Baba Pirzola — Restaurant in Berlin

Visit 03.01.19 ca. 22.15h

We had a meal at Baba Pirzola after we were turned away at Chicago. And perhaps Chicago did us a favour.

GREETING We entered the very nice looking restaurant, asked if they were still opened and were warmly welcomed with a smile. We were given a choice of tables. The Menus were handed to us swiftly, yet without a rush. Ordered drinks, which were served swiftly.

STARTERS We ordered the Aubergine stuffed with rice. The portion was generous yet not too big. Just right. Simply delicious. We also had some dips, one of spiced tomato, grated goat's chess and butter. My recommendation would be to offer Olive Oil for the bread. Not too sure if the butter is needed. The second dish was Prawn (ordered the Krab). Again, very tasty, with a surprise of plenty of Shrimps that were served in a fairly neutral Tomato sauce. It could have been a little spicier, but that's a matter of personal taste. The Bread was freshly cooked and tasty.

MAINS My Partner had an Entrecote Steak. The quality of the meat was excellent. Perfectly grilled medium. I had the classically grilled Lamb chops. The meat was a bit tough, but as the overall quality of the food was very good, I didn't see it necessary to complain.

SIDES Roast Potatoes: nicely Roasted, a sufficient portion to share. Mixed Vegetables: a good selection of Aubergine, Zucchini, Tomato and delicious "Peppers" a couple of them were slightly deliciously spicy.

AMBIENCE The restaurant looks well taken care of. It was clean in all areas and the plants make a nice addition to the warmness. The entrance with the food on display is very nice, and being able to see into the kitchen observing the preparation of the nice food is a plus. The only slight criticism I have is the journey to the Toilets. It feels it's a bit like walking through the kitchen to get there. The washing up area is also on the way. My suggestion would be to invest some money into getting the area a bit screened off, and to perhaps make it clearer how to get there. The toilets were well maintained and clean.

I would have given them 5 points had it not been for the issue over the lamb.

The cost of the meal was approximatly 100€, which we were happy to pay for the quality of the food.

I'd like to thank the staff at Baba Pirzola for warmly welcoming us and receiving attentive and friendly service. Especially the blond server who spoke both English and German, and was happy to communicate with us in both languages. To all a big well done. Please always consider to leave a good tip.. Not that this goes...

Was very curious to try this place since it is always full and have very good reviews. There is an option to start with the cold meze which is in the form of a buffet for 20€. We did not try it but went straight for the mains. We had an Iskenderun kabab and another dish with beef filéts (I believe some fusion Turkish) on skewer. Both dishes came with very juicy and well tasting meat. Our main issue was that it did not feel very Turkish, just middle eastern fusion bbq. It also did not feel like a complete dish as they it was just some pieces of meat on a plate for almost 30€. Rice or potato not included. The iskender kabab came with veal meat which honestly was very delicious yet not special, And the bread which is supposed to come with it was barely visible at all. Yoghurt was missing the sour & salty taste which it should have in order to complete this Turkish dish which I have had many times in Turkey.

Still water for one person came in a huge bottle which I did not even bother to check the price of. Extremely friendly and service minded staff. The place has a lively but not very relaxing environment, so it depends what you like.

To summarize our visit at this place - Excellent grilled meat of high quality. And it is really about the meat quality and grilling itself because the taste of the marinade or seasoning is not very present. The dishes do not feel complete nor very Turkish. Overpriced and felt a bit greedy, but good meat is obviously not cheap for a restaurant to purchase. Dish as whole needs more effort to be worth the price. Luckily we were not very hungry this evening.

Two mains, small rice, one water and one soft...

Excellent food and lots of it. You cannot leave here hungry. Bring friends to help eat. Quality ingredients, good grilled food, and lots of it. Waiter was helpful and spoke English (menu in English too). For 2 (or 3), a mezze of appetizers and 1 dish to split would be plenty. A salad, mezze, 2 entrees and sides were a feast + for 2. It was busy and there were only 3 wait staff who were running all over. So while service was slow, it was understand why it was; 3 to work a full restaurant of this size is asking a lot. That being said, we had what we needed, the wait staff was polite and took time to answer questions, and they were clearly BUSY all night. Good choices from vegetarian to meat. Nice wine and beer selection. Reasonable prices for what you get. The main downside was wait for food (lack of staff, but that is typical almost everywhere today) and the waiter almost insisting on a tip (a la American style), which is not typical in Germany or Europe. This is the 1st place I have experienced this in years of travel to Europe (with last trip 1 month ago). Some what negated the experience up to then. Good place for groups or people to share food. Also has seating at the open kitchen which is good for solo dinners; you can enjoy watching dishes be...