On the recommendation of an experienced restaurateur from Fürstenwalde, we visited today quite spontaneously Das Dorsch in Bad Saarow. In order not to experience an unpleasant surprise on this sunny Sunday, we have previously reserved by phone of course and had luck to get hold of a table outside.

It was our first visit to this restaurant located directly on the Scharmützelsee, which also has a pier. Entering Das Dorsch’s property, you have a choice – to the right is a terrace area with mostly self-service, and to the left is a staircase up to the restaurant’s central dining room, through which you can in turn reach the various terraces on the hillside with views of the lake.

As is so often the case in Germany, one must first unlock the hearts of the staff before the concentrated cordiality can emerge. Our waitress – a young lady in training – gave us superbly accurate and always friendly service.

We went to Das Dorsch together with our 5-year-old daughter. Of course, we have read before in some reviews that guests with children partly did not feel comfortable – we did not have to make such experiences here today. Whereas our daughter, as young as she still is, could already make extensive experiences with upscale gastronomy worldwide and is therefore perhaps a little less lively than without it.

We were kindly offered two terrace options – one sunny, the other more shaded, we found this very accommodating and opted for the less sunny table.

As always on our first visit to a restaurant new to us, we ordered all the available courses across the board. The drinks as well as the dishes arrived quickly on the table and the impression we had when reading the menu was immediately confirmed – here they cook with love. The dishes were carefully and professionally arranged, attention was paid to the colourful interplay of the ingredients and the size of the portions was midrange.

We opened our visit with a fresh HUGO, as well as a Rhubarb Spritz – both openers were visual as well as flavourful “treats” that were served to us ice cold ideally suited the afternoon temperatures.

As starters we ordered the roasted quail breast on couscous – this was cooked to the point, well-seasoned, respectively seasoned with mango chutney and harmonized excellently with the added wild herbs and “roasted” nuts.

In addition, we had the Picandou Ziegenthaler – a very mild gratinated goat cheese that harmonized perfectly with the beet carpaccio and the small salad ensemble along with wild herbs, cranberries and also “burnt” nuts.

The pork steak (according to the menu, some Duroc is involved here) was delicious, but could not score in terms of roasted flavours as if it had been prepared on a grill (preferably gas).

It was quite firm and rather unremarkable in taste, clearly lacking the amount of intramuscular fat it needs to really stand out in flavour…perhaps Secreto is better recommended here as a cut.

The spaghetti with Bolognese sauce for the little one was worth mentioning good, the pasta as dente on the point and the sauce almost a real Bolognese. It is not often that even the children’s dishes are prepared so well – my thanks for that.

We ordered the Berlin liver medium – which of course could not really be done due to the small thickness of the slices – 3-4mm. The liver was extremely tender, the apple quarters from apples worth mentioning and the mashed potatoes tasty top.

We lacked as confessed Berliners in comparison, however, the necessary roast flavours on the meat and the apples would have made themselves in the classic version as rings certainly even better.

For dessert, we had ice cream with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, as well as a Crème Brulé served with a Macaron on a stick. The ice cream was not an epiphany, but the choice of a local vendor was at least sympathetic.

The Crème Brulé, however, was outstanding – both the temperature of the cream and its texture itself were excellent. Above all, it was not too sweet and the layer of burnt sugar was paper-thin, just as Bocuse enjoyed his favourite dessert.

The price/performance ratio in Das Dorsch is coherent for me, the direct service cordial – snootiness we have – unlike other reviews – not perceived. The cuisine is good and there is always room for improvement, especially when you have “seen” a lot.

We are happy to recommend Das Dorsch (especially if you want to come from the seaside), but will certainly plan at least one more visit, because unfortunately there was not enough “capacity” to try all the dishes that the well-stocked menu tried to suggest to us…if necessary, an update will follow.