Jack Willberg
Google
A great piece of meat… but a bitter aftertaste.
We booked a table for 5 at Beef GrillClub, a Berlin steakhouse with quite a solid reputation and clearly positioned in the “high-end” price range. From the very start, disappointment set in: no real sense of welcome or personalization. We were seated hastily, with two tables quickly pushed together — without even checking the name on our reservation. The tone was set.
The meal started with a few mishaps: a corked bottle of wine (it happens), quickly replaced. But when it came to the food, the starters were sadly bland: a tasteless carpaccio, a flat vitello tonnato, parmesan lacking any character… and table salt only — quite surprising for a steakhouse aiming for this level.
As for the meat, credit where it’s due: the cooking was perfect, and the products were high quality. But beware: here, everything comes at an extra cost. Want a side dish? Expect to pay between €5 and €10. Fancy a sauce with your steak? That’ll be an additional €3 to €5. At this point, the experience starts to feel dangerously close to a Ryanair-style restaurant menu.
To make things worse, their water policy is highly questionable: tap water is mysteriously “unavailable,” bottles are emptied without asking just to encourage you to order more, and the staff oscillates between cold indifference and irritation when you don’t follow their consumption script.
The grand finale was almost comical: no printed bill at the table, just a card machine showing pre-selected tips starting at 15%. When I asked to see the detailed bill, it was shown to me reluctantly, before the machine reappeared immediately. Declining to leave a tip (given the service) seemed to trigger visible annoyance: the receipt was practically thrown on the table, and we left without a single thank you or goodbye.
In short: yes, the meat is good. But that’s the bare minimum for a steakhouse charging these prices. Everything else — the service, the pushy commercial strategy, the complete lack of warmth — completely ruined the experience.
You leave feeling less like a guest… and more like a walking wallet.
I wouldn’t recommend it — unless, unlike me, you believe that good food should come without any notion of hospitality.