Rating: 19/20Where: Perl, GermanyWhen: Dinner for 4 on 16 August 2025Cost per Person: Tasting menu 345 Euro ($400), Wine pairing 175-250 Euro ($205-$290)Accolades: 3 Michelin StarsWhy: Flavorful dishes, inspired by Japanese and French cuisines
“Victor's Fine Dining by Christian Bau” received its third Michelin star in 2005. Back then, Christian Bau was the youngest German chef to ever achieve that honor. And now, twenty years later, he is the chef who has held three stars the longest in the country. None other than fine-dining authority Andy Hayler once named Victor's as his favorite three-star restaurant currently operating in the world. Since our one and only visit had been almost eight years ago, it seemed like high time for a return.
The restaurant's name alludes to its location. It is part of the “Victor's Residenz Schloss Berg”, a five-star hotel close to where the three countries Germany, Luxembourg and France meet. The hotel and its associated casino feel a bit past their prime, but the three-star restaurant is still going strong. So strong in fact, that according to its website it was fully booked on the day that we wanted to visit. Luckily enough though, the restaurant had an additional table, next to the regular dining room, that one could book only by phone. It didn’t have white table cloths and a bit more foot traffic from the dining room to the kitchen and the bathrooms. But that was a small price to pay in order to enjoy a three-star meal. In fact, we actually preferred this semi-private alcove to the closely spaced tables in the main dining room, where we had sat in 2017.
What hadn't changed during the last eight years was the title of the menu: “Paris to Tokyo”, emphasizing the inspirations that the kitchen took from both French and Japanese cuisines. The restaurant served a single tasting menu, but there were several more dishes that could be added to be menu. Well, at least in theory, since our server warned us that “the regular tasting menu is already a lot of food”, and that he had rarely seen anyone order additional dishes and still be able to finish the entire meal. (To be fair, he stated that the additional courses did taste amazing.) At the point when we had this conversation, we had already finished several rounds of (not exactly small) appetizers, so this seemed an entirely believable assessment. We still ordered one additional course - two servings to be shared among the four of us -, but that was probably the most that a person with a normal appetite should commit to. It made us wonder though: why have such an extensive a la carte list if you effectively steer diners away from it? Why source ingredients that are likely to go to waste? I can only assume that the most likely answer is “regulars”, i.e. frequently returning guests that are happy to forgo part of the (familiar) tasting menu and choose from the a la carte options instead. Not really applicable to people like us, though, who visit only very infrequently.
There were two five-glass wine pairings available (priced at 175 and 250 Euro, respectively, about $205 and $290), as well as a non-alcoholic pairing for 105 Euro ($120). We tried both wine pairings. They went pretty well with the food, and the wines were also quite enjoyable on their own. However, the two pairings were pretty similar - a blind tasting might have had a hard time figuring out which pairing was the pricier one. Unless something catches your eye in the fancier pairing, it's probably safe to stick to the more affordable one. Since the wine pairing started only after the appetizers, ordering an aperitif was not a bad idea. I tried the house aperitif, a mixture of a local sparkling wine (Sekt) and yuzu syrup for 18 Euro ($20). Not too sweet, and with a light yuzu note, it was a good accompaniment for the food, just like the champagne ordered by my dinner companions.
