We walk into Auszeit after a pretty lazy search to find a place for dinner our last night in…read moreBerlin. We passed this place just about every time we walked to and fro our airbnb, and it looked cute and was almost always busy, so we gave it a shot.
An older man, presumably the owner, greeted us. He didn't speak much English; we spoke no German. So in a game of charades, we managed to get seated and order a pitcher of still water. So far so good. He handed us menus that thank you jebus had English subtitles,and I quickly settled on a risotto dish with beets and veggies that sounded right up my alley, in addition to the antipasti appetizer tray we decided to start with.
After placing our order, I watched as our waiter moved from table to table and realized he was the only worker in the place. It was a relatively small restaurant, maybe 10 or 12 tables between the inside and the outside, but one guy for the whole place? yikes.
He brought our water quickly and took our order in good time, so I thought that maybe he's just super fast and a rock star waiter and handling the whole place by his lonesome is no biggie?
And then he walked out the front door.... and I watched him pass all the outside tables... and turn a corner... and not come back.
Did he just drop the mic and up and quit? Is he coming back? Is there anyone else here to bring me food, because I'm pretty hungry?
A good 10 minutes later, he shows up. He resumes his work.
He brought us out our appetizer, which was a tray of grape leaves, some seafood which I cant recall because I did not eat, roasted veggies, olives, cheeses, etc. It was good to okay. We had something similar a few days prior in Fuessen that was freaking magical, so it was impossible not to compare the two and I think that sandbagged my feelings a bit.
We finished the tray and I saw the server walking in our direction, seemingly to pick up the empty plate. But he kept walking... all the way out the door. I watched just as I had the first time, as he left the building, passed by the diners outside, and then turn the corner out of sight. Whaaaat is going on.
Long story short, this happened one more time, totaling 3 times that he just left the place unattended for 10-15 a piece. I could hear the bells from the kitchen as they completed plates to be brought out to hungry eaters. I watched as fellow diners looked around in curious frustration, waiting to get their meals or their wine or their check. It took over an hour and 15 minutes for us to get our entrees. And was it worth the wait? Not, unfortunately.
My risotto was lacking something. Flavor mostly. I had to add salt to the dish just to get some kind of taste to it, and I never do that. The food was bland, the service was partially non existent and the price was too high for what we got.
