Stein's Berlin — Restaurant in London

It wasn't great.

Setting - Really nicely decorated, contemporary feel. Some long bench tables and some smaller 2 and 4 seat tables. Well lit and comfortable. However, to begin with we had no music. Then at some point during the meal, very random and non-themed music started, at varying volume levels. It was really distracting and ruined the ambiance.

Service - Really poor. It felt like our waitress was very new. Firstly we wanted to use Meerkat and that caused issues as the Waitress didn't know what it applied to and then after checking, didn't provide much clarity. She didn't understand any of the names of the meals we asked for (I speak German) so we had to point to every single one - it's not a large menu so this was frustrating. Starter and main came out promptly, however, after ordering desert (just two Strudel), we waited around 40 minutes before giving up and leaving. This was after asking multiple times and receiving no feedback or reason for the delay. The staff then still left the service charge on the bill which was a little cheeky, so we had that removed. It was very disappointing especially as it was a birthday meal.

Food - Actually really good. The breads were lovely and warm, pretty authentic too. The mains were excellent. The Nuernburger with mash was really tasty and the Sauerkraut was great. My partner had the vegan Currywurst which was equally good and probably the best substitute sausage she's ever had.

Overall we left disappointed as it could have been a great experience but was really let down...

We must have hit a bad day as, contrary to many glowing reviews, the whole experience was at times disappointing and in the end awful. The worst aspect was the poor service and lack of attentiveness. We ordered saying that we had an hour and fifteen minutes to eat as we had a theatre performance starting at 7pm. We asked for vegetables to replace the potatoes with the chicken schnitzel. The service was slow and when the food arrived, the waiter had forgotten to replace the potatoes. The chicken schnitzel was tasty but the vegetables did not arrive till the chicken was finished. My ragout was not a ragout - just large cubes of beef, dry with no sauce or flavouring together with spätzle. Most disappointing. The waiter did apologise for forgetting. There was no sense of urgency to bring the food within our time frame. In order to save time, I asked for a dessert - a Sachertorte. The waiter said it was not available but was the same as a Black Forest gateau. It is not! So I asked for an apple strudel instead at the same time as paying for the bill. At 6.45 I went to the kitchen and said I would take the strudel with me. Another seven minutes before I was handed a pack. So I had a pack of melting ice cream on top of a strudel slice waiting for the first interval. I wished the experience had been a whole lot better but the inexperienced staff and the food service left me feeling that I would not recommend the place nor...

A dining experience that had a high bar to clear given the food we've enjoyed on our travels to Germany. Stein's cleared that bar superbly.

Prompt, friendly service, huge portions for the main and deserts and a good selection of beers and drinks. Don't let the exterior fool you: the inside is a relaxed and casual experience.

You're also a stone's throw from a number of London museums, making this a great lunch spot after a morning of exhibitions. Wednesday afternoon made for a particularly nice visit, when Google tells us it's at its quietest.

We enjoyed the pretzel/obatzda, spinach dumplings to start. My obatzda is decent, but this one was one better. The dumplings? Divine.

Then we shared the Berlin Schlachtplatte for 2 - four types of sausage, meatloaf, schnitzel, bacon, fried potatoes and a mountain of sauerkraut. Not just plenty of it, but delicious too.

The deserts were almost impossible to finish after that, but we just about made room for the menu's move into Austria for a strudel and a Sachetorte.

I very rarely get defeated by a restaurant - go hungry, especially if you plan on ordering a Maß (~2 pt) of beer with your meal!

The final endorsement? We were the only English customers in there I could clock. Everyone else? Speaking German.

Next time we want a German meal without buying plane tickets, we'll be coming back to...