Lutter & Wegner am Gendarmenmarkt — Restaurant in Berlin

Absolutely awful experience: my husband and I visited for dinner, sat outside and were caught in an unexpected thunderstorm and torrential rain as soon as our food arrived. Nobody came out from the restaurant to help us move insight as we and the food became more and more drenched; finally a waitress appeared and helped us into the restaurant- where we were greeted by 4 male staff including the manager hiding in the back and laughing. The waitress finally managed to bring in our food and rest of the wine too although our Schnitzel were cold and soggy by now. Neither our main male waiter nor the male manager could be bothered to check in on us or indeed help in what was clearly a wrecked dinner by now. Fed up we asked for the bill and complained to this waiter about the lack of service we experienced when help was needed, which he just shrugged off. Even more annoyed we asked for the manager by this point who openly said that guests are just stupid to sit outside and that he did not come to help us as he did not want to get wet and wouldn’t asked his staff to do so either and that the weather was our problem for sitting outside in the first place!!! Whilst we understood that he can’t change the weather it is simply arrogant and completely unprofessional for him and his male chauvinistic staff to act like this! We are not even able to rate the food as it was inedible in the end and paid our bill of €136.00 as it was clear that there was no good-will or indeed any acknowledgment of the terrible experience we had in the end- with us being made to feel stupid for even just sitting outside during a warm summer evening. Never in our lives have my husband or I experienced such rude and chauvinistic behaviour in a supposedly upmarket restaurant across Europe! We will never return and felt sad for the poor waitress who helped us as we witnessed from our taxi how she was made to hand over a generous tip we gave her to that awful manager. We hope she finds...

My family and I had a terrible experience dining at Lutter & Wegner am Gendarmenmarkt (inside the Weihnachtsmarkt). We were all shocked by the vast difference between their reputation and our experience with this branch.

We ordered a Sauerbraten and Gänsekeule. The Sauerbraten’s meat was not fresh at all and the meat quality was poor. It had a very unpleasant texture. There were parts that were chewy like rubber and other parts that felt like mush cardboard. The dark sauce was very thick and stuck to the tongue. Though it was edible, it was not a pleasant experience and below my expectations for its price. The Gänsekeule was decent and far better than the Sauerbraten, but seemed to be not freshly cooked either. It was quite dry.

Our experience with the staff and service was OK. However, our neighbouring table had a poor experience. When we entered, they were already seated and waiting for their food. By the time we finished our meals they were still waiting. During this time, they politely reminded the staff to check the situation. However, the staff did not seem to care much. The staff first answered with ‘I hope it’s coming soon’ and on the second time ‘sorry I cannot carry six plates at the same time’.

Naturally, the neighbouring guests did the right thing: they paid for their drinks and promptly left with empty stomachs. I hope they found a better place in Berlin!

Overall, I think the management team needs to seriously review this branch because, in my opinion, it is far below expectations. I hope I was able to provide some constructive feedback for them to rectify...

We had a lovely time here last night. We booked early at 6pm and it was a lovely calm arrival. Jackets were taken and we were seated promptly. The menu takes a bit of navigation but it’s all there. Seasonal specials and the classics. This is a Berlin institution known for its simple but quality dishes. There is no pressure to order anything other than what you like to eat or drink. No pushing the expensive wines or the special, which I really appreciated. The service is attentive but not intrusive and incredibly professional. The interior is fantastic and you feel as if you are somewhere special. The restaurant filled but was never too noisy and it had such a charming atmosphere. The food was good but not the best. The Wiener schnitzel was well cooked yet felt flabby and the Bratkartoffeln tasted luke warm and sadly sorry for themselves. This let the whole dish down and was a bit disappointing for their house dish. Go for the potato salad as an accompaniment it looked much better. The turbot special was good but lacked any wow. The chicken schnitzels were really good and the simple salad dressed to perfection. Again the accompanying Bratkartoffeln were poor. The desserts were a step up. A steamed apple pudding! Something I have never seen in Germany before and it tastes excellent too. The cheese board was very good value as well. I drank beer all evening and finished with a fabulous Austrian dessert wine. Overall a very...