Ven, an airy restaurant, located within the Innside Inn, is
surprisingly modern compared to the cobblestone exterior of Dresden. In an
alley just off the busy Old Town courtyard, the restaurant is a calm oasis from
the bustling tourist traffic. As a bonus, prices are relatively inexpensive compared to the
restaurant’s swanky environment.
To start, an amuse of spicy gazpacho with a crunchy crouton. It was a refreshing soup packed with flavour.
Their appetizers were the highlight of the meal. Sadly, I only got
an appetizer portion of the pappardelle
mit morcheln (€9). The
creamy herbed sauce was just thick enough to cover the fresh pasta without being
overwhelming. Plenty of morels were mixed throughout and the deep fried asparagus
spear complimented the creamy pasta.
The schaumsuppe (€8), a
beautiful cream soup infused with wild garlic, was a touch salty but had a
lovely texture. Lightly poached scallops sat on a focaccia crouton, which added
a great crunchy element against the smooth soup.
I should have read the description of the geschmorte keule vom weidelamm (€17.50) more carefully as it indicated
the dish was a braised leg of lamb. The error was only apparent when a
plate of completely cooked through lamb arrived – there wasn’t a pink center in
sight! Indeed, it was tender and moist, but lacked the lamb flavour I generally
enjoy with the chop cuts.
On the bottom of the lamb was a substantial amount of potato mousseline, made creamy
with mascarpone and topped with the lamb jus. Surrounding the protein were grilled
zucchini filled with a salty and sweet eggplant puree. These sides would have
been more than enough but then tangy sun dried tomatoes were added that really detracted
from the dish.
In fact, the biggest drawback to Ven’s mains was that there were
too many elements. I agree, it makes the dish look good with the pops of
colour, but they don’t necessarily complement each other in taste.
For example, the königssee
(€19) or pan seared char was well cooked with a crisp skin. The sides were a
bit over salted, but the slivers of crunchy snap peas and doughy oversized
gnocchi were decent adding crunch, freshness and heartiness to the dish. Even
the relatively tasteless apple foam was fine.
But, then wasabi ‘caviar’ and apple
spheres were thrown in: the caviar, although an interesting take on
gastronomical cooking, was much too strong for the delicate fish and the tarte
apple so pungent the flavour comes out of nowhere (especially when paired with
the wasabi).
Maybe I’m just being picky. After all, if something doesn’t work
with the dish you can just leave it on the plate. But, it’s disappointing when
a meal starts off so good and then it's the main course, the bread and butter of the meal,
that falters. Based on my experience, Ven’s tranquil environment and food is
still worth a try. Perhaps, you’ll fare better but sticking to the first page
of the menu – it’s where they seem to shine.
How To Find Them
Location: Dresden, Germany
Address: Rampische Strabe 9
Address: Rampische Strabe 9
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
