Viet Bowl Friedrichshain — Restaurant in Berlin

I visited this place for the first time in 2010 and was impressed with the quality, the freshness and the price of the food. Since then, every time I visit Berlin I go to Viet Bowl in Friedrichschain. Now I don't know if the management has changed since the last time I went but the reason I think it now only deserves two stars is because the service is far, far below par. First off the waiters hardly speak German and barely any English (if at all). That makes it hard for tourists to get proper service. Most importantly though the waiter we experienced yesterday aggressively shouted that I had to tip him and if I didn't I would "never" be welcome at the restaurant again or even in Berlin! When the waiter arrived with the electronic payment terminal, before I could pay he asked me how much tip I want to give. I had to ask what he was saying several times as his English was near incomprehensible. After I understood he asked for a tip I kindly explained I never pay tip (it suppresses wages). The waiter then became aggressive and raised his voice and warned that I would never be welcome again if I didn't pay tip. After a short rattling of sabres he let me pay for our meal and he walked away saying "Berlin no welcome!!". After me and my girlfriend left the place he hopped outside and yelled a sarcastic "Byyyyyyyeee!" at us. This is all a bit of a shame as the food is well worth the visit. Every visit I had so far the food was made with very fresh ingredients and was very tasty and quickly served. My girlfriend tried speaking to the manager about our waiter's behavior but the manager did not seem to understand her and...

Food was ok, the service was intimidating. Mean faced lady showed us from the beginning that compassion and joy were off the menu. We drank three beers, two sekts and two cocktails in a predominantly empty restaurant waiting for our friend to turn up, and mean faced lady wasn't impressed. Apparently not ordering food immediately even when you're the only guests and waiting for further customers to join isn't to her liking. Our friend turned up and we ordered food and more drinks, that all seemed to annoy our delightful host further. When we'd finished we asked to pay and were told cash only. Irrespective of the miserable intimidating service we left a 3 euro tip consisting of the last of the cash we could scrape together. Even apologizing and pointing out that it would have been more if card payment were accepted, as we hadn't planned for cash payment only. Our joyful host simply stood over us with a face of fury pointing at the reciept saying "more tip". After further deiberation and continued apology, she eventually turned her back on us, stormed away, and shunned us as we departed. Absolutely delightful experience. Would recommend to anyone who...

I've been eating there for the last 6 years. It seems that the team recently changed, as last weekend I went there with friends to enjoy the quality food and the usual warm atmosphere...

I've never had such a bad service experience of my entire life. The waiter has literally took the plates off of the table before we could finish. Understandable when it's the end of the service BUT, him being rude and treating us like less than nothing from the beginning on, in front of all the staff and the other people, seems like this guy has a word to say and that everyone accepted his TERRIBLE behaviour no matter what.

It's my first negative critic ever. As a usual customer, I'll never go back there and will spread the word as it has been a nightmare. I firmly advice any food lover who want to enjoy a warm meal without pressure TO NOT GO THERE. There are plenty other amazing Vietnamese...