Sticky Fingers is the little sister of Storstad restaurant which is the best restaurant in Regensburg. So when the best place is fully booked you make a reservation at the second best. I got a table for one inside between two others. The tables stand so close together though that you need to squeeze in to sit down and almost land on the lap of your neighbour. Additional benefit when you travel alone is that you can follow each conversation without needing to eavesdrop. So very courteous of the restaurant to arrange that for me.
I decided to „trust the chef“ and ordered the six course meal entirely based on the chef‘s preferences or whatever was available (let’s hope it’s not the leftovers which were served). All courses are salty and none of them was available on the regular menu (after checking).
1.) Baked pike-perch on guacamole and ayran with peanuts. Delicious with a slightly spicy note coming from the guacamole but also a tangy citrusy flavor.
baked pike-perch @Sticky Fingers
2.) A brioche bun with pulled pork and jalapeño mayo (at least I think so). The bun was super tasty and the whole combo worked well. There was also just the right amount of meat and other things inside to let me taste everything and not just bun.
brioche bun with pulled pork @Sticky Fingers
3.) Next up was fish. Slightly steamed and super juicy salmon with artichokes and apples, fried onions and curried foam. Too bad that some of the artichokes were not well cleaned and tasted therefore hard and woody. Overall the dish had a slight sour tang but was also fiery from the curry. Okay but not great due to the artichoke disappointment.
salmon with artichokes @Sticky Fingers
4.) The disappointment continued with a nori leaved cigar filled with duck breast, on cilantro sauce and fried rice noodles. At least this was the way how the dish was introduced. The cigar was filled only with rice that was seasoned with way too much rice vinegar. It also had the consistency of overcooked mushy risotto. The coriander soup/dip was good, the duck breast as well and the fried noodles gave everything a bit of a crunch. Not really sure what I should have done with the wasabi though especially since there was no soy sauce anywhere. I was a bit underwhelmed if not to say disappointed from this course and also announced that to the waiter.
rice cigar wrapped in nori with duck and cilantro sauce @Sticky Fingers
5.) Finally a course which looked a bit more substantial. Gyozas filled with mussels and soy beans on a soy sauce mayonnaise. Also a bowl of gazpacho. The gyozas were delicious. What a comeback after the cigar. Flaky pastry (which is not the real gyoza pastry but nevertheless it was delicious), hot and steaming with a soft mussel inside next to the crunchy soy bean. The soy sauce mayonnaise was the perfect fit for this. The gazpacho unfortunately was too salty and inedible. What misery!
gyozas and gazpacho @Sticky Fingers
6.) The last course was the most surprising. A waitress told me that it was duck with bean sprouts and radish. One glance at the bowl though and it was clear that this was never ever a duck. A helpful waiter then explained that I ate grain-fed chicken in crispy tempura on peanut satay sauce with fried romaine salad. The chicken was lovely. Tender, juicy and crispy all at once and with the satay sauce a wonderful dish. The Romaine salad was again way too salty especially on its own but also in combination with the rest it didn’t work. Interestingly enough I also found a piece of omelette inside. The Japanese kind that is usually on the sushi.
chicken tempura with romaine salad @Sticky Fingers
So now I had to rethink everything I ate. Did it even match with the descriptions I got? Overall the meal left a bad taste in my mouth. Some dishes were just so disappointing and not well executed. Like the salmon artichoke dish or the oversalted gazpacho. At least I got a ‘sorry’ out of the waiter.
A very strong beginning and then a very strong decline. Really too bad. Even the fabulous gyozas can’t redeem the bad impression I have now. Especially considering how the restaurant is selling itself. It’s the second restaurant of Michelin starred Storstad owner. Sorry, Sticky Fingers won’t get anywhere near a star soon. Yours, Pollybert
Sticky Fingers
93047 Regensburg, Untere Bachgasse 9
Tel: +49 (0)9 41.58 65 88 08
Email: mail@stickyfingers.restaurant
Tue-Thu: 18:00-02:00, Fri-Sat: 17:30-02:00
https://stickyfingers.restaurant/
