Noble Rot Weinbar — Restaurant in Berlin

I removed my 1-star review to replace it with a 2-star review.

I've been here a couple of times before and my experience was always positive until last Saturday.

We were here as a large group and paid a 300+ Euro bill. A friend of ours broke one wine glass, and the staff said everything was ok. Then we realized there was one extra glass of Merlot added to the bill that we were sure none of us had. Upon asking the staff, they told us it was added as compensation for the broken glass.

We told them they had told us everything was fine about the broken glass and there was no mention of an extra cost (and it's generally better etiquette to not charge a customer extra over one broken glass, especially if they are already paying a couple of hundred Euros), and it was very sketchy behavior that they just added an extra random item to our bill as a compensation without any before-hand clarification. If we had known it before, our friend could have just paid before leaving, but he was already gone.

As we were explaining to them the way they were handling it wasn't really the proper way, instead of apologizing (we have no problem paying for broken glass, but just be transparent about it instead of choosing this scummy approach), they got very rude.

After having an argument (we already had paid for everything including the cost of the glass), as we were leaving, one of the staff members started to tell us to leave the bar and go, and he was making hand gestures to get us out. The whole interaction was very disrespectful. Even after paying a 300+ Euros bill that includes the broken glass and some tip, we were treated as if we were being thrown out. It was the most disrespectful way I got treated in any bar.

The owner emailed us (he wasn't there when this incident happened), giving us his number to talk, apologizing for the inconvenience, and saying that he also he agrees that they shouldn't have charged us for a broken glass, and he was also not happy about how his staff handled the situation, and he could give the money back for the broken glass.

He brought up that most of the people from our table got there later than the reservation time, and a friend of ours brought a drink from outside, among other things, and he had suggested that these things also could be the reason why the staff were so heated towards us.

I’m happy to receive an apology, but as someone coming from a family that also runs a restaurant and worked as a waiter for years, this is not really the best way to handle it, when your staff disrespects customers in such a way, and the owner lists the mistakes that the customers did in the apology email. I think a business owner should just apologize and leave it there if he wants to make things better, instead of trying to come up with excuses in an apology email. I’d be embarrassed if this incident happened in our restaurant and would never try to come up with excuses of such disrespectful behavior.

The owner also accused us of ganging up and trying to ruin his business by leaving 6 1-star reviews over a broken glass. All the reviews were left by the people who were involved in the incident. We haven’t asked any of our friends (including the ones who were there but left early before the incident) to leave a bad review. I tried to explain that the main issue was not paying for the glass but the attitude of the staff. I also conveyed his apologies to my friends in case they want to update/remove their reviews, and some of them already did so.

The owner was still respectful during our conversation, and didn't raise his voice. Even though we haven’t agreed on everything, in the end we respectfully agreed to disagree and he thanked me for calling.

Because the owner was respectful during our conversation and even if we hadn’t agreed to each other, I thought he had a good intentions overall, and I had good times at this bar before, so I’m replacing my 1-star review with a 2-star one. I’d still never come back here with the current attitude of the staff...

On a recent trip to Berlin, we visited Noble Rot for some drinks and bites in the afternoon, mostly because it was on our way. And that visit turned out to be one of the best decisions we made! The owners have a Hungarian background, they've amassed an impressively unique collection of Hungarian and German wines in their cute little winebar. From your more typical cabarnet sauvignons to funky, and weird natural wines made with indigenous grapes.

I met with Sebastian (spelling?) when I was there, being one of the owners not only was he an expert on their wines but he also turned out to be a cheese nerd. As a like-minded cheese nerd, he was kind enough to let me select the cheese. He created a beautiful board with marmalade, a spicy fig mustard, some olives on the side with bread.

I suggest everyone to stop by Noble Rot at least once if you're ever in Berlin, I wish we were staying a bit longer so I could pay a second visit. But I'm so grateful to Sebastian for his hospitality, we truly enjoyed our time there. Can't wait to see you again sometime...

I came across this bar by chance during a recent trip to Berlin and it was a highlight of my trip. The staff were so friendly and really helpful when I asked for suggestions from the extensive menu. It was a weeknight, I was on my own, and there was a really chill atmosphere. Perfect for enjoying a couple of glasses of wine while reading my book. I loved this place so much, I went back the next day to buy a bottle of wine to bring to a dinner party. Can't wait to visit again during my next...