I’ve only visited the food related sections, so 5 stars goes for those. Especially the sea food section was for me to like, and loved the meats two…

Surprisingly prices are decent considering the status of the place, and you can for example treat yourself with oysters without worrying that it will kill your travelling budget.

This place claims to be Europe’s largest department store, and after I’ve been lost in it a few times, I would not disagree. For the most part, I tend to visit only the kitchen section and the food courts on the 6th and 7th floors, so my review is going to be a little biased. Regarding the kitchen equipment, I think this place is hard to beat, as they have just about everything that one can wish for. But at a price, so often I would mosey out and get the same thing somewhere else.

The food court on the 6th floor consists of sensational little stores divided into themed sections, such as champagne bars, truffles and sweets, fresh meat, fish, wurst (or sausages), wines, vegetables, etc. I always come here to buy the salmon and tuna for my sushi nights, though it’s not cheap but at least I know that the quality is AAA. I often get hungry in the presence of so many delicacies, and in that case, there are many little food bars where one can grab a bite and a nice wine. My favourite is Fischkutter where I can recommend the scallops, fried in butter and herbs in front of you.

One more level up is the public canteen, where one can load up trays of food freshly cooked at the counters around the place. I’ve only eaten here twice and I think the butterfly pork loins were pretty good for 8-9 Euro.

KaDeWe is not a place where one can dash in and out with a quick shopping list. There is so much variety that one always end up mooching around for hours. In short, be prepared to be constantly and pleasantly distracted, and just enjoy yourself in the widespread decadence of the place.

Given the hype about this place, I expected greatness.
Instead, it’s just a normal department store. Only much, MUCH worse.

I went here on a freezing, ice cold day in November.
Specifically, I was there to spend €1000 on an Apple laptop. I just wanted to buy it, get in and out quickly.

They’re supposed to open at 10am, exactly when I arrived.
But on this particular day they had signs on the doors saying they were having a “meeting” and they would be opening at 10:30.
Ok, a bit strange, but I can wait.
10:30 came and went.
11:00 came and went.
People who were waiting were starting to leave.
Finally, after standing in the freezing cold for over an hour and a half, they opened the doors at 11:30.
Before I even walked in the doors, I hated KaDeWe with the passion of 1000 fires.

Understandably, after waiting 1.5 hours, I had to use the bathroom.
Immediately after entering, I asked the closest employee where it was. She barely acknowledged me and waved her hand in the general direction of THE ENTIRE STORE, while muttering something incoherent.

I’m not 100% sure about the language rules on Qype, but the things I would like to say about KaDaWe would surely break them.

Terrible, Horrible, Insulting.

I give the food section a 3/4. There is an impressive variety, but in a lot of categories, nothing you can’t find elsewhere (and more conveniently). In other categories, they seem to have the market cornered on variety. So, hit and miss. If you are preparing something that has a LOT of hard to find ingredients, start here, and fill in the gaps elsewhere, if gaps remain. But I wouldn’t necessarily head here first for just one or two ingredients, since the headache of parking, making it all the way upstairs, and then dodging the tourists only to pay over the odds when all is said and done balances out much of the convenience of a wide selection. Karstadt carries a pretty wide range too and is often much more convenient. Agreed that the individual food stands are great, and make a fun afternoon if you want to hop around from one to the next (though many serve full restaurant size servings). For the Americans, definitely don’t go here looking for that certain food you’re homesick for. They carry almost exactly the same selection that everyone else claiming to carry American food has (I assume it’s all coming from one distributor): marshmallows, peanut butter, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, pancake mix, 5 or 6 varieties of Campbell’s soup (but not the good ones), Newman’s dressing, microwave popcorn, Hershey’s Syrup, etc. Frightening what we’re known for, really.

The KaDeWe is a department store in a similar vain to Harrods in London. Everything you could want to buy under one roof although not necessarily at the cheapest prices.

The highlight for me is definitely the food court, where as well as finding delicious things from all over the world, there are also dozens of small bar-like eateries where you can sample whatever style of food you feel like.