Cecconi's Berlin — Restaurant in Berlin

An unexpectedly, really poor experience.

a. We booked late, so when given a very poor table (Bad position, beside a service area one side, and a high traffic thoroughfare to the kitchen, so the waiters bumped me literally 20 times over the night) we thought it was because the restaurant was heavily booked for later. Turned out? Not so. b. We ordered too much food, because we expected Italian sized proportions, not American. The waiter said nothing. Even suggested we order more. We left half of it. c. The chairs. I've never sat on anything quite so terrible. The cushion does not go all the way to the back, the backrest is half height so you can't lean back. The tables have a central single leg, so you can't sit straight forward with your legs in front, instead you must splay them like a drunk on the train. Not that I could have sat up or leaned back anyway, instead I had to hunch over the table to stop the waiters bumping me. d. The food was ordinary at best. My wife was served a dry, unflavored piece of chicken, and shamed for asking for sauce. Me a €40 piece of crumbed who knows what - but it was more crumbs than meat, which was overcooked and dry. Again. Not a whisker of sauce, just an 8th of a lemon. e. The house wine, was the ultra cheap stuff, though not with an ultra cheap price. f. The salad was bitter and uninspiring. g. We just wanted to go, asked for the bill, saying we did not want dessert. The waiter came back 5 minutes later, no bill, admitted he knew we just wanted the bill, but said we should look at the dessert menu anyway. He dropped them on the table and left. We were not happy. h. I look around and realize the restaurant is basically empty. Dozens of much better tables, left empty all night. We'd been given this terrible table, in the worst possible spot, to make it easier for this particular waiter to serve us in his area. Seated there to serve his needs, not ours. i. Finally, our waiter returns and by now I am done. Just the bill not the dessert menu, which we said we did not want. Seems clear, the dessert menu was just brought to get us to up our spend, so his tip would be bigger (my wife is American, of course he expected a 18%+ tip.) j. The bill is €160+ for a meal that was really poor. The starters were fine, but the mains, were a write off. The experience itself.. was just horrible.

We ALWAYS tip 10-15% but tonight only 5% and I got a surly look from the waiter as if I'd made a mistake.

No mistake was made.

I come to a restaurant for a pleasurable experience and didn't get anything like that. We were treated like we were just money machines. Zero attempt made to ensure we had even an acceptable time let alone anyone going the extra mile to ensure the price tag, fit the implied experience quality.

We are always polite, friendly, spend up and tip big. We understand everything does not always go to plan. But this was just to terrible, in too many ways, to forgive.

Never again at this place.

NB. Not once, in an Italian restaurant in Berlin have I not been offered a nightcap on the house when we've spent more than $150. Till this night. I mean. I'm glad. We got to exit faster. But...

A truly dreadful customer experience.

Upon arrival to this venue having been to their ones in London and Barcelona before, we were greeted by an rude and quite abrasive 'supervisor' - curly hair, Italian, mid height - who proceeded to abruptly tell us we had to wait for 1 hour.

We were absolutely fine with this. We decided to have cocktails at the bar which suited us in any case.

Upon requesting our wine and espresso martini the bartender proceeded to forget our espresso martini - no massive issue these things happen but still not great. We thought nothing more of this.

The receptionist who greeted us at the start was now back at her alter doing her thing. We arrived at 21:10 and it was now 22:20. We politely enquired twice about our seat (the restaurant being half full by this point) and were again quite arrogantly told they were prepping our table - we took this at face value. 15 mins pass.

We enquire again, this time the lady informs us they are out of food (can you believe that!) only for us to press her and she again informs us that our table is now being 'prepared'.

Unbelievably....10 mins later some 90 mins after arrival .... she shouts 'Oi oi' across the floor from 15 metres away waving her arm rather than approaching us both to kindly invite us to our much awaited table. We took exception to this and asked are you referring to us, clearly unhappy. Rather than realising the error of her manner she then proceeds to aggressively question our position on this. We decide to rise above it and smile thanking her for the table.

We head to the table, our night basically ruined, and decide after all of this we did not want to give any more money to this ridiculous outfit. We pay our tab, put our coats on and are then harassed attempting to leave the venue for feedback.

TO THE MANAGER AND JV OWNERS BACK IN LONDON: Soho House has incredible standards, as do the other Cecconi's we have been to in the world. This lady should be immediately either retrained or removed from your service- she is a liability. She had a quite ridiculous attitude which ruined our night. We hate leaving negative feedback publicly but on this occasion it is thoroughly warranted. A truly dreadful experience and a blemish on what has been a great company experience to...

During my recent visit to Cecconi's, I encountered a series of unfortunate events that significantly marred my dining experience. Despite having made a reservation well in advance, upon arrival, it seemed as though the staff had completely forgotten about it. We were left awkwardly waiting at the entrance, receiving occasional glances from the personnel who appeared more perplexed than apologetic.

The attitude of the staff throughout the evening did little to improve the situation. Interaction was minimal, bordering on indifferent, creating a rather unwelcoming atmosphere that felt more akin to an inconvenience than hospitality. This lack of engagement and warmth was disappointing, especially considering the anticipation and preparation that goes into planning a special night out.

On a positive note, the quality of the food served at Cecconi's was undeniably good, showcasing skill and attention to detail in the kitchen. However, the dining experience is a blend of both cuisine and service, and in this case, the latter significantly detracted from the overall enjoyment of the meal.

Furthermore, the Champagne menu, while a promising aspect of the evening, fell short of expectations. The selection available was surprisingly limited and lacked the depth and variety one might anticipate from a restaurant of this caliber. An improvement in this area could enhance the dining experience, offering patrons a more refined and memorable beverage pairing with their meals.

In conclusion, while the culinary skills at Cecconi's are commendable, the overall experience was overshadowed by the staff's attitude and an overlooked reservation. Coupled with a Champagne menu that leaves much to be desired, my visit was far from the exceptional dining experience I had anticipated. It's my hope that the restaurant takes this feedback to heart, focusing on improving the service and expanding their beverage offerings to match the quality of...