La Lupa — Restaurant in Berlin

I visited for the first time with a friend of mine. We had quiet the large order: antipasti, drinks, and pasta (obviously).

However I accidentally ordered pasta with pork. I ordered the Pasta La Lupa. There was no display of meat, no info, no special marking or icons. And apparently (as I found out later) the Italian word Amateiciana means pork. Unfortunately while there was one German and one Englisch translation, the word Amatriciana was not translated. I thought it was cheese. Now I could have asked, but seeing there is no mark or info about meat I thought its okay. Long story short: the food came, I ate, found meat in my mouth, that I couldn't ear for religious reasons.

When I told the waitress, she was kind and wanted to make sure I don't feel uncomfortable. And offered to give me a new pasta. I assume she thought just like me that it shouldn't be a problem since it was an honest mistake and not entirely my fault as there was no proper display or translation/description of the ingredients. However she returned back a minute later with my old plate (as to suggest eat it or pay for a new one) and said the owner reported back to me that I have to pay if I want another pasta. He showed no empathy or just simpel kindness.

I was shocked over the situation, no sympathy, no sensitivity for the situation. No respect for special circumstance. It was grotesque, it has been a while since I felt that way (last time as a child in east berlin when people weren't used muslims lol). And shocked over the greedeness of the owner saving coins. For a pasta that may be costs 3-4€ in the making. Since I was hungry I ordered another pasta which he made me pay for.

I would have appreciated some level of "Kulanz" as we say in German. An honest mistake that is not even entirely the customers fault, as there was no sufficient display of information. It wasn't about taste, or me being picky. I genuinely couldn't eat it and I felt like I had to explain myself a lot. No alternative either - like a dessert for the confusion or an espresso as a "do good". Nothing.

I only say this because I had a cold soup at a Spanish place the weekend before which had bacon in it and which I only found out after it arrived. The cook came personally and gave me another soup (no additionally charges). Due to the same mistake (no proper information). Here is some display of goodwill and kindness shown by the owner.

I now that while restaurant culture is changing in Berlin and customer is no longer "king" (which I don't expect in this scenario) there should be some level of courtesy left to offer to customers. Especially if you want the customer to come back - was it really worth it being greedy?! ... simply rude.

As for the pasta itself - it was okay, simply okay. But not worth the hype. Anyone with decent cooking skills could have prepared the same. Definitely not worth 16 eur for simple pasta. The second pasta almost had no taste/ flavour, specifically the carbonara sauce (without...

I would like to start this review saying that I took my time reading other’s people posts about this restaurant, before sharing my opinion. I think nowadays it’s too easy, unfortunately, to spread judgments on the internet about this or that topic, this or that restaurant, activity or business. The experience in this place was flawless, the food was amazing and the atmosphere cozy and welcoming. Everything exceeded my expectations, and I’m Italian: I would like to point out this just to let the reader understand this review is coming from somebody who had plenty of comparisons. I was not surprised, anyways, when reading the reviews I found out that people who have no culinary relatable culture or experience took the time to share their point of view about dishes they don’t quite understand, in an impolite way, damaging the business of who is putting passion and authentic products on the table in a place far away from home. Places like this, which promote culinary diversity and which give the opportunity to experience flavors of this kind even outside Italy and here in Berlin, should be protected and respected. Please be careful not to dispense your one star reviews for nonsense, you are not cool! You just...

We arrived to the restaurant at 19:00, ordered appetisers and main dish along with a bottle of wine. Service was on the slow side. At 20:30 the waiter told us there is another reservation so we should leave the table in 10 minutes. It is acceptable to reserve tables for limited time of course, but this should be clearly communicated either when making the reservation, or when ordering the food and drinks.

Then we asked for the bill. Five minutes later, the owner came to our table and said “Come to the cash register.” This is not the expected behaviour when you are in a supposedly “nice” restaurant with above average prices. As we were packing our stuff and wearing our jackets, the owner was still telling us “the other group is waiting.” Well, what can we do?

When it comes to the food (I ate here twice) - some appetisers are really good, but there are quite a good number of deep fried mediocre stuff. Pasta is OK. Tiramisu is recommended.

Overall - a little bit overpriced for what you eat, and highly overpriced for how you’re...