Straße 3, 10785 Berlin, Germany

18/20
Prestige Restaurant

BOOK

1 PHOTOS

Chef: Michael Kempf | Joachim Gerner
Cooking: Gastronomic | International | Vegetarian
Services: Accommodation | Private Parking | Private Room | Terrace
Style: Casual | Romantic | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

Berlin is a lively, sometimes demanding city. The upscale restaurants are also happy to follow suit, because it is often necessary to penetrate interpretive concepts with knife and fork. In recent years, we have never quite made sense of the "Facil": On the one hand, the kitchen and service team at "The Mandala Hotel" on Potsdamer Platz is able to overwhelm with creatively sophisticated and technically perfected product cuisine. On the other hand, we have experienced failures in service quality and kitchen performance here, which leave you downright stunned in a house of this standard. This is why we have been to the "Facil" several times this year - with the same variable result. Depending on the form of the day, we would award a brilliant five toques or would prefer to suspend the evaluation altogether, as happens on the stock market with crashed values from time to time. So it remains with four toques with the clear indication that the restaurant is obviously at a crossroads – there seems to be an uncertain line between the big boiled and completely off the mark. In view of the ten services per week (a commendable rarity in the industry), is the team sometimes simply overworked and overtired? Or is there a lack of clear leadership on some days? Because the product quality is always impeccable – but it is of no use if the crispy fried pike-perch, juicy, dry-aged fillets of Breton red mullet or firm-fleshed carabinero are brought to the table almost completely cold after up to an hour of waiting between courses by an uncoordinated, maximally inattentive service. Let's stay with the good days: On these days, the duck breast from breeder Jean-Claude Miéral or the lamb from the Polting estate are masterfully prepared and staged, often with all kinds of textures and temperatures, such as the iodine sea freshness of Gillardeau oysters, which can be shown to their best advantage in a frame of rich ox marrow, sour lemon pearls or marinated Beelitz asparagus. Asparagus also builds the pedestal of melting Sevruga caviar, plus meaty crab and fresh, sweet peas. The latter dish is a course from the gourmet menu, which is offered at lunch and dinner. The lunch offer also consists of twelve creations, offered at highly moderate prices. Two courses start at just under 70 euros. But back to the kitchen, to the sweet cuisine, to be precise: As contradictory as some combinations in the "Facil" seem, the ingredients always find each other in a harmonious way, at least in Thomas Yoshida's patisserie. Above all, the play with all kinds of herbs and vegetables gives many creations an exciting spice kick. Basil, celery and yoghurt are combined. The wine selection of sommelier Felix Voges does not lack vintage depth. There is excitement in the open bar, but finer interlocking could be taken up a notch.