Restaurant Nil

Super friendly and amazing service. The tasting menu is amazing value at 50 euros on weekdays. English friendly!

It was a great experience being there. We took 5 courses set menu, and liked all the courses we had. Everything was delicious, price vs. performance was amazing. Highly recommended!!

I think I was in the Nile for the first time about thirty years ago. Then for a long time it was one of our favourite places for the better days, until I moved away. Now I've been there again and I have to say that it sets the bar for good food. In terms of value for money, it's very, very difficult to find anything better in Hamburg. We had a variety of dishes at our table and they all tasted excellent. It's not over-cooked, but it's the kind of food that makes you really happy. The waiters are relaxed, attentive and friendly. I recommend the 5-course menu, which is between 50 and 60 euros depending on the day.

For me the food was a bit Borring, had came there with high expensive after having gotten a great recommendation. But after visiting i just felt like i have gotten 4 classic dishes i already knew just dressed for the occasion and one great desert. Wouldn't recommend this place since when dining at a place like this i would expect to be surprised and challenge in both vision and most importantly taste. Which i did not here. Besides that the staff was great and the setting and decorations where beautiful unfortunately I don't think that it makes up the lack of innovation in taste.

We ordered the full menu and we were gladly surprised by the quality of the food. The service was very helpful all night with appropriate times between dishes, and not feeling pressured even though we spent more than 2h in the restaurant.

Absolutely stunning food. Summer menu was 32€ and more than worth it (4 dishes). Best squid I've ever had on the 2nd course. Can only recommend!

Service upstairs was a little bit rude when I walked in until she got it that we had reservation. Then she let me go to the restroom.

A wonderful evening at Nil with great food and wine. And also great service form the staff. Will return next time we visit Hamburg.

Sehr leckeres Essen zu vernünftigen Preisen. Wir hatten das Monatsmenü, sehr abwechslungsreich und gute Zutaten. Spektakulärer Riesling Service super nett und aufmerksam. Insgesamt war das Restaurant sehr gut besucht und es war gute Stimmung. Jederzeit wieder.

Our hotel recommended Nil and we absolutely loved it! The service and food was impeccable. My husband had the 5 course tasting menu which includes the most delicious goat cheese appetizer, pea soup, asparagus risotto and lamb. I had the risotto as my entree and it was incredible. This restaurant is in a really fun, lovely area which is what we wanted. Don't hesitate and go enjoy this restaurant, you will love it!!

For a native English speaker the restaurant name can throw one off a bit at first glance. But this is certainly not a restaurant where nothing is special. Both food and service were up to par with our expectations. We enjoyed the four course meal: baked eggs with Frankfurter grüne soße, buffalo mozzarella, grilled fjord trout with apricot and pistachio, and blueberry tart with crème fraîche. As the offerings are seasonal, I suspect that we will find ourselves here again in the near future.

"Nil" is a restaurant at nice Neuer Pferdemarkt, adjacent to Schanze area, serving modern German / pan-European inspired dishes. It was featured recently as a place with slightly ambitious cooking and set menus worth checking out. Nil is a neat place, no question; clean, white tablecloth setting in an older character location. If you go here, try to be seated up on the gallery, or at least in the main area, but not in the low-ceiling basement. Was unfortunately less happy with food and service. When visiting, our waiter was more interested in chatting with friends than looking after our needs; at one point we had to clear parts of the table ourselves. Some of the food tasted good, some of the meat was tough to chew, and not cooked to our order (at all) which felt quite incompetent. Not sure that the folks running "Nil" really know if they want to be an ambitious restaurant focused on the food, or a casual Schanze location with the homeless newspaper vendor chatting you up while eating. I found it lacking in attentiveness, friendliness and competence for the experience, and it was too expensive for a casual place.

I left Nil with an overwhelming feeling of disappointment. Why have I been living around the corner from here for 6 months and never visited?! This is a genuinely superb restaurant that gets everything right. I was blown away by the service, ambiance, food, wine and left on a real high. Everyone here strives to make your visit perfect, and I've never felt so well looked after in Germany. In fact, the service is definitely on a par with anywhere else I've eaten in the world. So what's it like to eat here? Well the menu is actually surprisingly small! There is a set menu of 4 courses, or you can choose from the 1 other page. This makes it much easier to decide what you're going to have - and of course, it's rotated every day. I had the pate with fruit compote to start - I was blown away by how delicious it was. I then took the roast chicken risotto, again, excellent, and you can really tell they use decent ingredients. The chicken had evidently had a good life - it looked more like game. I was about to order Chablis when our waitress stepped in and made a suggestion of something... German. Obviously, for the English, German wines have long been a no-no. How silly we've been, it was also excellent. I couldn't eat anymore so skipped dessert, but made up for it with some delicious Muscat. Anyway - I ramble, but I also had a the pleasure of meeting the owner, Steffen, and did a short interview to give you more of an idea... shall we go back tonight?! Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwL1ZzIF4Mw

I've been to Nil a few times, and personally I've always loved what I had. I've always had the set menu. I'm marking them down a bit due to a pretty average meal that they served up to my mum who wasn't interested in the set menu. The rest of the menu is very limited in scope, so there's a fairly decent chance that if you've got someone picky in your party (e.g. a vegetarian) then for the price you may be disappointed. Having said that, the service has always been good, and if you're the kind of person who enjoys their food and is happy to try anything, go, get the set menu and enjoy.

