Berta restaurant — Restaurant in Berlin

Average Israeli/Mediterranean dining experience in Berlin.

FOOD: the food was very good and tasty. I’m lacking a bit the “soulful” side of the Israeli cuisine somehow - but it’s okay as it’s a kind of “fine dining” experience. Portions are the size you would expect to find in this kind of cuisine.

We had: Jerusalem Bagel. Bagel bread was amazing, especially when warm and straight out of the oven. But not enough to finish the dips that goes with it. Aubergine Tartar (that one never came). 2 risottos: one of them with the Ptittim and the other one I would love to check the name but the menu is not online. The second one, with the crunchy lentils was amazing and really tasty. However, Risotto would deserve some brackets here, or a side note, as this recipe is more “à la Risotto” - they don’t use Arborio rice, or rice at all, for that matter. A bottle of wine, Riesling, 2020, Mosel.

SERVICE: ranging from average TO disappointing - despite de friendliness.

The main courses were brought at the same time than the starters (or just a minute later) which puts pressure on eating fast as they were warm dishes. There is already a 2-hour limit on the table; you don’t need to rush customers on top of that to optimise the rotation of your table. This is not a fast food dining experience.

Also, the starter we ordered never came - but it was not on the bill. Shame for them I guess?

We ordered a bottle of wine, and when it arrived, the waitress decides straight away, without asking, that I (male) will be the one trying the wine, and is pouring into my glass. In 2023, it is a bit old fashioned to go directly for the man’s glass without even asking who will be the one trying the wine.

Finally, I had a birthday voucher, and they ask people to send before to control and put it on the bill, but I had to ask again as it was not on the final invoice. After requesting it, it was added in just a second, which makes me think it was simply forgotten.

AMBIANCE: decoration and ambiance were warm and cosy. Place was a bit loud but it gives a buzzing atmosphere of a popular restaurant. The music was slightly too loud - I could actually Shazam a couple of nice songs. The Open kitchen definitely brings something too especially as the kitchen staff seems well organised and the chef has it under control.

OVERALL: Disappointing experience, especially for that type of "bistronomic" Mediterranean food. I would not recommend this one, as Berlin offers many other similar restaurants (Yafo, Kanaan,...

While indeed being a famos Israeli Chef's restaurant, what really makes this restaurant shine like a dimanond above any other restaurant in Berlin is the amazing service. The complete, total, extreme other end of Germany's cold & grumpy service, the entire staff here shows you real Israeli love, care & hospitality. Just as one example, we came to dine with our little child, which in other restaurants granted us between cold looks to angry faces & remarks by the staff. Not here - the waiters kept adoring our child and playing, even kissing him! which would probably frick out some Germans, but for us it was a real heart warming experience in cold Berlin. The service is also professional and the staff constantly makes sure that you are happy and nothing is missing, something you can only dream of in most Berlin restaturants. The atmosphere, with loud Israeli music, so relaxed, informal, fun & generous, is spectacular. As for the food, it is very clear that the Chef is very talented & that top quality, fresh products are used. The dishes are creative Israeli dishes with clear adaptation to European taste, which is probably very nice for Europeans and for Israeli sometimes it works very well and sometimes less so. All breads in the menu are amazing. DO NOT skip them, I would say try them all - they are actually better than you would expect to get in a good restaurant in Israel, and the accompanying dips are fantastic. We've been at Berta more than once and except for the lamb & Entrecote probably tried most of the highlights in the menu, out of which we especially loved the Sashimi & the eggplant starter (Carpaccio?), and for one of us the "Ptitim" was another hlight. The Chocolat Mousse (dessert) was amazing. A great place to experience a real Israeli dining experience in Berlin, with perfect service and stmosphere and some really good dishes, especially on the starters and...

Best mediocre restaurant in a long time- won't be back, here or in Paris, and I sure dont know for what he got the Michelin star My foodie family knows that i remember Really Good places and Really Bad places, making mediocre places in no way memorable. Well, we ate tonight in a Memorably Mediocre place and - in our view - the fact that it was a Michelin ⭐️ makes things even worse: We left table less than an hour ago and i need the pix to figure out what we ate! we ordered a 3-bread flight but we never did figure out why there were 3 breads but only 2 dips; 'they' were happy with their ceviche but my Michelin-Polenta with Mushrooms wasn't any better than the one that Michael Chiarello served me 20 years ago in the same small canning jar; not sure what 'she' ate but 'his' had sauerkraut under the whatever; the broccoli in my Israeli Couscous was luckily chopped small enought that i could ignore that i was actually eating some; i didn't taste the meringue in the dacquoise, 'he' had some (un-ordered) (vegan) chocolate mousse, and we could at least agree that it was 'very very sweet!' the champage was freshly opened but poured into wine glasses, the suggested wine tasteless, but the espressos were hot and the calvados were generously poured. The place was loud with cheek-to-jowl tables below and uncased a/c pipes above and when it became obvious that we were just sitting and chatting we might as well have been non-existent (which had a direct impact on the tip) ** we were well aware beforehand that we would have to pay for the fame of Chef Assaf Granit's fame, his Michelin star, and the closeness to Potsdamer Platz and the German House of Representatives but we are also familiar enough with Berlin's food and Michelin scene to take our moneys...