Briefmarken Weine — Restaurant in Berlin

Delicious Italian food. Poor wine selection.

The food there is really great (5 stars) and worth the high price tag.

The wine is not so good. 80% of the wine list is not available for ordering and the waiter will suggest you to taste something „similar“ which is far from similar.

I was there on a Friday at 7.30pm and they didn’t have Sauvignon Blanc at all - at 7.30 1.30 hours after opening and they claimed Sauvignon Blanc is sold out. The alternatives we were offered was Moscato and some average white wines.

Service can be very slow. We waited 15 minutes for Tiramisu (it is a ready made dessert in a cup laying in their fridge, it should take maximum 5 minutes to serve it). +12 minutes for the bill.

The place used to be much better but the quality of wines dropped.

There are two owners to Briefmarken:

The owner with the grey hair is a very nice guy and he gives better wine alternatives to the wines which exist only in the menu but not in practice.

The owner with long black hair will tell you lots of exhausting stories about the wine he is selling you to justify the high price tag for an average wine.

I’d avoid Briefmarken until they get their things together. I cannot tolerate average wine + IKEA tables and chairs with pricing of a fine...

There are very few places which would deserve a sixth star if there a possibility, but this is one of them. The whole place looks like some kind of continental cafe bar from the early 20th century, in all the best ways. I would imagine that booking is essential, we went on a damp, late October night and could not get a table when just walking in, we were seated at the bar, which was just fine with us. The staff were extremely helpful, courteous and friendly. And then the food. It is something that I was still talking about the following day. We started by sharing a burrata and then I had the ravioli with mushrooms and truffle oil. Absolutely amazing and well worth the wait, which itself was a great opportunity to sample some of the wines there. The whole experience was well worth the price of dining there and I look forward to...

I was disappointed. Considering the prices, I expected a lot more. Lots of staff, yet confusion as to who was doing what (food or drinks, menu? ordering?). Then we got no guidance or recommendations. We ordered a cheese plate and had to ask for someone to come back and tell us what they were. Then then bread came. Also no blankets for outdoor tables - I thought every place in Germany did that?? It got chilly :(

The website says literally nothing. The food menu says little to nothing. They give you an encyclopedia of wines and walk away. I just felt like I went to a pretentious club and was expected to know everything already.

That being said, the bottle of wine was excellent (lucky choice) and the cheese...