Taku - Cologne, Germany

Taku is located about 20 meters from Cologne's famous dom (cathedral) in the basement of the Excelsior Hotel Ernst. This restaurant offering East Asian cuisine has been awarded one Michelin star.

After walking down the stairs and entering the restaurant, one can see some fish swimming underneath a glass covered floor, creating the illusion of a tiny stream. Being in a basement, the lack of natural light was compensated by lots of white light which made the restaurant rather cold. The acoustics were quite bad; only three tables were occupied during our lunch and we could hear the different conversations.

Some peanuts with lemongrass and roasted coconut to nibble on. Notice the chopsticks on the right and the absence of a proper tablecloth.

Bread selection: Krupuk with chilli flakes, 3 types of bread (peanut, curry and sesame) and butter

Three varieties of butter: sesame, mango and coriander

There were 4 options: lunch @ Taku (from 2 to 4 courses, with two options for each course except dessert), Taku classic (which is a Thai red curry dish), a bento lunch box and sushi.

Amuse-bouche

Bite-sized lamb with vindaloo sauce

 The vegetarian alternative was with pakora instead of the lamb.

Starter

Wild salmon / perilla / cucumber

Gado Gado / peanut / tomato

The peanut sauce was served on the side

Soup

Pepper / coconut / pakoras

Pho Ga / breast and haunch of dove / rice noodles
Uncoiling the 2 noodles was interesting. Good but way too salty.

Main course

Tofu / pumpkin / sesame

The meat main course on the lunch menu was pork neck. The waitress offered as a substitute the red Thai curry with fish and crustaceans, a dish that can be ordered individually for lunch. This turned out to be a big portion. Again too salty to enjoy.

Dessert

There was only one dessert option in the lunch menu: coffee / coconut / pistachio
This was very good ; light and not too sweet.

As mignardise, a  board of pralines was brought to our table. There were  about 13 varieties to choose from. Sake, champagne and passion fruit were especially good.

Overall, despite a few dishes that suffered from too much salt, that was a pleasant meal while visiting the Koln Christmas markets.

Taku
http://www.excelsiorhotelernst.com/en/restaurant-bar/taku.html