SAN — Restaurant in Berlin

THE WORST SERVICE EVER I was very looking forward to a night of a great food with a friend. Our reservation is at 6:30 right when the restaurant is open and I arrived 5 minutes before that. The waiter (a man) told me that my reservation is at the bar but if I want to sit at a table, I can still do, until 20:00. That sounds reasonable so I took the offer thinking 1.5 hrs is plenty for us to enjoy the food.

My friend texted me that she will be 10 mins late, but within this 10 mins, the waiter came to ask me if my friend is still coming, reminding me that we need to leave at 20:00.

At 18:40 my friend came and we barely got time to look at the menu, the waiter came again and with the same reminder that we have to order now as our time is tick toking. By this point we were very annoyed but I asked the waiter if we could first order the appetizers, but he said no, that we need to order everything at once. So we rushed through the menu and ordered, feeling super pressured.

The food came quite quickly, at 19:30 we already finished the food which is 30 mins before our "time" was over, while our drinks are not finished, another waitress (this time a girl) came and asked if we could pay ! ? !? She didnt even ask if we wanted anything else. We were seriously shocked because we clearly didnt over stay our time limit.

We politely asked if we could speak to the manager, but the waiter (the first one) said manager is not there. We told him, that we felt very unwelcome and being rushed the whole time, that even though the food was great, there is no chance I would recommend this place to anyone or ever returning.

He then told the chef about this and the chef was apologizing even though he did a fantastic job. For a restaurant that places food rather in the premium price range, the service is just unacceptable.

When we were paying, the waitress apologized and said that they need to rush us because all sushi is made to order. Isnt all sushi made to order, regardless of restaurant type????

Part of the unpleasant experience could come from the fact that the staffs are not that fluent in english and german but this does not justify the...

TLDR: Great food, bad service.

I made a reservation for 3 people (2 adults and 1 infant) 1 month before the date. I called the restaurant with good intention to tell them that we came late and they told me that somehow my table would be on bar table with high chair cause we came late. I mean we tried our best to come on time, however when you travel with baby it might sometimes hard to come on time. My baby was crying the whole time before come to the place and we needed to comfort her first. I put my baby on the baby carier and sit on high chair which was very uncomfortable and spent eating there standing all the time. What I found weird was that they could put TWO persons on a normal sitting table that could fit FOUR persons, but insist to put a family with baby on high chair on bar table because we came late. What is the point for reservation and stating that you will bring baby then? What I found the weirdest was that the guy said that the high chair was our place at the first place. I mean WTF 🙃??!! I was in an affordable chinese restaurant night before with very crowded customer and they still manage to put us on the biggest place they have. Even a cheaper restaurant has better knowledge how to manage their customer 😅 Might as well not calling them that we might come late.

Coming to the food. It tasted really great. I was in Japan before and tried real Omakase and my memory in Japan instantly came back. High quality imported fish and even the wasabi tasted very similar to those I tasted in Japan back then. However, I don't know if this is also the case with other customer but I would say that the sizing/cut was rather quite small. I mean we spent 100€++ and still left hungry 😅

If you have never been to Japan and wanted to try "real" sushi and your sole purpose is taste, I could say that this place deliver.

Food was amazing, however I would only give one star cause of...

ATTENTION: THIS IS AN AUTHENTIC JAPANESE RESTAURANT. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE TOURIST TRAPS OWNED BY VIETNAMESE, SO DON’T WORRY :)

Alright so let’s begin with the food. The quality of the fish is incredible—so fresh, it practically melts in your mouth. Their nigiri and sashimi are beautifully presented, and the flavors are just out of this world (it’s soooo good). Their authentic wasabi and Japanese salt compliment the sushi perfectly. We also tried their chicken karaage, and every bite was a perfect balance of texture and taste (I can tell that they made it fresh, not from the freezer). Furthermore, we had a nice scoop of ice cream as our dessert. The simplicity of the menu really stands out, you’ll get classic Japanese entrees, sashimi + sushi selections as main course, and great selections of sake and beer.

Another highlight for us was their service and attention to detail. From the presentation to the serving of the meal, everything was perfectly timed. It’s clear they take a lot of pride in what they serve. When taking an order, they asked us whether we have allergies with certain seafood. And when they served us, they explained each of the fish, where the fish come from, and how to eat them (whether we should eat them with soy sauce or without).

The price is quite reasonable for the quality you get, and it feels like you're getting a real sushi experience, not just something to fill your belly. All in all, SAN is the best sushi restaurant in Berlin. I’m afraid it will be difficult for us now to find a better sushi place in Berlin.

Pro tip: you need to book a table in advance and don’t put yourself on the waiting list, as you will get a very little chance to...