Restaurant La Société Köln

A small, pleasant restaurant with about two dozen seats, semi-hidden (some outdoor seating) in among a very diverse group of Köln's cafés, Restaurants, and Shisha Bars. Classic French Bistro decor.

And while I enjoyed the service, the table next to me insisted on ordering off-menu, rudely demanding "no fish." Fisch is just under half of the prixe-fixe menu. The server handled them easily and professionally.

Of the plates, I did enjoy both the red mullet and the golden Trout with Trout skin chips. One of the more clever presentations was the 2nd amuse bouche: beef tartar with horseradish ice, over Vichysoisse and Trout caviar (photo). I initially thought it might have been a bit too much, but I was wrong - an excellent beginning of the meal.

Also, I now believe that if the Chef makes the effort to present you with bacon mousse for your bread, it is your duty to eat it all. Brot und Butter does not compare to Brot und Speck.

I'll return to Köln soon, and must return here.

2022 08 25. M1.

Our party of five enjoyed La Societe this past Friday and had a wonderful, sumptuous experience at this smaller, intimate restaurant. This was my second vist, the first nearly two years ago. From our greeting at the door to the handshakes goodbye, everyone made us feel welcome and very much at home. But, from the first bite of the chef's amuse to the last bit of dessert carefully scraped from the bottom of the plate, you knew you were not at home but in a culinary heaven!

We all had the tasting menu, with one of our party having a vegetarian version. Each of our dishes were gorgeously prepared and presented, even the veg dishes looked the same. Every one of the courses was perfect but there were three that were even more perfect. The 'meat' dish was an Iberico fillet (never had a I. fillet before, only sliced) but this was so wonderfully smokey and meaty that I had to cut the two small pieces into even more tiny bites to make the pleasure linger. And the rustic Cote du Rhône that was recommended paired perfectly too! The pigeon was such a surprise to all: very tender, very "smooth", nicely chewy and delicious. And, at the end the 7 or 8 or 9 courses (five plus amuses) was dessert, a light, but not too light, sweet but not too sweet, mousse that was a milk chocolate colored but not so chocolatey tasting (nutella?) with a soft foam on top and sitting on a bed of passion fruit and 'clear' coffee flavored sauce - a marvelous finish!

And I guess I should mention the 'fish' dish of small prawns that had been marinated, not cooked, with a soft sea foam and some fine, crisp fried shrimp pieces on top. A magical preparation.

You will have guessed that I, and all five of us, loved this dinner. It was as fine of a dinner as I can remember (and I had been at Steirereck last May) at a small, intimate space without any hoopla. I cannot wait to go again.

The food was great. The service was extremely attentive without being intrusive. They spoke English and German which was convenient. They let us make a few substitutions in the tasting menu. Highly recommended.

A very high end presentation, perhaps a but pretentious for my tastes. Food is creative and quite good. Chairs are small and rather uncomfortable for a 3 hour+ meal (no exaggeration) wine list is reasonably priced.

La Societe is one of cologne small but charming restaurants. The set is very romantic and very popular therefore reservations are needed weeks in advance but well worth the wait.


The moment you enter the restaurant you can see why this is a special restaurant, it's very French, very cute and very romantic. It has very old world charm. The food is superb. Mouth watering with every piece that leaves your fork and enters into your mouth. You just want to savour every bite and each and every one of their dishes is like little treasures and new journeys waiting to be tasted.


You can either have the a la carte or go for one of their surprise menus however during your booking you should let them know what you cant or don't like to eat and if by chance you eat meat tell them how you like it cooked and they will work it out from there. They have a great selection of wines and their cheeses dishes is a must to try.


Looking at the costs, I feel for everything you get it is really worth it and you wont feel let down, wines are normal for what you pay in any upper class gourmet restaurant and the food is a little pricey but it does taste wonderful. For two people, two 6 course surprise gourmet menu, with two bottles of fine red wine and extra drinks is around 250 300 Euros.


The staff are really nice and they always come by and have a chat with you and talk about what you are eating or drinking. Their service is really personal, I remember when I ordered a diet coke which wasn't in stock one of the waiters quickly nipped out to the shop up the street and came back with bottles of diet coke and in 5 minutes a class of diet coke and ice was on my table. Now this is really personal and what I think is fabulous service, they could of like many restaurants say no we don't have that and you choose something else, but here in La Societe they go out of their way to make your evening not only enjoyable but special.


This restaurant in my mind is a romantic restaurant for two people and I give it 5 stars and high recommendation for their service, food, wines and ambience.

A friend's friend ended up taking me out here for dinner on a spontaneous weekday. We had a couple of hours to get to know each other a bit and share some much appreciated beverages.

La Societe is one of the reason why I love travelling to Germany.
Its a gourmet restaurant who is not too posh for my taste.
Its warm, inviting and cosy.The staff are lovely and their recommendation always go down a treat. Remarkably good food, excellent wine list , and a wonderful experience each and every time.

I have been going to La Societe for over 16 years on and off and have to say we were always very happy until last saturday. The evening was overall a big disappointment. Our waiter was friendly but arrogant.
We got many "greetings from the kitchen" many like the koelche Tapas we have seen before on a number of occasions and are getting a bit old. The staff in the kitchen should put more effort into getting the ordered food right. Our starters were not satisfactory. The lobster soup or whatever they called it, was salty. The "scallops" which were good were totally overpriced for what turned out to be a single scallop per serving. The 5-soup sampler served in test tubes was gimmicky and one of the skewers served with this had a burnt ravioli on it which should not leave any professional kitchen. Rating for the 5 starters was about 20%. The main courses (Iberian pork, monkfish, turbot and sea bass) were good except for mine, the sea bass. This was not cooked properly (clear and tough in the middle) and was not appealing to the eye - the young artichoke looked like wilted lettuce and the carrots were rock hard. The chef should have a look in at Hase or Steinmetz to see how to serve a more appealing dish!
After serving each course, our rather arrogant server did not bother to check whether we were satisfied or not as is normal in this type and class of restaurant. Then when I "dared" to mention that my fish was not cooked properly, instead of an apology I was almost given out to "haetten Sie sagen sollen/ you should have said" I answered that I just did say it but if the waiter does not check after the food is served then the next chance is when they clear.
When our bill arrived, despite our criticism of our starters and my main course, there was no deduction made to our bill for the dissatisfactory and unacceptable food. This is also a big no-no for this type of restaurant.
All in all, a totally overpriced meal (440 Euros for 2 courses each for 5 persons with only 5 aperitifs and 6 glasses of wine). A big disappointment for anyone who loved, like I did, the "old" la societe. I do not know if they have changed chefs or management or both but whoever runs this place needs to make some improvements if they want to keep popular.
Back to Hase, Steinmetz and a host of other great restaurants in Koeln that are consistently good, for me!