Horváth
“Two stars for vegetables treated like luxury, €240 at full length. Book the Kreuzberg terrace to impress a guest who eats everywhere.”
About Horváth
The slogan on the door is too blunt to print in full, but it ends with eat veggies, and Sebastian Frank means it. The Austrian chef took over the kitchen on the Kreuzberg canal in 2010, won a star within the year, added a second in 2015 along with a Green Star, and has spent the years since proving that celeriac, paprika and mushrooms can carry a two star evening without a single luxury crutch. He calls it emancipated vegetable cuisine: no meat or fish on the tasting, and no apology either.
The dishes wear working class names and land with fine dining force. Mushroom liver is an oyster mushroom parfait with brioche; the house caviar is jerusalem artichoke with mustard seeds and vinegar sediment; and the famous supplement, celery ripe and young, is a celeriac aged for a full year, served for €40 on top of either menu. The full experience menu runs €240, a shorter seasonal selection €140, both including snacks, bread course, petit four and water.
The drinks programme is a destination in itself: Falstaff named the juice pairing Germany's best non alcoholic accompaniment, €70 or €115 depending on menu length, built on clarified vegetable juices, while the wine pairing, €90 or €145, digs into biodynamic rarities from Austria, Germany and Eastern Europe. Jeannine Frank runs the house, tables sit on OpenTable, and dinner runs Wednesday to Saturday from 6.30 pm with a canal terrace in summer.
The Room
A long room with dark wood tables, candles and a painted mural running toward the open kitchen, relaxed in a way only a confident two star can afford. In warm months the terrace on the canal side of Paul Lincke Ufer becomes one of Berlin's best outdoor tables, plane trees and water included. Dress however Kreuzberg dresses; nobody is checking.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
Horváth is not a general purpose luxury. It has specialties among occasions, and they are these.
For a first date with a view of the canal
Book the terrace between May and September and the setting does half the work: water, plane trees, candlelight, and a menu whose dish names, mushroom liver, first dip, force conversation immediately. The €140 seasonal menu keeps the evening under three hours and the stakes humane, and the celebrated juice pairing means neither of you has to negotiate the wine question on night one.
For the guest who has eaten every protein at every counter
A client who has done the world's tasting rooms has seen caviar a hundred times; they have not seen a year aged celeriac carved like a ham. Horváth's thesis makes it the most memorable contrarian booking in Berlin, and the biodynamic Eastern European wine list gives a wine literate guest genuine discoveries. Order the €40 celeriac supplement for the table and let it argue.
For the solo diner who wants ideas, not ceremony
The relaxed room and the shorter €140 selection make this an ideal solo table: three focused courses plus snacks, a juice pairing at €70 built like a tasting menu of its own, and no dress code or theatre to perform. Ask to sit facing the open kitchen end of the room and the evening becomes a masterclass in what vegetables do under real technique.
What to order
Two menu lengths, one legendary supplement and two serious pairings: the choices here are real, and they set both the bill and the tone.
- Celery ripe and young, the €40 supplement
A celeriac aged one year, the kitchen's signature and the single course that best explains the two stars. Add it to either menu without hesitation.
- The €140 seasonal selection on a weeknight
The chanterelle led short menu delivers the thesis in four courses. Save the full €240 experience for a second visit or a long evening.
- The juice pairing over the wine
Falstaff called it Germany's best non alcoholic pairing for a reason: clarified vegetable juices with real structure, €70 or €115. Even wine drinkers should take it once.
- The terrace in summer
From late spring, the canal terrace on Paul Lincke Ufer is the booking to chase. Say terrace explicitly in the OpenTable notes and confirm the weather plan.
Practical
- Address
- Paul Lincke Ufer 44A, Kreuzberg, Berlin
- Days
- Wednesday to Saturday from 6.30 pm
- Reservations
- OpenTable, linked from the restaurant site
- Menus
- Experience €240 · seasonal selection €140, both with snacks, bread, petit four, water
- Supplement
- Celery ripe and young, one year aged celeriac, €40
- Pairings
- Juice €70 or €115 · wine €90 or €145
- Dress
- None; Kreuzberg rules apply
- Recognition
- Two Michelin stars and a Green Star
Questions diners ask
Is Horváth worth it?
Yes, and it is arguably Berlin's best value two star: €140 buys the seasonal menu with snacks, bread and water included, €240 the full experience. Nothing else in the city at this level lets you in under €150, which is why Value scores eight. The vegetable only format is the point, not a limitation.
How do I book Horváth?
Through OpenTable, linked from the restaurant's site, for dinner Wednesday to Saturday from 6.30 pm. Lead time is days to a couple of weeks rather than months, with summer terrace seats the main exception. Put seating requests in the booking notes.
Does Horváth serve meat or fish?
No. Sebastian Frank's menus are entirely vegetable led, built on techniques like year long ageing, fermentation and reduction, with dishes such as mushroom liver and a jerusalem artichoke answer to caviar. It holds two Michelin stars and a Green Star on that basis.
What does dinner at Horváth cost?
€140 for the seasonal selection or €240 for the full experience, both including snacks, bread course, petit four and water. The aged celeriac supplement adds €40, juice pairings run €70 to €115 and wine €90 to €145. Two people can do it properly for around €450.