Paul J.
Yelp
I'm quite surprised how many people complained about the speed of service here but I'll get to that later. We decided to test this place out on the recommendation of friends who live in the area and often eat here. We had somewhat of a haul to get out here from the center of Hamburg but it was worth it. Unfortunately the Bio-store right next door was closed already when we arrived. We had hoped to check that out too but all the better to come back again.
Now on to the restaurant. We found the food to be superb and to be honest, you come here to eat "clean". It's such a pleasure eating tasty food which at the same time doesn't contain any chemicals you wouldn't want to be ingesting. We also found the restaurant itself to be very nice and yes, it does get a bit loud when full (as it was on a Friday evening we were there for dinner). Yet, it wasn't unbearably loud as some have noted. We were able to have a conversation no problem yet at the same time, didn't hear our neighboring table. We also sat fairly close to the open kitchen and enjoyed being able to see what was going on. Finally, everything was super clean and the toilets themselves are a treat. An interior designer went out of their way at this place and you can tell. If the owners did all the design themselves, all the better...hats off.
OK, why then only 4 stars. At most other places, I would dock two stars for the following "problems" but the food and everything else here was so good that I will only remove one star:
1. Their website doesn't have the full menu on it. This is a nitpick but we like to see what's available before coming to a restaurant. They only have the lunch menu on here now and that's it. We talked to one of the owners who was also serving our table and she said this was coming. They simply haven't had time to focus on it. I find this quite important and would recommend making it a priority. People drive out here to eat as it's on the outskirts of Hamburg. Take the time, make the effort to let your customers know what to expect.
2. Along with not having the menu online, they only change it sporadically. It is not extensive and hence should in my opinion change more often. We'd actually come more frequently if we knew there was a new menu to expect each time. Knowing now that they change it two or three times a year plus not knowing when (since it's not on the website) will make us think twice how soon we'll be back.
3. We had multiple waiters, including one of the owners at our table throughout the night. Each individual was professional and polite yet I would of preferred one person. At this price point, I prefer to have one specific person to deal with throughout the night. I can understand when multiple things come out at the same time that you have a "runner" helping out but assign one waiter per table and have them serve it the whole night. Just more professional and allows you to "bond" a bit with the staff. At the same time, we liked knowing one of the owners was addressable with our concerns. All the complaints about speed are unfounded in my opinion. We had multiple courses plus drinks and everything came out quite quickly and completely to our satisfaction although every table was booked. Those who have complained must have been here early days when staff wasn't yet in tune or something was off. I wouldn't consider a problem now whatsoever.
That's it. We still had a great time. My girlfriend had ordered th scampi and unfortunately one of the scampi wasn't properly prepped before cooking. The owner immediately offered to replace it or to give us a coffee on the house. We decided on the coffee and truly appreciated such a quick, non-debated response. This is how service should work at more establishments in Germany.
I highly recommend this place if you are looking for really good food, which you can "trust", a nice atmosphere and great service.
