The Wasserschloss is a tea office and restaurant, or, as it says itself, Hamburg’s first culinary-gastronomic voyage of discovery around the pleasure of tea. And at the same time our first port of call for a menu from the Hamburg Kulinarisch series.
The various hints of tea read very well in the menu, but – to anticipate our verdict directly – could not live up to the set expectations. The salmon trout smoked in “Tarry Lapsang Souchong Tea” was unfortunately served ice cold and thus could develop only little of the hoped for flavors. The slice of roasted saddle of veal with shallots from the hibiscus flower broth served as the main course was tasty but equally unspectacular. The culinary low point was the pancake with currants and “Apple Loves Mint Tea” granité. Dry and clearly too little sweetened.
What irritated us most was the rapid succession of gears. Less than 90 minutes after entering the surge tank, we already had the bill on the table, surrounded by two cups of undrinkable espresso.
You can certainly participate in tasting events like Hamburg Kulinarisch in several ways. I would expect restaurants to present themselves and their cuisine to a new clientele, serving signature menus that represent the cuisine of the house and perhaps even offering a special price-performance ratio. In any case, you want to encourage the guest to come more often in the future. The surge tank did not manage to do that. More likely, the menu’s low commodity input, as well as the quick succession of dishes, left the feeling of taking potential test eaters’ receipts as additional business. Too bad.
