I’m just back from dinner at Senckenbergs, a steak house and restaurant in Frankfurt’s Bockenheim neighbourhood.
The atmosphere is more on the modern, slightly quirky, designer-elegant end of the scale, but not overly so, with the lights spreading a lovely, warm atmosphere. Service was great from the moment I entered the door. Very friendly, helpful, entertaining, even though maybe not always 100% well-versed with the usual etiquette at the pricier end of the market.
After short deliberation I opted for blood sausage with lamb’s lettuce, beetroot, and potato dressing (€10.50), a Rib Eye (€34 for 300g plus €11 for every additional 100g, in my case roughly €40 for the steak, it turned out) with herb jus (€2), a side of sautéed spinach (€4), and no dessert. The Rioja (0.2l) for €9.20 did not overly excite me.
The starter mainly surprised by the nearly complete absence of blood sausage. Having been through a fair few of these exercises, I realize of course, that even a blood pudding enthusiast like myself can’t expect a whole sausage or two in a case like this, but six tiny slices… really? The lamb’s lettuce was nicely presented and dressed, but the beetroot added nothing much in taste and was watery with no texture.
The steak didn’t start out too bad. At a steak house with prices like this you can expect that the chef knows the difference between medium and medium rare, and this one did. Well done (pun intended).
I initially enjoyed the taste, having started from the end with the least streaky bits, but the more I progressed towards those other parts, the less impressed I was. There started to be an aftertaste after each bite, which was not of the pleasant variety. The streaky parts and fat of a top-quality, expertly prepared steak taste lovely. These bits did not.
When I paid my bill, I decided that I will not spend this type of money again without having done my research beforehand. 2 out of 5 in my book. Would love to give it more for the great service and fabulous atmosphere, but can’t. If you charge those type of prices, you need to get it right.
Other Frankfurt restaurant reviews: La Scuderia, Lafleur, Black Bulls, Lohninger, and Block House. Or perhaps you’d like more variety geographically? Try out Ekeberg Restaurant, Oslo, Galvin at Windows and Aquavit, London, the Fig, Chipping Campden, or Gruvelageret, next to the North Pole in Spitsbergen.
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