L`escalier Restaurant - Köln

I tried this place for lunch since I wanted to try a proper fine dining place in Cologne and reservations were somewhat easy to get her dor lunch (dinner not so much). Overall the place is really designed mostly for locals and Germans. They did not have an English version of the menu which I didn't mind because they took a great amount of effort to describe the dishes to me in English. Service at this place was really good. So let's talk about the food. I would say 4 stars. The bread service was good. First two courses were good and I guess the weakest part of the menu was the dessert course. The other thing I would comment on was that the wine menu really had mostly bottles. They had glasses of wine open but it was limited which made sense for a restaurant of that size. Food 4 stars, Wine Program 4 stars, Service 4.5 stars, Value for Money 4.5 stars

We are visiting the area and we're looking for a good French meal and found this restaurant on yelp. It is a very nice place but the food was not great and the prices were very high. The ravioli dish had a small single ravioli, the pork belly was dry and flavorless and there were so many other things on the goose liver you hardly got to enjoy the taste of them liver itself. In addition I found the menu very confusing (I know that sounds strange) and there was a nice wine list with no one who seemed to be educated about what was on it. Long story short it was pretentious, just ok and expensive.

I recently traveled to Cologne in Germany. Cologne’s range of eating establishments is extremely diverse and tourists have over 3,000 restaurants to choose from including a handful of top restaurants that have been awarded one or even two Michelin stars. During the first day of our stay we decided to have our lunch at L’Escalier restaurant by Maximilian Lorenz that have been awarded with 1 Michelin Star and 16 Gault & Millau points.Location:L’Escalier restaurant is based on a quiet Brüsseler street so it is perfect if you wish to escape from the hustle and bustle of the big city.Atmosphere:At first glance, L’Escalier restaurant looks like many other eateries however if you go inside you’ll discover that the restaurant has very modern and intimidate surroundings. Restaurant can host up to 32 diners at once and in the summer it also has 16 additional sits outside. Private dining or events are available upon request.We booked our table for 12:30 p.m. When we entered the restaurant, we were welcomed by a friendly waitress -Michelle who took us to our table. Once we were seated, she recommended us a glass of champagne-it was divine.The decor of L’Escalier restaurant is exclusive, modern and sophisticated.Throughout our meal there was soft, romantic music playing in the background.Menu:Guests dining at this fine-dining Michelin star restaurant have an opportunity to select from the A La Carte Menu as well as a few selected tasting menus. We decided to order the 7-course tasting menu ‘Innovation’. If you are looking for a great food which is out of the ordinary and completely different then you should try it.The first dish we had was small incitement. It was made using crustacean espuma, North sea crab, amaranth, watercress, herring, red onion, topinambour, comté, pine nuts, citrus dressing, wels catfish, cabbage and black cumin.For second dish we had was German ‘Vitello Tonato’ made with pork loin, trout, cucumber and yellow dandelion.For third course was Breton Mackarel made with some tomato, apple dressing and leeks.Next we had some wild broccoli with chicken giblets, hazelnut and chicorée.Following from that we had one of the signature dishes-Norwegian Scalop on a marrow bones with some young garlic and lovage.To clean our palate we received some refreshing Green Apple tonic water with celery.For our main course we had some calf’s head that was served with a side of peas, snow pea pods and asparagus.For my dessert we had some mouth-watering rhubarb cake with some bourbon vanilla and buckwheat.The meal ended with a selection of petit fours.All dishes were delicious and presented beautifully. I could even describe them as rather Instagram-friendly. After our dessert and petit fours Maximilian Lorenz came over to ask us if we enjoyed our food and we talked for a couple of minutes about his background, inspiration behind the dishes and the ingredients he sources for his dishes.Overall experience:We had an amazing dinning experience at L’Escalier restaurant. All of the dishes we tried were delicious, creative and featured regional products. If you are looking for a fine-dining experience based on the best quality, locally sourced ingredients then you should look no further. The service was great and the food was delectable so we will definitely be returning there next time we are in Cologne.

There is a reason that the L'escalier has a Michelin Star and is highly rated. I reviewed this restaurant a few years ago and it has consistently maintained it's high standards. The food is innovative and just absolutely wonderful. Their wine list and impeccable service match it. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming. Chef Max Lorenz is a well-known celebrity in the region and deserves the honor.

The restaurant has a humble but cozy ambiance and a very friendly and easy going staff. The cuisine by Maximilian Lorenz is most excellent and refined. Although expensive the taste experience warrants the price..., almost. The one thing that this restaurant really lacks is a sommelier and wine arrangement that can match Maximilian Lorenz's cuisine. They have a great wine list and I know a thing or two about wines myself, but... as a customer I don't know which food I'm going to be served. So I can't do a wine pairing 'on the spot' for 7 courses. This was a bit of a disappointment, a well balanced wine arrangement would really make the experience complete.