Cafe Nord — Restaurant in Essen

I keep trying to give Nord a chance and it keeps disappointing... at some point, I have to leave a review.

A friend and I went to Nord last weekend. We enjoyed a lot of the music but it was really way too loud to have any kind of conversation, even if you are sitting right across from each other.

We ordered a beer and some nachos, which tasted okay - bar food standards.

The service was a disaster. Since the music was too loud, we tried to move to a different spot in the venue so we could actually hold a conversation and took our Bierdeckel with us so that we could pay later.

After waiting for a while in a different section, a waitress came up to us, clearly already annoyed, and asked what we want. I asked if its okay to move spots, since it was so loud - she replied very snippily that, no, we have to return to the other room to pay our bill first, so that the waiters can be tipped properly or something, who knows (interesting, since we ended up having THREE totally different/random people serve us).

We tried to pay at the bar and was once again told, very rudely, NO, we have to go back to the table. Christ almighty, whatever, we go back to the table.

My friend sits back in her spot and a rude waitress moves behind her and bumps into her TWO times (imagine being a normal, friendly human and just asking someone to scoot in their chair a bit, hmm...).

Eventually, the waitress asks us very rudely what we want ("Was wollt ihr noch?") after waiting for about 20 minutes. We just say we want to pay the check. We didn't tip (OBVIOUSLY) and then she stomped away without saying bye.

Childish, rude, immature staff have officially ruined this establishment for me. Go to Felis. The drinks, food, service and atmosphere are...

What can I say? A local connoisseur of guitar-heavy music will certainly be familiar with the Nord. It is located on a main road and is very easy to reach by public transport. This advantage is masked by the fact that the beer garden swaps metal music for urban sounds (engine noise) in the warmer months. However, this shouldn't bother the classic crowd, which is surprisingly mixed.

The beer is good, although Stauder (a local brand) can (and should...) be replaced by other beers. In general, the atmosphere is very friendly and the waiters are exceptionally polite.

The food varies from very good to meh. I had moments when I was extremely surprised by the originality of the food and others when I doubted my ability to control my facial expressions. This is mainly due to the fact that Nord offers weekly specials and thus gives the chefs a platform to give free rein to their creativity. It often works very well and sometimes rather so-so.

But what always works are the set meals. These are usually quite good. However, I very much doubt that Nord's intention is to win a Michelin star. And after the umpteenth Stauder, the regular guest will probably be pretty indifferent.

Conclusion: A very likeable pub and certainly worth a visit for metal fans. But don't...

This is THE place to go in Essen if you like good food without pretentiousness and with a rock flaired atmosphere. I've spent so many evenings there listening to music and enjoying the drinks, but these days I come for the food, especially the Burgers on Mondays. At first, they may seem like odd mixtures with some toppings that appear out of place like grilled chorizo or fig, but every time I had one, it all came together in a nice savory blend with great spice levels and texture. I dont know how much thought the chef puts into the burgers, but to me, they seem incredibly well balanced. Now, taking into consideration that they are competently crafted, the price seems extremely competitive, too. All while being able to listen to some awesome metal and rock tunes with the atmosphere of a total habor...