Victor’s Fine Dining by Christian Bau

Rating: 19
Author: Gault&Millau

Schloßstraße 29, 66706 Perl, Germany

19/20
Exceptional Restaurant

1 PHOTOS

Chef: Christian Bau
Cooking: French | Gastronomic | Japanese | Vegetarian
Services: Accommodation | Electric charging station | Private Parking | Private Room | Terrace
Style: Bar | Casual | Elegant | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

Good food is important, true, but in order for guests to feel really comfortable in a restaurant, other things are needed. In the case of Victor's Fine Dining, this means that the door opens before the guest touches its knob; that he is led through the foyer to the guest room in perfect form. It also means that the service is cordial, but not a bit stiff, that it offers a selection of remarkably good sparkling wines from the trolley right at the beginning and, always taking time, ensures relaxation. Speaking of wines: Of course, the menu here is regionally strong, relies on Moselle in all its facets, but also takes care of France to an extraordinary degree; you can even order high-end wines by the glass, such as the Corton from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. As far as sake is concerned, there are a few bottles on the menu and excellent ones open on request. The young, very committed sommelier Ester Eggert does her job very well, even if one cannot yet expect the in-depth wine knowledge that Nina Mann, who is currently absent, possesses. As far as food is concerned, this is mainly about seafood. Meat is not on the menu, but would be available as an add-on. Do you have to try that? No, because only a few chefs in Europe – yes, Europe – know so well how to refine fish fillets, mussels, crustaceans or caviar into creations that are as subtle as they are intense. Eric Kragh Vildgaard from Copenhagen's Jordnaer and Ángel León in Aponiente in Andalusia are similarly competent, but Bau's compilations are a little more compact in direct comparison, more French in the best sense of the word, always with a more or less clear allusion to Japan. Lobster croustade with tosazu, Japanese seasoning sauce and yuzu impresses us not least with its perfect lobster consistency; Saba mackerel is cleverly framed by buttermilk and yuzu koshu, the bonito is enhanced by bonito vinegar and koshihikari. For two other of the many little things in advance, vegetables and meat are in the foreground. Japanese Amela tomato with cucumber and shishito pepper is hard to beat in terms of tomato aroma and the so-called homage to Martín Berasategui, the cooking colleague from San Sebastián, Spain, combines foie gras, apple and unagi into a not surprising, but very balanced bite. For the tuna toro, caviar (in this case Kaluga) plays a role, not for the first and not for the last time on this day, while the asparagus is supplied by Robert Blanc from Provence and accentuated with Japanese hollandaise, sumak and misocarasell in a palatable and spicy way. Also great are sashimi from Kampachi (with oyster cream) and turbot from the Vendée with ox marrow, beurre rouge and koji. A course that almost demands red wine; this is then delivered in the form of a highly elegant Volnay. You have to look for weaknesses for a long time. We don't find them in shiso ice cream with wild strawberry broth and sake, not in the champagne-rhubarb dessert; only in the little things afterwards there is sometimes a touch too much sweetness involved. But that's bean counting. The fact that you get a lot of service for manageable money at Christian Bau and dine as cheaply as it is great by international standards is undeniable. And of course, the farewell turns out to be as it should be in one of the best restaurants in the country: rehearsed, elegant, unobtrusive.