Der goldene Hahn

I sometimes go to Der Goldene Hahn for a wine later in the evening. I think it's a great place for that. They have a GREAT wine card, it is a romantic place and the service also takes care of the vinyl DJ-ing.

The personnel is friendly for Kreuzberg standards. I can imagine they're not always friendly to everyone and can be ignorant too, as I read in other comments. We've always had good experiences here - even exceptional good ones. At my first visit we got half a bottle of good wine for free.. I think that makes up to five stars in any case!!!

For someone who thinks this is an expensive place - go to Amsterdam or Paris and come back later.

Pretty good food. Wide selection of dishes. A bit expensive. Good music, good atmosphere and decoration.

Eating at “Der goldene Hahn” this week was one of the most terrible experiences I had in a long time. The staff was arrogant, impolite and not capable serving us the way one expects for a high-standard restaurant. We constantly had to ask for things e.g. we asked for bread — they gave us bread in a basket; we had to ask for oil — they put a bottle of oil on the table; we had to ask for salt and a plate to put the oil in — finally we could eat the bread with oil but still no napkins or drinks on the table…

1.5 hours later two of us got their dish: roasted lamb. There was no other description on the menu. After asking the waiter we expected pieces of meat from the lamb plus veggies and potatoes. What my friends got was nothing like that. On the plate were 3 pieces of bones with cartilage and fat —impossible to cut and eat. The veggies were bits of spinach and snow peas, the potatoes were missing — all for a price of 17 Euros (ca. $24). My friends complained and gave the dishes back to an arrogant waiter who apologized but explained that’s the way this dish is being cooked and it’s certainly just our expectation that is not fulfilled. Only 15 minutes later he came by and asked my friends if they would like to order something else instead. The other two dishes we had tasted okay. We ordered pasta with roasted wild boar — except we couldn’t identify the meat since it was mixed and hashed ingredients. The best thing that evening was the white house wine.

Overall the experience felt like they were trying to fool us and I felt being treated like a stupid teenager that doesn’t care about good food and a good restaurant. I have been there last year (December 2010) and I had an okay experience, my friends have been there once in a while, too. In order to eat well my friends ignored the arrogant service… Now you can’t even trust the food anymore.

And be careful, from a bunch of people I also heard the restaurant sometimes tries to fool you and charge you more on their bill!

We were recommended the restaurant by a friend and as this was our first trip to Berlin and we were looking forward to it from the sound of write ups on the place. The Maitre D on arrival was friendly and the place was smaller then expected but giving it a very cosy atmosphere. Music was good and the wine list extensive though not cheap. That's as far as the good went as we were very unfortunate with the food. Our mozzarella starter was too cold, having come too quickly out of the fridge, giving it an initial tangy taste when you first bit into it which was a shame as it tasted lovely. Both meat dishes we ordered were terrible. The beef was overcooked and the pork shoulder was so tough in parts that even after chewing for ages you had to spit it out. The vegetables were overcooked reminding us of the old joke you once made about British home cooking.

All in all a let down...

A typical “Lady and the Tramp Italian Restaurant” which is noted for its cosy atmosphere.

Instead of a menu, the dishes are presented by the waiters at your table on a large blackboard. The meals are a pleasure, and are a far cry from the usual “pizza-pasta-uniformity” of other the southerners. The fish with a salt crust is for example a good choice, and is filleted at the table. But also the other dishes need not hide themselves!

The front area of the restaurant has a antique apothecary bar behind which the bar staff play the soundtrack of the evening.

The Goldene Hahn is perfectly suited for a date!

PS:
I wonder why the Hahn hasn’t had any reviews yet. You will not regret a visit…