Café Lou — Restaurant in Berlin

Lou definitely has a lot of potential but it's not quite there yet. Today I decided to take a visit at Lou, a cafe I had saved on my go to list for quite a while. Specially the menu (bowls and müsli), as well as the home-like described atmosphere had caught my attention.

The place is bright and spacey, which gives a very nice and positive first impression. The benches at the windows look really good and if the rest of the furniture was established in that style (wood like white chairs for example) it would help the inner decorations a lot. In general the seating accomodations are plenty and perfect for working (which is also a big plus), but since their goal is to set an ambience that feels like home, and it doesn't really feel comfortable or homey I deducted some points. In order to get there I'd put in more plants, maybe a couch, different furniture for sure. Additionally, there was no background music. As mentioned in another review, and I totally agree on this, it feels kind of empty and I'd say the too big of a spaces plus the lack of suitable sounds are a major factor. Music could help fill this emptiness and also make it more suitable for the ears to hear other people's voices. In a large empty room every single conversation could be heard diligently and often single conversations were the main presence of the café (I don't care if sb speaks loudly, but in such a big echo-rich room it triggered from time to time). Hence, play music 😄.

Now the food/drinks. Coffee was ok. Not the best beans. Wouldn't come back just for the coffee tbh. I tried the Birchner Müsli which I originally expected to be prepared at the cafe freshly with fresh fruit. When I got there I realized they didn't prepare it freshly at the moment and it was a position already packed in a plastic container. So Im not even sure if they prepare that themselves. The portion was definitely already a few days old as it had soaked in all the water and thus was dry. I get that people often order to go, but unless necessary, using plastic doesn't seem very environmentally aware. And if reselling prepared food (for such high prices) is necessary, then at least they could put some new fresh toppings (as fruit and walnuts) and water it or put a bit of milk to give back some moisture and texture to the dried out food. So food sadly wasn't a big hit also.

Staff was friendly. Very conversational within themselves. (Neither positive or negative just again very notorious in a "silent" big place).That's it.

Honestly, I'd go back, because the place really has potential and I'd love to see the...

The espresso was papery with a slight caramel aftertaste. Disappointing overall. The other coffee ordered was supposed to be a lactose free latte, but was made with regular milk - they offered to remake it, but my espresso was already getting cold so we declined. The latte also didn't really have any foam, so that was also pretty disappointing. I asked about their beans on the way out and the barista had no idea... "Italian I think" ... I suppose I should've asked that at the beginning so my expectations of a pretty little cafe would have been...

I visited Lou today and I must say, it was a very pleasant experience. The interiors were calming, staff was friendly and the restrooms were clean. What else can you ask for?

I've given a 4 star under the Atmosphere sub category because, though the place was very nice, it felt a little empty. I understand trying to make a place look spacious, but there was a slight feeling of emptiness. Maybe a rearrangement of furniture could fix it? I'm not sure! But all in all, it was a great experience. Hope to meet the owners and hear their story on how...