This might be a good place to hang out or study, but it's not a great place if you're actually hungry.
I used to live near here and my cousin still does, so I'm very familiar with Arema.
Maybe it was a bizarre fluke, but I have not been to Arema once where we didn't have to wait over an hour for our food. No exaggeration. That wouldn't be so terrible if it weren't that we never got a word from anyone saying that the meal would take awhile (1 1/2 hours is a long time right....?), we never got an apology, we always had to get up and ask how much longer it would be and then the new estimate would be wrong and it would be twice as long as they said. They never offered more bread, or anything. It made me feel like a spoiled brat or something, but I don't think I'm crazy. Any one of the above niceties would have made it a little more tolerable. Then, on top of it, the food is not that great, and definitely over priced for what you get. There are SO many fantastic and inexpensive restaurants in Berlin, it's a shame Moabit has so few options. But I think a short metro ride would be worth sparing yourself this experience. At least it would be a faster route to food.
My boyfriend has gone here during the day to work and he says that that's quite nice because it's not busy, and there is free WIFI, which is a great feature. And if you're there for hours anyhow, you don't really mind how long it takes them to bring your cake and coffee.
I don't think I've ever written a review for a restaurant, but this place inspired me. PLEASE, try the organic restaurant around the corner on Wilsnacker Straße 61 instead. It's called Lei e Lui. I think the atmosphere there is much nicer, the staff goes above and beyond, and the food is actually good on top of being well priced. They have a small hand written menu, but they put attention into what they make. Try the appetizer sampler and save room for desert, because the little Mousse au Chocolate mit Kirschen is amaaazing.
But really, I'd get a döner before I went back to Arema. Sorry :-( read more