After all the glowing tributes,and all the discussion about Nil, I was nervous that I would feel let down. Quite the opposite. Definitely the best restaurant I have been to in Hamburg and one of the best I've been to anywhere in recent months. We were seated up on the balcony - a great place to be part of and observe all the buzz - which even on a Monday evening, was significant. I chose the wonderful carpaccio to start, though we were also given an initial course of baked goose with skordalia which was unexpected but delightful. The skordalia was a bit chunkier than is often the case, but wonderful way to cut through the goose. The carpaccio was also excellent and again with more substance than some would deliver. The main course of angler-fish was cooked to perfection. Our waitress suggested a Furst Weissburgunder (pinot blanc) to accompany this and its crisp mineral qualities were exactly right. The service was efficient, friendly but unobtrusive - as it should be. Perfect dining experience. It wont be the last time....

Great place, excellent food, rate quality-prices perfect. Relaxed atmosphere, good service, and no background music which makes it perfect for long, deep (or impulsive and shallow) conversations. Good place to go after a long, tiresome day..

Excellent, definitely the best place we ate at while in Hamburg and could most probably be up there in my top 5 in the world Although it was also by far the most expensive. Guess it sometimes pays to pay! Staff where great, food and wine perfect, one of the things I really did like about this place though was the time left between courses, sounds like a strange thing to mention but was really good, not to quick making you feel like they are rushing you out but also not so slow that you thought they'd forgotten you.

My generous son took me here for my birthday. What a treat. I loved everything. The food was exceptional, the wine delicious, the service unsurpassed and if that wasn't enough there was even an obliging accordion player to play Happy Birthday. Thank you so much to all concerned for an evening I will always remember, - in excellent company too. ( By the way,just why can't you get a glass of Prosecco easily in England and why can't others meet this standard) Do visit. You will not be disappointed.

My wife and I often visit Hamburg and like to try new places to eat in various parts of the city. Staff we very friendly and our table was in a great location overlooking the ground floor and bar area. Unfortunately for us there was a lot of problems with service. Our pre dinner drinks did'nt turn up, then when they did they were not what we asked for. When they did evnetually arrive 40 mins later the waiter thought we didn't want wine and went to remove the glasses from the table without even asking. The waiter was very honest and upfront about having a off day and although it's not nice it's refreshing that they dont try to blame someone or something else. The food was good and very well priced.

I have to admit that I'm disappointed given the high reviews here on Yelp. It does seem to be a family popular spot and the restaurant was very busy when we arrived (with a reservation). I wasn't in love with the menu to being with, but I elected to try something new. I had the Coq au vin and was very disappointed at how bland it was. I tend to love French cuisine but found the dish very underwhelming. My vegetarian friend also was not impressed with her dish. The service was mediocre. Overall, it was pretty average and I likely would not return given the great dining options in Berlin.

I don't go to 'posh' restaurants very often, so the fact that when I did and went to Nil, and it was one of the most perfect meals I've eaten, made it even more special! Popped in earlier in the day to book, and met the owner who was lovely and accommodating. Started the meal with a perfectly chilled glass of champagne, which was accompanied by a small basket of lovely bread and the most delicious melt-in-the-mouth pate, with a crunchy apple chutney on the side. This was followed by the starter - a pork terrine which felt apart on the fork and had delicate flavours, perfectly complimented by the grated radish mini salad it was served with. The lemon sole after that had a slightly crunchy skin, with the softest flesh. And for the main(!) was a perfectly cooked piece of chicken, and a slice of a sort of chicken and stuffing role. The dessert, my partner's favourite course, was strawberries with the cutest pieces of meringue, with a red wine ice cream, and actual red wine as the sauce - it worked perfectly. We had the recommended white wine which had just a hint of prosecco on the palate and was divine. And my boyfriend paid for me, so it really was the best meal out I've had since, well, I don't know! Cannot recommend highly enough. Ausgezeichnet.

After all the good reviews, I was expecting a little more in terms of food. The service was great, no complaints there at all. And they had a nice wine list.....even had a decent Barbera D'asti for only 26 euro. The food was ok. I had a pan fried pike-perch with smashed potatoes and savoy cooked with pork fat. The savoy was over done in my opinion. The fish was ok. Nothing really outstanding food wise. The vibe and feel of the place is nice though. I enjoyed the environment, and it is clear that the young and hip crowd frequent this place. Lots of well dressed people in attendance. I would love to give it another star, but it wasn't quite there tonight.