Baret — Restaurant in Berlin

After the glamerous opening with 300 guests last friday the expectation was high. A rooftop, that looks like a garage perched on top of the building, one could only expect the best. But these high expectations are totally shattered once you visit the place during regular hours. The awesome free view does not live up to the quality of the restaurant unfortunately, which I really hoped for. Friendly service members are embarassed about the limited choice of cakes (1!), no wide choice of juices and smoothies as one could expect. Everybody in Germany expects rhubarb and mango as basics, but only overpriced apple juice for 5€ is offered and burned Streussel cake on top, that is inedible. Almost every restaurant in the world serves Coca-Cola products, not here so. Are they kidding? People want quality they know, not some weird Coke derivative knock-off forced upon you. As an option it is totally acceptable, but not as the only choice given.The guest runs the show not the manager, it is patronizing their clients. Unacceptable!! Outside seating is prohibited 🚫 and when you go for dinner in one of those 120 indoor seats not only the interior is minimalistic. The dishes are tiny and overpriced. Who needs that? A boring basic like a Caesar salad comes with huge chunks of chicken, inedible. This can be made to a culinary delight with the right appearance. And whoever gave an unknown caterer from hicktown Mannheim the permission to run a restaurant at one of the most prestigous new locations in all of Berlin? Any professional caterer like Käfer at the Reichstag would have done a way better job. For 100€ for two people at Käfer you do not leave hungry. This resto could be a total gem with a great clientel and a unique ambiance. This place needs to shape up badly or ship out shortly. At this point unfortunately it is no recommendation much to my chagrin when you visit Berlin. I do hope they have shaped up majorly in the meantime and I might follow their friendly suggestion to re-check. I do expect they’ve learned their lesson. They have to abide by the people’s choice not by their own attitude, what they think is right. P.S. After 3 follow-up visits they have not taken any suggestions to heart. They still only offer only Apple and Orange juice and no Coke. Pathetic, with lame excuses of limited storage. This ignorance makes them loose yet another star and they are now at the bare bottom. The end is near as Frank Sinatra would put it. Almost a year later after my above review, nothing has changed. Still no Coke, no legendary rhubarb shanty, no improvements. Still sucks!! At a great location like this quite an embarassment to the hospitality industry. A 3.8 rating with 31 1-star ratings says it all in a nutshell and is devastating, but truly deserved. Shape up...

I am only giving this one star because I have to give it one, otherwise this café/restaurant would get any at all. Here's why in short: unfriendly and listless staff who was not forthcoming at all and didn't even know what type of cake was still available and coffee that tasted no better than a coffee to-go at a shabby train station café.

The long story to everyone who's interested: We came to the place and chose a table around the corner. Two people were sitting in our vicinity, and there was no sign whatsoever that the tables round the corner should not be chosen. However, a waiter arrived shortly afterwards and told us we had to leave this table. He gave us one where two women were already seated, waiting for their orders. It was hugely embarrassing for us to be given their table since there was nothing that distinguished one from the other. Moreover, the two women were told to take the table that we had occupied before, so the whole action made no sense at all. Anyway, we ordered then, and my sister and I asked what the "Griechischer Bergtee" was. The waiter answered that it was herbal infusion from a plant growing in Greek mountains. Being German native speakers ourselves, we got that much from the name itself - we'd have liked information such as taste etc. Soon after we had ordered it started to rain lightly, so we switched tables again, this time to one inside near the window. We had just sat down when one waitress told us sharply that we could not take this table because it had been booked in advance. There was no way we could have known this since there was no sign, but her tone suggested otherwise and was in no means friendly or apologetic. We had to wait a long time then to get our drinks. My sister had also ordered a certain chocolate cake; in case this was not available anymore (the waiter didn't know that and also didn't go back to ask when he took our orders), the waiter should bring the other one which he was sure was still available. The drinks came first: the tea was good, I have to admit that, but the coffee, according to my parents, tasted horribly and was not even served in decent cups as you would expect from a café, but mere mugs without saucer or anything. Then came the cake and it was neither the chocolate cake nor the second option that my sister ordered as alternative, but something entirely different. We sent it back, drank our coffee/tea as quickly as possible and left quite hurriedly again, glad to be out of the place that hadn't made us feel welcome at all.

All in all, I cannot recommend going there. You can save the 3 euros it costs to get up there and instead spend 10 euros to see the "Berliner Dom" (this also includes going up to the cupola terrace and enjoying a...

We visited Baret for Valentine’s Day, and while we appreciated the friendly and attentive service, the overall experience felt somewhat disorganized.

The biggest issue was the waiting time—we ended up spending over four hours at the restaurant, much longer than expected. The main dish, in particular, took more than an hour to arrive. The restaurant did apologize for the delay, but it was handled a bit awkwardly. I was offered a complimentary glass of champagne, but my boyfriend, who doesn’t drink, wasn’t offered an alternative, which felt a bit inconsiderate.

Speaking of drinks, the set menu came with champagne and wine pairings, but there didn’t seem to be much thought given to non-alcoholic alternatives. While we managed to order some cocktails and lemonade, it felt like there could have been a more curated non-alcoholic pairing, especially considering that many people don’t drink alcohol.

As for the food, none of the dishes really stood out to us. The main course, which we waited quite a long time for, wasn’t to our taste—it had a very intense, salty flavor that we both found overwhelming. Of course, this might be subjective, but unfortunately, we just didn’t enjoy it. The other courses were fine, but none were particularly memorable.

There were also a few service mishaps. A drink pairing for the main course was forgotten, and at a nearby table, a vegetarian guest was initially served a non-vegetarian dish. When the mistake was realized, only one plate was taken back, leaving the other person waiting for their meal for another 30 minutes, which felt a bit awkward.

We understand that Valentine’s Day is a particularly busy evening for restaurants, and it’s possible that Baret usually operates more smoothly. But since this was supposed to be a special occasion, the long waits, forgotten drink pairings, and overall lack of polish made the experience feel a bit disappointing. Perhaps it was just an off night, but unfortunately, it left us with a...