Zusshu Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Berlin

I never order Lassi at Indian restaurants because I have had the best as a child in India. My wife ordered the Rose Lassi with extra malai and my God they blew it out of the park! Outstanding food and you could taste right from the chutney that they make their dishes only for the day and start after every day!

I confirmed with the lady host and she did say that whatever is made for the day is spent for the day and doesn't get carried over to the next day.

This is unprecedented for an Indian restaurant and that's what sets them apart. May they never change.

UPDATE (April 2025)

Went for the third time but for buffet and this is clearly a mistake on my part, and perhaps on the restaurant's part. There's no space for buffet and dining unfortunately. Cramped narrow passway allows only one stream of traffic and probably is a fire hazard.

But here's where Zusshu has gone a bit tricky for the buffet. They got a set of rules to not waste food, not pack leftovers from the buffet - all reasonable and appreciated. What is strange is when the server schools us because our kids left some crumbs of the naan (the hard ones like pizza crust) and on some gravy leftover on the plate. Yeah it's not ideal but it's some gravy (barely a tablespoon) and some crumbs of naan. If I wanted to be schooled, I would have gone to my mum.

The other ridiculous part was that no water bottle was absolutely allowed from outside. That's strange - so now my water will be controlled too?

The food was excellent as always, but this is the kind of thing that makes a customer not want to take the effort to visit a restaurant. I come because I want to have a good time. Not because I want to be cramped while taking a serving from the buffet or scolded for not licking the entire plate up.

RESPONSE TO RESPONSE ON MY UPDATE In the age of constant social media scrutiny, not everything has to be responded to by a business. I am not sure what was wrong about my tone, and I am not sure what respect and gratitude I owe them other than my payment, the fact that I complimented the food? Am I supposed to take it lying down if I am schooled like I made the biggest sin by leaving naan crumbs and a teaspoon of gravy? The expectation really seems to be that we lick the plates down. I am sorry but I am not sure what's wrong with the management here.

So does it mean if I purchase ala carte and then waste food then that's somehow okay?

I will reiterate here - people come to a restaurant to have a good time with friends and family and enjoy a good meal. Am I not supposed to point out any flaws at all, and only show "respect and gratitude"? I am not a 5 year old.

Such a shame because the food is so good here but this attitude is not going to bring my friends/family here again.

RESPONSE TO PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE RESPONSE Yup, very mature response there. I made a remark in a review about how I was schooled with their buffet while maintaining that the food was fantastic. I am allowed to do that as a grown up since I wasn't rude, it was an observation Zusshu responds saying the tone was rude and that guests should respect and show gratitude I am confused as to what respect and gratitude outside of not eating for free, complementing the food am I expected? Zusshu responds passive aggressively talking about positive vibes etc

Here's the thing, all this talk about positive vibes, but you can't take a valid criticism of the way you treat guests, and are unable to hear the experience of a guest. Instead you blame your guest for not using the right tone, not showing gratitude or respect???

You are in this business willingly, and I am not eating for free. I complimented your food while making an observation/criticism. If you can't take this level of criticism then I can't imagine how this will sustain. Literally as the saying goes - "get out of the kitchen if you can't stand the heat"

I still have kept my 5 stars for "food" but Zusshu can't see that, and take any valid criticism here, because the truth is that guests are treated aggressively with their...

🛑🛑 Okay, where do I start from? 🛑🛑

⚠️ Let me start by saying that this was a really bad dinner experience. Maybe disastrous.

What we ordered - Mutton Haleem, Mutton Biriyani, Red Onion Salad, Raitha (came with Biriyani), Faluda, Safron Chai. As you can imagine it was more than 50€ in total.

⁉️ The first things that came were Chai and Faluda. Genuine question to the owner who runs this place - what is the idea behind this? Both of them contain good amount of sugar, milk and ice cream and are guaranteed to make you full if you have them first. Instead, if I ask the waiter to take it away or have it after my food, it's just a big wastage of food or the tea would go cold and the ice cream would just melt. I have never been to a restaurant where they serve the desserts first. This is clearly a really bad way of serving customers - make them full at first so that they don't enjoy the rest of the meal

⛔️ Faluda was below average - loose, little too sweet and vermicelli felt weird - definitely not cooked well.

