La Fève — Restaurant in Berlin

Edited for clarity -

I used to come to this café often and it was my favorite in the area, thanks to the great service, fair prices, and cozy atmosphere. That all changed today.

I arrived at 4:30 pm (they close at 6) to work on my laptop for an urgent project. I ordered a cake and a drink, then settled in. I was the only customer at that time sitting in the back. There was also no more than 3 other customers in the front, which means very few people for such a big cafe. Within 10 minutes, the owner informed me of a “no laptops after 2 pm” policy, which I wasn’t aware of since I rarely work here. I asked for 30 more minutes to finish my project, as I had just ordered and didn’t want to waste time finding another spot. He reluctantly agreed.

At 28 minutes, a waitress approached me to talk and I didn’t want to engage in this conversation, because the atmosphere was already quite negative by then, being kept tabs on and all. It wasn’t an option for me to not use my computer because my time is valuable and I can’t waste it by looking at the walls of the cafe, just to accommodate the rules, so I left. Admittedly I assumed, this is what the waiter was going to tell me to do unless I promptly stopped working.

It is extremely disappointing to be treated like an inconvenience, especially as a regular paying customer who was quietly working. I understand rules are important, but enforcing them so rigidly, at the expense of customer happiness, especially when the café was almost empty and when it was almost closing time anyway, is how you lose loyal customers, despite great coffee and cakes - I didn’t mention anything negative about your products!

Bonne...

I just went here to do some work. The lady working here was nice. But they seem to serve hot chocolate consisting mainly of milk and little chocolate (not the Italian/southern European style hot chocolate which is essentially simply melted chocolate). For this reason, if you are not used to that style, expect mostly milk and a little chocolate in it. The man spoke to me immediately in English, assuming that I could not speak German. The lady was nicer in this respect. The espresso is a very good price and the cafe is lovely inside. I would like to try the cake. But I prefer hot chocolate made with little or no milk.

Whoever replied to this review falsely stated that I ordered in English. Wrong! Also, if my criticism was that the chocolate did not contain merely chocolate but lots of milk, why would I want water with it instead of milk?! That makes zero sense. In my country one has a refund for complaints like this, but instead I was chased up for every little penny in a most vulgar...

I visited this café for breakfast while I was in the area a few months ago. The place initially seemed cozy. I ordered a coffee and a slice of cake, but when it came time to pay by card, I was informed there’s a minimum spend for card payments. It would have been helpful if this policy had been mentioned when I placed my order, as I could have adjusted it. When I pointed this out, the staff member was visibly upset and responded rudely, which was disappointing. Now that I’m back in the area, I’ve decided...