Borchardt — Restaurant in Berlin

The restaurant is located in one of the well-known and premium neighbourhoods of Berlin and surrounded by touristic areas (e.g. Checkpoint Charlie) and right across the street from Galeries Lafayette shopping destination and Ritter Sport cafe (chocolate bar)

The restaurant’s facade is very classy and resembles the ‘le relais de l’entrecote’ restaurants I have been dining in across the years.

Upon entering the restaurant yesterday, I was greeted by the friendly hostess, asking me from my table reservations and she was able to locate my name easily on the system, then I gave my jacket to the coat check member of staff. Kindly note, the coat check is located adjacent the entrance and right right before the bar. The coat check area is exposed to the seating guests in the restaurant (which for me is an eye sore) and should be somewhere hidden away; in my opinion it’s cluttering the entrance area where it should only be used for waiting guests instead!

We were directed to our table, and I couldn’t not notice the layout of the restaurant, it felt like a bit of a maze, with the bold rich red colour of furnishing booths toward the center and the French style tables/chairs near the windows; it felt outdated, the decor was daunting and the two large flower vases towards the back of the room was arranged with cheap types of florals. The inside pillars supporting the building and the ceiling design were very historic and gave a charm to the place, however the chandeliers looked very basic and should be at least placed further down as the ceilings are very high!!!

We were 3 guests dining for late dinner and after one of the best Schniztel offered in the City in a classy environment. I did not see any resemblance of it being a posh place, however the prices on the menu state otherwise, so be prepared to dig deep in your wallets.

We placed an order of 3 schnitzels, and other condiments as shown in the attached pictures. Service was very attentive, waiter spoke English and was very friendly and even offered his own recommendations and preferences. The portion sizes were huge and the taste was impeccable!!! I’ll come back for the schnitzel and service, but not for the ambiance!!

Also, check out the restrooms downstairs, it’s very cosy and the wallpaper is...

Loved the food!

They are well-known for their ‘Wiener Schnitzel’. It’s very flat and huge, quite an impressive sight and it tastes good.

We’ve been here a bunch of times, here’s some of what we tried:

‘Wiener Schnitzel’ with potato salad and cranberry sauce
Asparagus with new potatos and smoked salmon
Monkfish medallions with asparagus and pearl barley risotto
Grilled tuna steak with sesame crust and algue salad
Baby spinach
Fresh beetroot salad with caramelized walnut Creme Brulee with Bourbon Vanille and raspberry sorbet
Lemon tarte

Service is good for lunch, but not so much for dinner. It’s simply too busy by then and very hard to get hold of your waiter. They also forgot one of the side dishes we ordered. We do however love the noise and how crowded it is then. I like when you can have a quick chat with the people sitting on the table next to you. It makes the dining experience more fun and you may find out more about the food, restaurant, city etc. . .

On one of our visit, I didn’t appreciate the evening hostess at all. She brought us downstairs to another room, very dark light and totally different vibe than upstairs. She very much insisted that we take a table there as it is supposedly so much nicer. . . yeah, well, nope! Moreover, I really can’t stand when people completely ignore what you are saying and keep pushing something onto you that you don’t want at all. Eventually we did get our table upstairs and had a good dinner.

So, downstairs is only for romantic dinners or clandestine conversation ;-) For all other occasions I recommend upstairs. Apparently there’s lots of people-watching going on. Personally, I don’t care much about it, but I do get it, the place is very vibrant, a nice Berlin vibe.

When you visit for lunch, the patio is great when the sun is out!

For dinner, do make a reservation! I suppose during fashion week, the film festival etc. it will be crazy busy, so plan well in advance! Also, it is quite pricey, so only come here when you plan to spend some money, otherwise it’s not...

Expensive and mediocre food. We went there for new years, and they had filled up the place with so many tables that you could barely walk. 3 people came and sat next to us and I was almost touching elbows with them. Even though we went early when it wasn't crowded, the waiters were rushing us. I asked which wine they recommended with my meal, and expected a nice explanation like I'm used to at expensive restaurants. I got a 1 sentence answer saying " something something German red wine, which was the same that my friend ordered so he basically didn't even listen. The schnitzel is 29 euros and was extremely salty and barely lukewarm like it was left waiting outside. Because there was no room on the table, I put the bread basket on the next table and when the waiter came, he rudely slapped it back on my table without even saying anything and walked off. The best part is when they brought the bill, the waiter said "service not included". What a joke. You don't say that, you wait for the customer to tell you how much they want to tip. When you ask this, then of course you get no tip. No idea how this place has a reputation for being an amazing restaurant, it's the perfect "poser" meeting place and an ideal tourist trap. The reviews saying "best food" is hilarious to me, most likely people who can't accept the reality of having paid so much so they pretend that it was worthwhile....