IONAH Restaurant Schmargendorf — Restaurant in Berlin

Tipping culture is getting out of hand in Berlin, and it has reached this restaurant, too.

I loved treating myself to a bowl of Phở on my lunch break here from time to time, as I live nearby.

Usually, I leave small tips: 1-2 EUR, which attributes to 10-15%.

But last time I was there, I decided to pay cash, and when it came to paying, I took all the small cash I had in my wallet, which was just enough to pay for the Pho, with something like extra 40 cents on top of it for tips.

When I handed the money to the waiter (a young man), he counted it, stopped smiling, looked at me and asked with what felt like passive aggressive voice: "das war's?". I said "ja", to which he replied "Danke. Auf wiedersehen" with a complete poker face and went away. It was very clear he was not happy with the 40 cents tip.

This situation left me frustrated way more than I would have expected. To the point that I don't want to come back to this restaurant. Maybe because I've been experiencing a growing "tipping culture" getting out of hand in Berlin, and this was a turning point for me. And it's not like I don't leave tips. I actually do.

But just think about it: I come to your restaurant. Not every day, but regularly nevertheless. I find myself a seat outside, you don't have to do anything. I order Pho without the need for the menu, and with no need of your assistance. All your job throughout this whole transaction is to bring it to me, and then take the dishes away. This is not a fancy restaurant where you come for experience and get treated by professional waiters. It's just a nice, little Vietnamese place where you come to eat. It wasn't some fancy dinner either where you had to spend the evening waiting the table for me. It was lunch. I finished my food in less than 30min.

At the end of the day, this is Germany, not the USA - I am not obliged to give you any tips at all, and I am not obliged to explain myself, or to justify why I gave less tips today than I would normally do. Yet, I still did. Yes, it was only 40 cents in this instance - since it was all I had with me, but it was tips nevertheless.

And how do you treat me? Like I am not welcome if I don't tip? Really?

What can I say... This attitude is unprofessional and...

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Very high quality food and good service, nice wine and amazing shady and airy outside seats. The food is highly adapted to European taste: fish sauce is in a very small amount, not spicy almost at all. However, in a realities of schmargendorf this is a must for an Asian restaurant unfortunately.

Food is quality, big portions, and fresh. I...