Bandol sur mer

Bandol sur mer: Starred Restaurant on Torstraße

Bandol sur mer is located at Torstraße 167 in Mitte, about 125 meters from the Rosenthaler Platz U-Bahn station, where the U8, trams M1 and M8, and bus 142 stop. From the outside, the restaurant is barely noticeable; the premises used to house a snack bar. In summer, a few seats are available on a small street-side terrace, from which one can observe the hustle and bustle. Torstraße has become one of the liveliest nightlife areas in Mitte, with one establishment after another lining up between Rosenthaler Platz and Hackescher Markt.

The establishment was founded in 2007 by artist Fred Rubin as a classic French bistro, furnished partly with elements from the interior of the former Central Committee of the GDR. In 2010, Andreas Saul joined as head chef and has been shaping the dishes ever since. In 2012, the concept changed from a bistro to a menu restaurant, followed by the first Michelin star in 2016. Saul has been the leaseholder of the establishment since 2018, and in 2023, the green star for sustainability was added.

A Menu, Eighteen Seats, and an Open Kitchen

The dining room is small and deliberately understated: bare tables are close together, interspersed with individual decorative pieces from GDR times, behind which is the open kitchen. Inside there are 18 seats, outside 20. For groups of five or more, the restaurant requests an email; up to 19 guests can be catered for exclusively, for events such as a wedding or a corporate dinner. Spontaneous guests can also get individual dishes from the menu if tables are available.

A menu is served, optionally with fish and meat or entirely vegetarian; it costs 184 Euros, the vegetarian version 174 Euros. The kitchen’s signature is fermentation and smoking on a classic French basis, with hints from East Asia. The menu includes, for example, a Toast Hawaii as a snack interpretation, a Canelé with chicken liver, caviar with celery and hazelnut ice cream, Havel zander with porcini mushrooms and Vin Jaune, and North Frisian Wagyu. The meal concludes with a Peach Melba. The wine list focuses on Europe, with an emphasis on Germany and France, and on small winemakers; a non-alcoholic pairing is also available.