This was an interesting experience for us. This was the first English review for this place and I…read morenow see why. There was not very much English spoken at this restaurant. This was a very nicely decorated restaurant. I could tell that it was upscale and a local favorite. We did show up without reservations. I couldn't nail down if the staff was hesitant or gracious to seat us. There were mixed signals. We were told immediately before we sat down that they do not take credit cards. It was a very, very, very long wait before someone waited on us, but the tables around us were getting great service. I don't know what was going on here and don't want to jump to speculations. We were given hand written menus that were written in German, but laminated. A very friendly older gentleman came to take our order. For simplicity reasons, I told him I wanted fish and for him to choose my meal for the evening. The chef sent out an appetizer of some sort as a gift which was very nice. I think they were some variety of beans, capers or something and thinly sliced cheese(maybe). We were quickly brought the shrimp scampi and the egg dishes as appetizers. The egg dish was a sunny side up fried egg on potatoes or polenta with some type of brown-black shavings. The taste was average. The scampi was great and the egg dish was puzzling, but not horribly bad. Several minutes went by before our entrees arrived. I watched one of the tables near us get what I thought was desert on toothpicks (or maybe something to cleanse their pallet). This was followed by what HAD to be desert. The group almost licked the plates. It was entertaining to watch. This was followed by a plate of little assorted candies. Our entrees finally arrived, Spaghetti Carolina and a flakey fish with assorted vegetables. The fish was served with a small salad and pan fried potatoes. All of this was great! Everything was well seasoned, not over-seasoned or overwhelming. At one point they stated playing really great loud music in the other room, but it was just one song. Afterward they continued to play soft music in our room. Very Strange. We finished our entrees and I just couldn't wait until we received some of that plate-licking desert or some of that toothpick stuff or those little candies. None of this happened. One of the younger waiters told us, "The desert menu is lengthy and confusing if you can't speak the language." I asked him to bring us what he considered was a good desert. He brought us what looked like lemon meringue pie without the crust. It was a nice desert. Overall we were charged 100 euros with no alcohol which included and a "must" 19% gratuity. The meal was good, but the service was inconsistent. I didn't feel like a welcomed guest. I left there feeling unsettled about the bill as well. I don't think I would visit again, nor recommend it to any of my friends.

On my wanderings I happened upon Trattoria Cento Lire last night. It's quite a stylish little…read moreitalian restaurant at the city-centre end of the karoviertel. I had a 4 cheese pizza, which came to EUR7 and was absolutely delicious. The people on the table next to us had some amazing looking fish dishes, that came with a massive whole fish - I'll try that if I end up here again. On the way out the owner stopped us and asked whether we'd like a shot of grappa, so we took our coats back off and sat down again! It turns out that I'm not a big fan of grappa, but it's the thought that counts, right? If I have another good experience here I'll probably move it up to 5 stars, but for now 4 will do.

Enjoyed a good steak here last weekend. The anti-pasti beforehand was good too (a plate for 2 went…read moreequally well between 4). It's a popular place as the bulk of the tables already had reserved signs on when we went in around 5pm to book for 20:30 (this on January 2nd) so you're probably best advised to do the same rather than turn up on spec. The service was good, given the amount of customers on the night (& we had people join us as the meal went on which could have proved unhelpful) so I imagine it's excellent during any times when it's less than full. They don't though take cards (definitely not Mastercard), like many places in Hamburg, so be sure to have enough cash on you to cover every eventuality.

wirklich ein sehr gutes restaurant! pizza ist hauchduenn und einfach perfekt!read more