BLOCK HOUSE Essen — Restaurant in Essen

I actually came to this restaurant because of its rating, but I would have to think that people have been a bit kind in their rating of this location (chain restaurant?). We were greeted kindly at the front door and were certainly looking forward to a meal out of the rain while at the Christmas Market. The salad bar is right at the entrance, everyone walking by it, and I thought it a bit strange that people do not make their own salad. Maybe it was an all-you-can-eat salad bar at one time, but waiters/waitresses make your salad in this area and bring it to you (???). The salad was good and our meal was quick to follow. We ordered the T-Bone steak for two (asked for Medium Rare cook). Each person gets a plate with their sides on it, and the steak is on another plate. This is where things started to turn for the worse. The presentation was terrible - literally a steak on a plate (see pic). I paid for one of the biggest items and this is how it comes out? This was the least of my concerns. Next was the simple fact that the T-Bone steak did not have a T-Bone?!?!?! The waiter actually tries to tell me to picture the bone and how meat located in each area would be different. I did not pay for imagination. Next was the cook. The outside of the "Strip" was about right for 1/2inch. After that it went downhill. I'm not sure how the heat is on the grill, but the rest of the steak was rare to almost Blue (especially near the bone and the "Tenderloin" portion. My last concern was the amount of sinew through the steak. I could literally not cut it in some spots due to the mess (from lacking the bone?). All I can say is that I have had many steaks in my days, and this was one of the worst I have had. I will end on a positive note that the taste was actually very good where prepared properly, and they did remove the cost of our two drinks for the mess of our steak. In the end, when your business is steaks, they should be the best cuts, and the chefs should nail how well...

The food was okay, but the service was very much under any level you would expect from a restaurant in any area imaginable. We came in around 20:30 which is 90 minutes before closing time and every member of the staff made it very clear with their attitude and level of service that we were coming in "to late". When we did not know on the spot what we wanted to eat and drink it took over 15 minutes for a server to ask us again. It took a long time after that for the drinks to arrive and when our food was ready to be delivered as we could see because of the open kitchen, it took at least another 5 minutes before a server would pick it up and bring it to us. He mentioned the mayonnaise would be at our table shortly but then proceeded to clear out all the tables he could find and after 10 minutes we asked for the mayonnaise and it was begrudgingly brought to us. After we were done eating it took them over 15 minutes again to ask if we would like something else we did take a dessert but instead of dessert with a sauce we got sauce with the desserts (lava cake and Belgian waffle) dropped in the middle and drowning in the sauce. The last straw was when asked if everything was as wished and we sayed the service could have been better we were asked from which country we were and then the server just walked away.

If you don't like your job please quit and look for something else or you if you don't want customers walking in after a certain time make it clear at the entrance. Being rude or disrespectful does not...

Block House Essen – enttäuschend unorganisiert und schwach in der Küche

Ich bin seit über 30 Jahren regelmäßiger Gast in Block House Restaurants in ganz Deutschland. Was ich am 10.05.2025 in Essen erlebt habe, war allerdings ein Tiefpunkt – zum ersten Mal war ich wirklich enttäuscht.

Am Kennedyplatz fand an diesem Abend eine Veranstaltung statt. Die Terrasse war voll mit Gästen, die hauptsächlich etwas tranken und der Musik lauschten. Im Innenbereich waren vielleicht 30 % der Tische besetzt. Trotzdem herrschte Chaos.

Unsere Online-Reservierung war nicht auffindbar – die Empfangsdame tat so, als sei kein Platz mehr frei. Erst nach einigem guten Zureden bekamen wir einen Tisch. Dabei blieb das Restaurant den ganzen Abend über weitgehend leer.

Der Service war überfordert, gehetzt und kaum erreichbar. Unser Kellner bemühte sich und war freundlich, aber durch das äußere Chaos offensichtlich gestresst. Die versprochene Knoblauchbutter wurde nie gebracht. Auf Nachfrage war niemand erreichbar – weder durch Handzeichen noch durch direkte Ansprache. Die Empfangsdame stand tatenlos am Eingang und reagierte auf nichts.

Zum Essen: Meine Begleitung war zufrieden, mein Essen war inakzeptabel. Das „medium“ bestellte Steak war innen fast roh – irgendwo zwischen „blue“ und „rare“. Die Ofenkartoffel war außen heiß und innen eiskalt. Die Beilagen wie Spinat und Champignons waren dagegen extrem heiß. Auch hier: niemand erreichbar.

Nach 20 Minuten gelang es mir endlich per Zuruf, den Kellner an den Tisch zu holen. Statt sich sofort zu kümmern, bekam ich erst mal eine unnötige Diskussion darüber, wie „medium“ aussieht – völlig unpassend in dieser Situation. Ich habe ihn dann freundlich, aber klar über den Unterschied zwischen medium und nahezu roh aufgeklärt.

Der Hauptgang wurde storniert – ein faires Angebot, das ich angenommen habe, denn mein Vertrauen in Küche und Ablauf war dahin. Nach dem völlig missratenen Hauptgang wollte ich kein neues Essen mehr. Der Appetit war mir vergangen.

Unterm Strich: Ein völlig unorganisierter Abend, schlechte Kommunikation, unaufmerksamer Service und ein Essen, das mit dem Anspruch von Block House nichts zu tun hatte. Ich war selten so enttäuscht. Zwei Sterne – mehr ist an diesem Abend...