Henselmann

Die Kuchen sind zuverlässig gut, und das Ambiente ist aufgrund des sehr gemischten Publikums, des Blicks auf die Karl-Marx-Allee und der Mischung aus Lounge-Sofas und historischen Fotos eigentlich sehr angenehm. Auch das Essen war bislang immer von akzeptabler Qualität, wenn auch etwas fantasielos, besonders das Frühstück. Der Kaffee schmeckt leider sehr bitter nach so einem Kaffeevollautomaten. 

Leider ist der Service häufig unaufmerksam: die letzten beiden Male wurde ständig bei uns abgeräumt, aber nie nachgefragt, ob wir noch etwas bestellen möchten. Wir mussten 3 mal an die Bar gehen, um noch Getränke zu bestellen. Als einer von uns kurz protestierte, als der andere die gesamte Rechnung übernehmen wollte, kam die Bemerkung der Kellnerin "Streiten können Sie sich, wenn ich wieder weg bin!" auch nicht wirklich gut an, ganz besonders nicht nach so einer enttäuschenden Gesamtperformance.

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The cakes are reliably yummy, and due to the mixed clientele, the views onto Karl-Marx-Allee and the mixture of lounge sofas and historic photos, the atmosphere is actually quite cozy. We have never had a reason to complain about the quality of the food, even though the menu lacks imagination, especially for breakfast. Coffee was very bitter and tasted of one of those fully automatic coffee machines.

Unfortunately, service is mostly slow and disinterested: during our last two visits, the waitress was quikc to clear our tables but never even asked if we would like anything else. We had to walk up to the bar 3 times to order more drinks. When one of us sort of protested because the other one wanted to foot the entire bill, the waitress said "Hang on, you can argue when I'm gone!", totally dead-pan. Not funny at all after a pretty poor overall performance.

Having passed this cafe several times and noticing the delicious-looking russische Waldbeerentorte in the window, I decided to take my girlfriend there for coffee and cake.

As we entered we seated ourselves and waited for menus. After about 7 minutes and having not been acknowledged by the waitress or the apparent manager (who was also waiting on guests) I went to the bar and asked if I could get a couple of menus. I just assumed we had to get our own menus.

The person behind the bar (who was not waiting tables) politely told me that the we'd receive our menus "sofort". Three minutes later and after a brief conversation with the waitress, the "bartender" brought me and my girlfriend our menus. The waitress and manager/waiter continued to ignore us.

As we looked at our menus, another couple walked in and sat across from us. They too had to wait although the waitress managed to bring them menus within 5 minutes of arriving.

About another 7 minutes passed and we had still not been acknowledged by either the waitress or the manager/waiter. The manager/waiter then went to the couple that arrived at least 10 minutes after us to take their orders. At this point, my girlfriend and I decided to leave.

I don't know what the problem was with us in particular...maybe it was because I'm not German...maybe it was because I'm Black...who knows?

So, I can't review the food as I didn't get the chance to order any. To a certain extent I can't even review the service because we were simply ignored.

The German reviews seem fairly positive so I suppose that certain people really enjoy the experience there. I, however, shan't be going back.