Christian's Aachen · Favourite spot

Luna

A table where I feel personally at home.

Mediterranean cooking with a Croatian accent, right on Theaterplatz. Danijela and Robert Gogić have run their restaurant since 2017 exactly the way you would wish for as a guest: a menu that follows the seasons rather than the other way round, fish from Croatia, meat from the Eifel, seafood from the fishmonger two streets away. First-time guests order the starter for two. Regulars order it anyway.

Christian's Guide

One top hat: worth the detour. Two: worth the appetite. Three: worth booking weeks ahead. This guide has exactly one inspector, and he is not anonymous.

I have no stars to award and no anonymous team of tasters behind me. What I have is a few hundred evenings in this city and one restaurant I go to when the evening matters. Luna sits on Theaterplatz, just around the corner from my own place, and that is about the most dangerous neighbourhood a magician could wish for: you come for dinner and leave as a regular.

Robert Gogić is the reason. He is the kind of host you rarely find, and his team is every bit as good. You are not served here, you are welcomed. In my case that has led to a side effect: when I walk in, I no longer say what I would like, I ask what is good today. The answer has never been wrong.

The cooking is outstanding, and quietly so. The starter for two belongs at the beginning, no discussion – it saves you the decision you would have regretted anyway. Then the daily menu: almost always something special, sometimes something quite extraordinary. The wines are excellent and are explained without anyone listening to themselves while doing it.

And then comes the crème brûlée. In my profession I have learned how to turn an evening around one last time at the end. This is the culinary version of that: the best I have ever eaten. No exaggeration – and I write that as someone who exaggerates for a living.

The house recommends

• The starter for two – as an opening, not as an option.
• Whatever is on the daily menu that day.
• Crème brûlée. Even when you are already full.

Good to know

Address: Theaterplatz 7, 52062 Aachen
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 12.30 to 11 pm (kitchen 1 pm to 9.30 pm)
Reservations: +49 241 441 080 30 or via restaurant-luna.de
Kitchen: Mediterranean with a Croatian accent, seasonal menu, lunch menu
Vegetarian: always on the menu, vegan on request, allergies taken seriously
Dogs: welcome
To the Black Table: just around the corner, Borngasse 30 inside the Cineplex

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