Restaurant Review – Sauvage

I was flicking through the pages of exberliner a week or so ago, browsing the food page, with the slight pangs for foods I can no longer eat, when I came across a little review for a restaurant in Neukolln called Sauvage.  At first glance I didn’t pay it too much attention, it sounded a little odd at first and it was certainly the first time I’d heard of the Paleo diet.  But it did mention that said diet avoided the use of grains.

I read the review again, no mention of glutenfrei-ness.  Worrying and odd, if they are infact avoiding grains, then they should be 100% gluten free, and if that was the case, they would be the only restaurant in Berlin that is.  Therefore, they may not be, or else they would of mentioned it in at least a sentence or so?  You would think so.

But, after a little scouring on the internet I found their facebook page which mentions that their food is gluten-less, a quick phone call later and all was confirmed.  Berlin has an actual gluten free restaurant!  (Even if it is hiding a little)

So, as soon as possible, off i went.

The place itself is a little inconspicuous, I almost walked past it without seeing it, but once you get inside the place has a certain (in fitting with the theme) cave like feel to it.

There are no menus as such, just the dishes that they offer that week written on a blackboard next to the counter.  There is definitely something about a smaller menu that always makes me feel a little more comfortable in a place, I guess its the whole quality vs quantity simplicity, and that I’ve been to too many restaurants where they have 50 options and only 5 flavours.

I plumped for the vegan cake (mostly as it was called cake and cake is something I can’t eat usually, that and I’m not a huge fan of anything of the ocean), my dinner companion decided on the salmon curry.  The guy that was serving us (I believe one of the owners) is well aware of those of us afflicted with a gluten condition and was able to answer all of my questions in English, reassuring me that the kitchen is completely grain free and therefore without any gluten and also that there is no chance of cross contamination.  Rejoice!

The menu does change on a fairly regular (seemingly weekly) basis, and is usually put up on their facebook page.

After a short while some olives were placed infront of us, and were quickly devoured.

A short while later the most important part arrived, the main meals!

 

They were both quite delicious indeed (yes, I did steal some of the other meal, well, i’m reviewing the place, I have to!), my cake was more of an arranged mashed sweet potato with mushrooms and courgettes with a crispy coating, but I’m not complaining one little bit.

A little in to the meal the chef came over to the table and dropped off these, explaining what they were made of and that they are completely gluten free!

Imagine that, bread (of a kind), given to you at a meal that you can actually eat!  I tried to explain just how amazing this was, not having to pick apart everything, examine whether or not I can eat it, to be able to just stuff my face with food care free, but I don’t think its easy to understand unless you are similarly afflicted.

After the meal my stomach was about ready to burst, but, one can not go to a restaurant where all is gluten free and NOT eat the cake they have on the menu!

Pear cake with vanilla and orange.  It was simply sublime (aided by the fact I was actually eating cake).  Afterwards a long long walk was needed to reduce my food pregnant belly.

In Conclusion

I think I need to address this to the two types of people that visit my blog.  First, to the people who live here in Berlin, yes, go, and go now!  Are you there yet?  Why not?  Its gluten free, go!

To those who are visiting the city, you may look at its location on a map and think its a little far outside of the normal tourist routes to visit.  Plus, if you have an older guide book it may tell you to avoid Neukolln, but this should definitely be ignored.  There are some great cafe’s and bars around Schönleinstraße, which you can get to directly from Alexanderplatz on the U8, and the area itself is well worth a stroll around (check out Popsy’s Hamburger Heaven, they may not have glutenfrei burgers but they have some damn good fries. Plus Heroes Cafe or Dolly’s if you’re looking for a place to grab a coffee nearby, just to name a few).

Click the banner below to see all the details of this restaurant on our sister site, Allergy Explorer.