I lived in Berlin for three years from 2008-2011 so I have a decent understanding of the city's varying quality of food service. Still, having returned recently for the first time in two years, I was pleasantly surprised to note that the quality of food had risen, while the price had not. One glaring exception to this is the Long Walk Canteen, a large, interior-heavy dim sum place in Kreuzberg that serves delicious Chinese morsels in a fun if non-exceptional, New York-influenced space. My experience there speaks to the distance Berlin's food scene has come, and how far it still has to go.
The roast beef was top notch, while a salad of jellyfish and sour apple missed the mark, but was pleasingly different. The service however..
Toward the end of our meal a multi-course, boozy affair one of our party asked for a glass of water and was brought what looked like a shot, about two fingers full. She then asked for a caraffe of tap water - a fair ask given that we were spending plenty on food and drink (and, one might fairly assume, a legal requirement?)
The bus boy then told her that if she wanted tap water she could go and drink it from the toilet.
That's right. From the toilet. We called our waiter over, and he saw nothing wrong with his bus boys unbelievably rude statement because the restaurant does not serve tap water. So we called over the manager to explain that we had loved the food but that this was a wholly inappropriate way to talk to paying guests. She refused to apologize, and said, It was a joke, so what? NEXT!
Staggered at what was transpiring in front of us at this expensive Berlin eatery, and that the manager felt this was ok, and that we were ridiculous for being insulted, we explained that as paying guests, we did not expect one of our party to be told to go drink water in the toilets if we were thirsty. We asked for the bill and hoped to exit asap.
She brought the bill and we protested saying this was unbelievable and she should just apologize to us on his behalf and offer us free drinks or desert. So she, humiliatingly for us and him, sent over the bus boy for an obsequious, bowed apology. But she refused to apologize for his statement, continuing with this, It was a joke, line. The we took the bill, and asked again how she could treat paying guests who had just shelled out more than 160 euros on dinner in such a way.
She said, Actually you are not even paying that much.
Wow, we all thought, collectively hiccuping at the audacity and rudeness of her words, particularly after she brought us the WRONG bill, and made our way out without a single free offer. We left zero tip, and although the food was lovely, I would never return to this place, having never, ever been treated so incredibly rudely in a restaurant in my entire life. read more