Balaboosta — Restaurant in Berlin

The store is only 50 meters from the Ku'Damm. You expect a lush green in an idyllic berlin backyard? Wrong. Instead, there is street noise and gray apartment buildings directly opposite. All the staff there are, shall we say, 'trying'. But they don't really know what they're doing in service. I experienced the service here as very intrusive - same in the supermarket next door. The friendliness was quickly gone when I didn't want lunch this time, but only a pastry and a coffee. At the end, when my tip (more than 10%) was apparently too small, there was not even a response to my 'goodbye'. Sorry folks, but this is not only unprofessional, but also looks deep, very deep.

Due to the many hymns of praise in the other reviews, I had expected a pastry that would catapult me taste-wise into nirvana. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Whether you call it Babka or Rugelach, Hummus or Shashuka, all were quite bad and really not well made. Craftsmanship: A real embarrassment. Now there is in particular for this pastry since a few years a super offer in Berlin from various other more innovative Israeli bakeries to even pastry shops. The babkas and rugelach there are not as compact and with lots of poppy seeds and sugar as at Balaboosta, but fluffy and light. They do not skimp on the ingredients (e.g. nuts). The Babka and Rugelach are also at least twice as large at the same price. In addition, the hummus as well as the shashuka there is not watery but very creamy in consistency. At the same time, Balaboosta completely lacks flavor. Spices or the right spices are spared here. The eggs are completely overcooked.

Another supplier can be found in Friedenau/Steglitz near Walther Schreiber Platz, which almost everyone should know by now. There, too, I find babka, rugelach, hummus and shashuka much tastier and also of higher quality. In addition, they serve bagels that are almost better than the ones I ate in New York, Los Angeles or even Tel-Aviv.

In short - the expectations that the competitors had triggered in me were unfortunately far from fulfilled.

About the coffee - as a regular visitor to the many modern coffee shops that have popped up in recent years, I can also only classify the cappuccino served to me in the lower third of the total offer of this city. Well, tastes are different, but I would like to have at least a clear coffee note in my cappuccino - at Balaboosta, I could taste the milk, but the coffee itself was clearly too thin for me. Therefore, unfortunately, also disappointing for me especially since coffee and milk had no organic quality. A Barrista Workshop would certainly not hurt here. If, however, is already meticulously paid attention to the tip, then employee training is certainly not a priority at Balaboosta.

Perhaps I could give a small impetus to rethink with...

Horrible experience. Service was rude and mediocre. I reach the bar to order, and the waitress is on her phone, absolutely ignoring me for at least 3 minutes. When she decides to look at me, she does it like I'm bothering her by just being there. So I asked a couple of questions, and she gets more disturbed by it. I should've left by then. The pastries are quite mediocre. Cheap puff pastry with a little of bland filling. Plus, it's hot and humid in there. Miserable. Definitely a...

Sadly only processed food, wrapped in plastic, supporting companies like Nestlé. Healthy food was nowhere in sight. Did not feel comfortable nor welcome once I entered the store. Their hummus is not more than average.

PS: I read your comment. People have different taste, please accept that. Pretty wild to assume I was paid to write this review, is that a strategy you use? I was not, just saying your products are average. „Unbeatable“ is...