Crackers — Restaurant in Berlin

I have visited this restaurant multiple times in the past and always appreciated its elegant ambiance and the cool New York-inspired vibe of the location. However, my most recent experience was nothing short of a disaster and has completely ruined my perception of this establishment. From start to finish, the experience was so negative that I can only advise everyone to avoid this restaurant entirely.

The service was absolutely appalling. Right at the start, the manager outright called us liars when we politely pointed out the long wait time for the first course, which took a staggering 30 minutes to arrive. We had been keeping track of the time ourselves, yet instead of addressing the issue professionally, the manager responded with an astonishing level of arrogance and dismissiveness. The wine steward added insult to injury with his condescending attitude, treating us as if we were uneducated and beneath him. Never before have I been treated so disrespectfully in a restaurant.

The quality of the food was equally unacceptable and completely inconsistent with the prices. The first course was overwhelmingly sour, the second course – a soup – was served lukewarm, and the main course was so over-salted it was barely edible. The third course, a vegan “cheesecake,” was not only disappointing in flavor but had a texture that resembled jelly. Despite our repeated feedback, no effort was made to address the issues or improve our experience. Instead, we were met with indifference and an attitude of “this is just how it is.”

To make matters worse, the restaurant’s hygiene was shockingly poor. Throughout our entire visit, our table was not cleaned once, even though there were visible food remnants on it. The wine glasses were covered in water stains, and during the last course, the table was wiped down using my own cloth napkin – which I then couldn’t use for the rest of the meal. For a restaurant that positions itself as high-end, this level of cleanliness is entirely unacceptable.

What ultimately made this experience unbearable was the complete failure in handling complaints. When we requested to speak with the manager to provide feedback, he didn’t even allow us to finish explaining our concerns. Instead of taking our comments seriously or offering a solution, he arrogantly suggested removing one bottle of wine from the bill – as if that could somehow make up for the poor service and low-quality food. It felt as though their only goal was to dismiss us without any genuine attempt to resolve the issues or show professionalism.

This experience has opened my eyes to how much the service and quality at this restaurant have deteriorated over time. I had even planned to host my birthday celebration here next month with 20 guests in their private dining area, but after this fiasco, that is completely off the table. This restaurant is no longer recommendable – not for a special event, nor for an ordinary evening out.

To make matters worse, this terrible experience took place on the restaurant’s anniversary, and the place wasn’t even fully booked. Yet, the service was so atrocious that it bordered on outright disrespect. For prices in this range, one expects a corresponding level of quality – but what was delivered here was not just poor, it was entirely unacceptable. I will never visit this restaurant again and strongly advise others...

My experience in Crackers was just Okay.

I would give 5 starts to the vibe of the place no doubt. Apart from having a curious entrance, the ambiance of the restaurant is really pleasant, it has good lighting and relaxing atmosphere, it is elegant but not overly fancy.

We came for an early dinner at 18:30, it was not crowded at that time and the service was great.

Our food choices sadly disappointed. The initial plan was to take the well reviewed meats and some starters to share, however our waitress spoke very well about the ‘left side of the menu’ which showed the creativity of the Chefs, so we decided to try that out instead.

All dishes that we ordered sounded great on paper, but none of them delivered the anticipated WOW effect.

Starters:

Burratina - probably the best out of the 4 things we tried, however thanks to solely the cheese. I think all the extras didn’t fit too well. The dates purée was too sweet, that, mixed with the cheese overtook the taste of the cheese itself. The pickled onions just didn’t match in my opinion and the oat crackers were too hard to bite.

Brook trout - one of the ingredients here is Tigermilk, aka Leche del Tigre, which if you know Peruvian cuisine has a very specific acidic and fishy taste, which is what I was expecting. Once I tasted the dish, the sauce had a strong coconut taste and very little acidity - definitely not a classic taste I was anticipating. If I knew it would taste like coconut curry I wouldn’t have ordered it, but coconut was not on the highlighted ingredients list. Overall this dish was good, but since the sauce description was misleading it didn’t hit the spot for me, so I cannot rank it high.

Mains:

Cauliflower - again my expectations of the described dish were not met. I really like cauliflower and have tried it in many different forms, but this dish was just too plain. And for the price of 26€ I expected at least a few Truffle slices, but the ribbons that we got added absolutely no taste so it should not be highlighted as on the of main ingredients, see the photo attached.

Mushroom Dim Sum - had high hopes for this one. For 28€ you get 3 dumplings that have a very sour aftertaste (was the pear pickled?), though the mushrooms on the side tasted good. Overall for me it was a miss again.

After this we were too scared to even try the desserts :D We had wine, so no opinion on the cocktails either.

To conclude, the place looks great, the food presentation is great as well and we had quick service. The taste - meh. Price - too much for the taste of the dishes we got. Maybe we should have tried the meat as planned, but I highly doubt I will come...

We visited Crackers last Saturday for the advertised special vegan menu celebrating the restaurant's 10-year anniversary. Having dined here twice before, we were excited for a memorable evening. Unfortunately, it was far from what we had hoped for.

The issues began early in the evening. While we arrived at 20:35 for our 20:45 reservation and were seated promptly, things quickly went downhill. After ordering a bottle of sparkling wine, my wife noticed it didn’t seem right. When she raised this with the waiter, his response was shockingly rude and condescending, insisting they only served one type of sparkling wine (incorrectly) and adding a patronizing remark about "white wine being made with white grapes."

It took 30 minutes for anyone to return to the table. When I asked the manager about the delay, he claimed it was because our friend was late—despite their arrival at 20:46, just one minute past our reservation. When I pointed this out, I was essentially called a liar.

When the food finally arrived, the experience didn't improve.

Soup: Warm and acceptable. Starters: The salad was overwhelmingly sour and inedible. The beetroot dish was just mediocre. Bread: A huge disappointment compared to their usual brioche. Mains: The tofu was excellent, and the fries and mashed potatoes were the highlight of the evening. Dessert: The vegan cheesecake was a disaster—flavorless with an unpleasant gelatin texture, left untouched by all three of us. We gave feedback to the waiter about the cheesecake, but no follow-up was made, and no alternatives were offered.

When the bill came, we were charged for the full three-course meal and two bottles of sparkling wine. After raising our concerns, the waiter argued with us instead of addressing the issue professionally. We spoke to the manager again, who continued to justify the earlier behavior rather than offer a genuine apology. Eventually, he removed one bottle of wine from the bill, but the overall experience left us angry, hungry, and humiliated—despite paying €250 for three people.

As vegans who frequently dine at restaurants in Berlin, the execution of the menu fell far below the standards of even much cheaper establishments.

Final Thoughts: Crackers had the opportunity to impress with their vegan menu but failed on execution, service, and professionalism. This was a disappointing and...