1987 Xigon — Restaurant in Berlin

Poor service. Really tried to repress this memory as much as I could but I have never received such poor service until now. Server whose name I believe started with B (Benny, if that’s even true) blamed my husband for pointing at the duck on the menu which is directly above the surf and turf which was what my husband ordered. He said loud and clear “surf and turf” and I heard him without even looking at him as he ordered it. Because my husband was pointing at the duck, the server entered the duck. The server confirmed with us that it will take 30 minutes to which we agreed. Nothing on the menu says either the duck or the surf and turf would take 30 minutes. How would we know that he was specifically talking about the duck? When we got the food, nothing was adding up, we got sweet potato fries but my husband was waiting for udon which came with the surf and turf. And when my husband tried the “steak”, he wasn’t eating it right away as he normally does, saying he’s waiting for the shrimp. Then my auntie said that it doesn’t look like steak. I looked at the menu and lo and behold, the duck came with sweet potatoes fries. And what we have on the table was the duck. We called the server B who took our order. The server kept saying that that’s what we ordered and that my husband was pointing at the menu. He kept saying it’s not his fault, it’s not his fault. We’re not blaming of whose fault it was, it was obvious that it was a misunderstanding and we wanted to make it right. The server insisted that it was my husband’s fault for pointing on the menu. And that he confirmed it was gonna take 30 minutes. At this point, we were going in circles. My mother requested for the manager. And this server said that he’s the manager, which we later found out from another server that he’s not. We were all appalled of how he’s acting and how he’s responding to this simple misunderstanding, if he was really the manager. He continued to argue with us. But the younger server named Andy, who initially was taking care of us, quickly came to us after realizing that we were having an issue with this other server. He pulled away the other server who took our order and placed in the dish that my husband wanted - the surf and turf. I explained to Andy what happened and he quickly reasoned out that Benny doesn’t speak English very well and it was a language issue, which I thought was a low blow because that server Benny spoke perfect English. Not a hint of any accent. My point is, if you hear someone say one thing but they’re pointing on another thing on the menu, wouldn’t you clarify it? Instead of just telling us it will take 30 minutes? I don’t give a crap whatever takes 30 minutes. Nothing on the menu says an item takes 30 minutes. It could be edamame that can take 30 minutes for all I care. All the other servers tried to pacify us by giving us complimentary drinks and desserts. I don’t even think my husband received the full order of the surf and turf, he received two slices of steak. Whatever. During this time, that Benny server kept making it known to us of how pissed he was about all this. But after all that, after that server has calmed down, he had the audacity to come up to us and apologize? And all of a sudden he has a thick Vietnamese accent? Explaining that he doesn’t speak English very well? Excuse me? He didn’t have that thick Vietnamese accent earlier! And he pretended that he’s the manager! I was disgusted by his reactions especially for a high rated restaurant in Berlin! I was very appalled, I walked out of there. Never in my life have I received such service and I used to be a server myself for ten years! I was ashamed for getting this kind of service especially in front of my husband, my parents and my aunt and uncle. It was such a bad memory to start our...

tldr: decent vietnamese food, cramped/crowded/noisy, would not recommend for a relaxed dinner.

Atmosphere (2/5): The restaurant has both outdoor and indoor tables. Both are very crowded due to the table arrangement. In the outdoor area walk-ins would queue up. The staff is too busy/unorganized to manage the queue. Most of the time there were multiple staff members filming videos with their phones. We had a reservation and had to wait between seated groups because the staff didn't manage to distinguish between walk-ins and guests with a reservation. The indoor area was uncomfortably overcrowded. The tables barely left enough space to walk between them. Taking out maybe three tables should improve the situation significantly. Because of the overstacked table arrangement the noise level is almost unbearable for dinner. The interior design is nothing to write home about. The music is too loud for a dining venue and all over the place in terms of genre. It felt like a teenage birthday party with a DJ from craigslist.

Hospitality (3/5): The staff is completely overwhelmed across the board. Nobody will greet you, if you have made reservations you have to aproach someone and ask for your table. We had to ask to see the menu after 15 minutes of sitting at an empty table. Both parties to either side of us were repeatedly asking different staff members for their drink orders. When the waitress brought my order of "fresh summer rolls" after about 20 minutes, she accidentally droped one pice on the floor without noticing. She was immediatly gone and did not hear me I guess. When I approached another waiter about the issue he took my plate and brought back the order within less than 30 seconds. When I pointed out that this is most likely the same order that just went back including the piece that was on the floor, he proudly pointed out that the summer rolls are premade. Either way, rather disappointing. I ordered a starter, entree and main. The waitress brought entree and main at the same time. I do believe that the staff was trying to do their best but the overall impression is overwhelmed/unorganized/unskilled.

Food (7/10): The food was mostly decent. The starter scallops were very good, summer rolls were stale and dry, Pho was decent, the red curry was good. Sushi was decent to good, the salmon was fresh however the avocado was not ripe yet. Unfortunately too many vietnamese restaurants follow that weird trend of putting cream cheese on sushi, an atrocity that is not specific to this restaurant but it is an unnecessary limitation of options. The cocktails were great both in taste and...

1987 Xigon, just like many sushi places in Berlin, is not your traditional sushi-only joint. It has a variety of Asian food spanning from Thai, Vietnamese, all the way to nigiri and sashimi. I'm not sure what I was expecting when the name says "Xigon" but at the end of the day, do not expect top notch sushi here.

The place is happening. Good atmosphere and interior. Things are bustling. Tables are full. And food is delivered quite fast. You are definitely in a hip place. Unlike the other photos on Google Maps, it is not a huge institution. If you're heading there with friends or a date, you'll have a good time.

My only issue is that the sushi itself isn't top notch. It's not fresh by quite a distance. Had I known this, I would've gone for rolls or more "sauce"-oriented concoctions. Unfortunately, I went traditional and was disappointed by the freshness of the fish as well as the quality of the nigiri itself.

On the bright side, the dessert was great - Passion Island was delightful.

It was going to be a 3-stars at best but the final dessert punched over its weight. Given I shouldn't have expected traditional sushi from a fusion Asian place, upgrading it to 4-stars.

Try it out. But don't expect top notch sushi. Not sure about...