I often hear Germans rave about Lutter u. Wegner, and several times over the last few years, I have been persuaded to sample the legendary schnitzel and wines here.

As restaurants go, it really cannot be said that this is a bad restaurant. The decor is traditional, with a scattering of painted murals, and befits an establishment that was founded early in the 19th century. The atmosphere is of an elegant old wine bar (which is exactly what it is), and in the evenings there tend to be a rather mature clientele mixed with more than a spattering of tourists.

Food is always good here, but one would be hard pressed to call it gourmet. Satisfying would be a better word to employ. It is here that I first sampled sauerbraten many years ago. But the main dish here is the schnitzel, done lovingly as Austrian grandmothers have been doing for centuries. The better value wines here are invariably German and Austrian but the waiter’s recommendations can be haphazard and as I don’t normally drink whites, I was caught out a couple of times by my lack of knowledge.

Overall, it’s a restaurant frequented by older middle-class and upper middle-class Germans and although it’s in a touristy area, it maintains a certain dignity and poise, mainly by keeping the prices just high enough to deter the riff-raff, who would probably wander off to the cheaper Maredo’s down the road.

Oh, and regarding the schnitzels, this might sound like heresy but perhaps one might find the offerings at Ottenthal, Austria and Borchardt in Berlin at least comparable. Figlmüller in Vienna is also pretty darn good at this dish as well.