Café Tiergarten — Restaurant in Berlin

Changing my 4 stars to 1 now, the 2nd visit was very very disappointing. The place was full and so loud that you couldn't hear a thing the staff was saying. People were SHOUTING, SCREAMING inside, deafening.

This stupid "minimalism" is also very annoying - there's no menu at a glance anywhere, you have to know or ask (and again you're not going to hear anything because of noise). Positions and prices are nowhere to be found before you ask. The staff speaks either super fast German (in a very noisy environment) or immediately switches to English - apparently, just speaking slowly and clearly to a visible foreigner isn't an option. They were trying to be nice but it doesn't save the whole picture of a complete mess. Overall feeling was that foreigners aren't welcome (and no foreigner ever could be okay with the people talking so loudly anyway).

Pricing is outrageous for the level of mess you see there. Also, no takeaway because they're trying to be crazy environmentalist and are afraid of paper cups. Insane. This place wouldn't last a month outside of Germany.

Never again. Such a great potential and it's lost in a such a dumb way.

Edit. Answering to provide some more understanding. I hear you and your points. I understand that not much can be done about people not respecting anyone and yelling all over the place. Sadly, it's cultural and very common in Germany. Still, maybe some subtle reminders can make at least some of them more self aware (also, some soft elements like cushions or plants might slightly soften sounds, even though I understand that they have to be used very sparingly to keep the style).

I also understand what you're saying about architecture - basically, I found the place first while exploring Hansaviertel because it was interesting for me architecturally and this cafe looked great as a part of the neighborhood. What I don't like - when minimalism compromises usability. I'm pretty sure that installing a small "lightbox" with positions and prices above the counter is possible anyway. It doesn't take much to make the place a lot more "user friendly", just a little thought. When a customer enters, they want to see the offer immediately, and ask for the details later. It doesn't work other way around, especially if you're not the only visitor at the moment.

I don't mind to speak either German or English there - sometimes when a German switches to English because you didn't understand 50% of their huge fast-paced speech, it just feels... condescending. The language is not an issue and should never be, any language both parties understand is fine.

The lack of takeaway (because apparently paper cups are so so evil) is... hypocritical. I see no issues to provide it. If you don't - not a deal breaker, but sometimes very limiting. The model where people carry their own cups around is just not realistic - and last years show it.

Again, I'm not a designer or any kind of professional related to such business - but that's what I can see as a user and many points are easily fixable (but yeah, maybe...

Some years back, this was one of our favorite places to go for coffee, pastry, cakes, or a good breakfast in the morning. In recent years some changes of ownership happened, and today"s experience was the top. Two persons behind the bar tried to make coffee specialties with a two group espresso machine. I have rarely seen such an unprofessional try. It looked, like it was the first day on this equipment, so everything wrong that can be done, from non tampering the coffee to misadjusted grinding, removal of the sieve carrier unit after start of brewing, badly foamed milk... Too much to stand it. And, even though patronage was not really large, we waited for nearly 20 minutes without service, enough time to take close look on the clumsy way trying to make coffees. At least the obviously homemade cakes looked quite good, but we did not give it a try. We then decided to go for Cafe Buchwald on Baerenbruecke, which is 5 min walking. A real treat, and highly recommended.

People, in Berlin, there is more than one place, that offers Barista classes, actually quite many, from beginners to real pros. And prices...

The new renovated space looks amazing, however, the service is terrible! I went on a Sunday to have my breakfast, and initially I asked for the orange juice and the bread with vegan miso butter, but they told me those both options were sold out. Then I asked for the bread with marmalade, and they told me they didn’t have it either, because they were waiting on the bread to come. The waitress told me that the bread would come in half an hour, and I answered I would wait for it. Half an hour passed and nothing. I asked another waitress about the bread, and she told me it sold out, but my friend saw that the customer next to us got her bread with marmalade! Did the bread ended up arriving, they forgot to tell me and prioritise the order I did half an hour before, and then it sold out again in less than 30 minutes?! I also got no apology or any explanation. I ended up leaving hungry and disappointed. I...