Refinery High End Coffee — Restaurant in Berlin

I wish I could give this 0 stars but, unfortunately, this is not an option. This place is quite literally the reason my best friend and I ended up spending an entire day of our vacation in the hospital.

We went there in the morning of the 21st of July for breakfast. My friend has a huge nut allergy and is also allergic to gluten. The baristas told us that they had a gluten-free option- the cream cheese and zucchini (or spinach, I can’t remember now) quiche. We asked them multiple MULTIPLE times if it had nuts to which they told us no and provided us with the allergen list. Nuts were not listed. Good.

Fast forward about 15 minutes later (that’s how long it took them to heat a quiche), and my friend starts saying that she has a feeling the quiche has nuts. This is after she took ONE SINGULAR bite. I go up ti the cash register and ask AGAIN whether the quiche has nuts so I know what I have to prepare for. I am told no nuts, I am given the allergen list and told to wait while the barista check with the chef.

Of course, I was not present during this conversation so I don’t know what was said, however, the barista told me that the chef said no nuts, only traces. Okay so no need for an ambulance then. My friend takes two Benadryls, drinks water and we realize quickly that the situation is not improving. I call my parents (doctors) and her parents and we are almost sure that it’s time to head to the ER. I leave my best friend with another friend who came to join us once I told them the situation and I go inside to ask, AGAIN, whether there is any possibility of there being nuts in the quiche so I know what to tell the ER doctor. What happens next is quite literally insane.

As I am there, arguing with not one, not two but THREE baristas, one goes over to ask the chef. Everyone is undoubtedly losing their cool right now because I am making a little but of a scene. The barista comes back and tells me “The chef said there are no nuts in the quiche, only cashews.” I don’t need to explain the insanity of this statement, I don’t think. Safe to say that after this confirmation we ran to the hospital. I honestly am still in shock over this situation. I cannot believe that it took me making a scene and my friend almost dying for them to finally tell me that the quiche had nuts.

AND GET THIS!!!!! Their excuse was that it was a vegan quiche, and that the cream cheese was vegan cream cheese (cashew purée basically). Understood but then WHY WAS IT NOT LISTED ON THE ALLERGEN LIST!!!!!! I made a scene (in my opinion, understandable) at this stupid explanation. We thought about pressing charges but ultimately decided not to because we did not have sufficient proof. This situation, though, I am pretty...

Used to love this place, it seemed to have a spark. However, seems like a lot has changed and not for the better. Food quality has gone down, and coffee was alright. Did the owner change or something?? Seems like all food was of lower quality, as if I was in a normal Bäckerei. We had the mozzarella sandwich which was dry and had 3 mozzarella slices, 3 tomato slices, 1 leaf of lettuce and touch of pesto on one side of the bun and that for 5.5€. You can get a better one from any basic Bäckerei around town. Also, they warmed it up too long so top of bun was burnt (forgot to take a pic...). Then we also shared a mozzarella quiche, which was average, flavour edible, parchment paper got stuck to the bottom so was somehow also difficult to cut it. They also transformed the top floor into an open kitchen which since they now serve brunches for over 10€, like around 15€ mark. Kitchen makes the place smell strongly. All in all - not a great experience. What happened to the High-End coffee?? For coffee I got the bonanza blend, also very average tasting coffee. I will not go back unfortunately, not for this quality reduction, especially not for...

I was there on my vacation in Berlin and tested out some coffees, have been at 3 different ones which offer specialty coffee.

For my experience I like to ask about the coffee beans they are serving. Unfortunately, the Baristas were not able to answer my questions and only gave me a card that contained the origin after being confused and talking to the other co worker.

I drank a Doppio which was underextracted, meaning that, most likely, the coffee beans were grinded too coarse and water is flowing through too fast and extracting very little coffee flavor. The Doppio was unpleasant to drink. I assume the staff that worked there that day was untrained (1. Not knowing anything about the coffee beans they are serving, 2. Not knowing how to correctly extract espresso).

I cannot judge the quality of the coffee beans due the underextraction in the brewing sadly.

Haven't tried the food, so cannot say anything bout it, but it looked tasty.

The ambiance is nice and you can have a great time drinking coffee. However, from my experience, I would not recommend this place if you are searching for a nice specialty coffee and if you love...