Blue Mare

If you are looking for first-class fish dishes and creative sushi, you have to come to Blue Mare. The recently reopened restaurant is located in the middle of a former factory site in Langenhorn. It's worth the trip!

As the summer of Hamburg shows its cool side on the evening of our visit to Blue Mare, we don't sit on the large outdoor terrace but prefer to go inside. The restaurant is modern and cosy with - who would have thought it - many shades of blue and a large golden monkey as a centrepiece.

We are greeted by Felicia, who introduces herself in a friendly manner and serves us excellently for the rest of the evening. A big thank you and praise for the outstanding service at this point. As an aperitif, we choose a crémant, which we enjoy together with delicious homemade bread and whipped thyme butter.

With an extensive menu of fish and meat dishes and lots of sushi, it's tough to choose. Finally, we decide on tuna, once in the form of a tartar and once grilled. The tuna tartare comes with avocado, tapioca chips, pink teriyaki, coriander earth and wasabi lime gel. The meal is not only a visual highlight: the different consistencies and subtle flavours are perfectly matched.

The Grilled Tuna with ceviche onions, sweet potato mayo, togarashi, thin lime slices and Andean corn is convincing in the interplay of the different acids and the briefly grilled fish.

When asked about the right wine, Felicia recommends a Chardonnay from the Black Forest from Johannes Kopp's winery. The winemaker is considered a young talent on the wine scene and has made a name for himself with Burgundies and Rieslings. As a relative of the Pinot Blanc, our Chardonnay has fruity notes and mineral nuances. This Badener tastes excellent to us.

Our main course, turbot with porcini mushrooms, mashed potatoes and white wine velouté, is pure soul food. The earthy notes of the porcini mushrooms go perfectly with the fish, and together with the mashed potatoes, it creates a full mouthfeel that we can't get enough of. The white wine velouté adds a delicious freshness.

We also try the sushi: Beet Salmon Nigiri with salmon, beetroot, physalis and chimichurri and also Avocado Nigiri with ceviche onions and coriander. The sushi is not only visually appealing but also in terms of taste - probably the best sushi I've ever had. By the way, the Blue Mare attaches great importance to sustainability and only uses fish that is MSC certified.

We finish the evening with cheesecake, three kinds of ice cream, and an espresso. As you would expect after the steep bill, the dessert - and the coffee too, by the way - tastes so good that no wishes remain unfulfilled. Thank you for this culinary journey, dear Blue Mare.