✅ Chai was pretty good. I can't complain and I'm guessing it's priced high because of saffron.

🛑 Next, when I tried to drink the Faluda through the straw spoon for the first time it was already blocked. I can understand if it was blocked later on but first time simply implies that nothing was cleaned properly.

Then came the plates which were plastic. I'm sorry to say that this felt like a really below average fast food feel. Maybe a lot of people wouldn't care but if I go to a restaurant and pay 15€ or more per person, this is the least I can expect.

After this came the mutton biriyani, mutton haleem, red onion salad, raitha

🛑 Mutton Biriyani - Felt really flat in taste, half the rice had no flavour and was just white in colour. It's unacceptable for a biriyani with this much price. Really less masala but I can say that the meat was tender, soft and slow cooked according to the description but low in quantity - I would say 2 pieces in which 1 had bone. Overall max 150g of meat. Disappointing.

🆗👍🏻 Mutton Haleem - It was good. Nothing extraordinary or nothing bad. Came with some cashews and some flavour which I only felt in this food

🛑 Raitha was bad. Could feel that the yogurt was average and there were no veggies. About veggies, it's normal in any restaurant in Germany to be serving some veggies or salad with any dish you order. Surprisingly, nothing came with veggies and you had to order a salad extra which comes to my next point.

🛑 Red onion salad - First of all, what's a salad? If your idea of a salad is just sprinkling a bit of coriander on raw, thickly cut onions and a small slice of lemon, I have to respectfully disagree that this has reached new levels of low and we have very different opinions about good food.

At this point, it was just enough for us to stop eating, pack everything and go back home. Even the waiter kind of understood that we were really unhappy. I just didn't feel like yelling at the restaurant because the waiter was nice and well behaved.

I'm sorry but from our experience this was way beyond our comprehension as to why we paid 50+ euros for two people for this experience. I generally do not complain but this really has not met even the basic things. We packed the rest of the food and had a decent pizza on the way back and tried not to ruin our evening.

YES, HAD TWO DINNERS.

❌❌❌ This review itself took more time than it should have but the message needs to be clearly conveyed to whoever is running this business.

In short - 100% would not recommend. ❌❌❌

Editing the review to add response - Outright disrespectful to add such a comment about using AI chatbot to write this review and being sponsored by restaurant competition to post this review. The least you could have done is acknowledge your part and try to make your services better instead of fighting with ridiculous claims. Maybe take some time to go through the CCTV footages to understand our reactions to the delivered food and how many times we called and there...

Finding an authentic Indian restaurant with regional cuisine in Berlin can be a challenge, but in my recent visit to Zusshu was an absolute delight. It was a recommendation from a friend who has been ordering and going there very often.

This family-owned and small gem stands tucked in one street near Wittenbergplatz. It has exceptional Hyderabadi cuisine, though limited, but great (compared with whatever I had in Berlin so far) and as well has a warm and inviting atmosphere.

The proprietor's passion from her craft (and her kitchen teams effort) was evident from the start I stepped in. Miss Bushra eagerly offered personalized suggestions and genuinely sought my feedback, making me (and as well my friends) feel like cherished guests trather than mere customers.

The menu is a refreshing departure from the usual fare found in Indian restaurants in Berlin. Instead of the ubiquitous dishes, Zusshu offers a limited selection of Hyderabadi specialties. Each dish I tried was a testament to the rich, complex flavors of this regional cuisine, easily among the best I’ve encountered in Berlin after visiting over 30 Indian restaurants. I ordered Biryani Rice, Spinach based Curry(Palak something) on owner's recommendation, Lentils(Khatti Dal), Paneer 65, and my buddies ordered some meat delicacies.

A highlight of our meal was the complimentary Aubergine Stew(Bhagare Baingan) and the Saffron Tea. The tea was amazing, and its delicate aroma and subtle sweetness perfectly rounded off the dining experience.

In summary, Zusshu is a must-visit for anyone seeking authentic, or say near authentic Hyderabadi flavors in Berlin. The exceptional food, coupled with the proprietor's hospitality(the couple), makes it a standout choice for Indian cuisine...