First mistake… I was drawn in by the website/concept, and booked a reservation without diligently checking reviews…
Second mistake… We ordered a €42pp sharing menu without first establishing confidence in the food.
Third mistake… When disappointed by the first four courses, we continued to have hope in the fifth…
The rest of the mistakes weren’t ours…
The server sold the sharing menu with the idea that she would keep bringing dishes until we were full. But when she completed what seemed to be a pre-set series of dishes and asked if we wanted more, it was not clear if the “additional order” she offered would add to the bill or not. This sort of thing (and any offer made by the server without specifying the price) is manipulative. It makes money from diners pride and shame, rather than by delivering value.
As it turned out, the extra dish was in the same red sauce as the previous two and was announced to be sweetbreads only upon arrival at the table. This is also not cool. My companion was disturbed.
It’s “mediterranean”, which is the fancy word for Arab food, and one could do better for 1/4 the price at many Arab restaurants, such as Dada and Babel. Consistent with the focus on money over honesty was the manipulative wine offering in which the cheapest red by the glass was €9. Regardless of what was in that glass, the offer is out of sync with the restaurant’s level.
The dessert was black (ash cheesecake or somesuch), which would be cool and fine if it were also delicious. It wasn’t.
I felt the chef was earnest and can probably produce a few dishes which delighted his friends. But that doesn’t amount to sufficient skill to deliver a menu or a restaurant.
Review Restaurantkritik Night Kitchen Berlin