Coda Berlin

Coda isn't your regular sugar- laden sweet spot. It's a 2-Michelin-starred rebellion against everything you think   you know about dessert. The kitchen doesn't even use refined sugar. Any sweetness you detect comes from fruit, vegetables and clever technique.

Chef Rene Frank flips the script by applying dessert techniques to savoury ingredients, crafting a 15-course tasting menu that includes ingredients like parsley root, coconut, pistachio, beetroot, raspberry, tofu, cacao, Jerusalem artichoke and cherry. Frank's signature caviar popsicle (photo) - Jerusalem artichoke-bourbon vanilla ice-cream with pecan ganache, topped with caviar - is a definite highlight, visually and in taste.

'The dessert is the course in all traditional menus that is the most emotional,' says Frank. And this is what Coda's customers come to tap into with gusto.


The best seats are at the front bar, where you can eyeball the open kitchen and sip strange, occasionally sublime drink pairings: German beer mixed with whey and saffron; Spanish sherry spiked with oolong tea and cumin; and sake blended with fresh strawberries. Non-drinkers can opt for creative juice pairings.

As with all great restaurants, the staff are attentive, polite, and happy to demystify every plate. And it's Germany's only dessert restaurant-bar.