Excellent food and service. The octopus appetizer was phenomenal. The tiramisu is to die for.

Upscale Italian in heart of Berlin offers good wine menu and a manageable sized menu. I was there with group of co-workers and most of us chose either the Ahi tuna or one of the steak options. Everyone seemed pleased, and I can attest mine was excellent - large fillet of beef from a specific breed I hadn't heard of! As often is the case in Germany, my dish had an ample baste of gravy draped over meat - truffle & cognac based with mushrooms (see pic). Interior decor was chic & modern. read more

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A nice somewhat upscale Italian restaurant right outside the Potsdamer platz S+U Bahn stations. I am not a fan of eating in Potsdamer Platz because I have been disappointed with the choices every time I am in the area, but Essenza delivered a lovely meal over the weekend. I was meeting a friend's son to give him a pep talk about the first year in college and gently kick his butt to find a summer job in Berlin. I decided to take him to a nice restaurant in order to do so. I find it easier to lecture someone over wine and good food :) I ordered the paccheri with beef and he got the steak. Both dishes were stellar. He chose to drink beer and I wanted wine. While their wine by the bottle menu is expansive, wine by the glass option is limited. They had three red wines to be had by the glass and I went with a Nero d'Avola and Shiraz blend, which paired quite well with my paccheri. I would be all over the wine menu if I were to order a bottle. We ended our meal (and my lecture) with a lovely tiramisu. The ambiance is perfect for a nice evening with friends or a date. I will gladly return if I am in the area again. read more

Essenza - Paccheri with beef - Italian Near Me - Berlin, BE

The panoramic view from all window angles from this restaurant are spectacular. The Service, combined with the Italian staff holding a joyous spirit make this place very welcoming. My mother's seafood pasta and my salmon with grilled artichokes was very good. The wine and very nice wanting atmosphere of slightly older but sophisticated clientele was superb. I was also a fan of them having a cloakroom with staff giving your coat upon leaving. It's well located just in the corner of P'splatz in central Berlin. Right next to all the sightseeing destinations. The price point were not so bad either, considering the quality of food and good service, you will get what you pay for, if not a bit more! I highly recommend this place. Best out of the super 'touristy' restaurants in town. read more

It has been a while since last time I was here in Berlin. (6 months to be exact) I wish I could come here more often than twice a year. But one thing left a great test of Berlin, and it was Essenza! I was so happy to see the place is still here and more importantly that the service and food is always the same, (not sure what to write here, wow, amazing, omg...) but I bet you get the point. It's good! I started with a nice African pinot and got one of my favorites appetizer, the burrata cheese with heirloom tomatoes. (I usually don't take images when at dinner, but I did make one picture). The main course, oh the main course; spaghetti with fresh marinara souce, with basil and heirloom tomatoes. Yes, it is the best spaghetti I eat so far on all my travels. It has it all! Presentation, smell and of course the taste! I wish I could get delivery to LA. Anyway, for me, it's a must when in Berlin, and I hope if you read this review and you happen to be here, GO IN and enjoy life ;) read more

Essenza - Italian Near Me - Berlin, BE

The food was really good .. And the place is very elegant it's located in potsdamer platz, right In the middle of it all. I had the angel hair pasta with shrimp and tiramisu for dessert. I will deffidently go back. read more

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Literally the worst restaurant that I have ever been to. Horrible food and horrible service! I ordered the steak and my wife ordered angle hair pasta with seafood. The steak was very hard to chew and tasteless. When I complained to one of the waiters , he offered to change the steak with something else so I ordered a very simple spaghetti aglio olio. It was the worst spaghetti aglio olio that I ever tasted (I am a big fan of spaghetti aglio olio so I tried it when I go to italian restaurants all over the world (USA, Europe, Asia). My Wife had angle hair pasta. Also not good. Tasteless. Had to put lots of salt and pepper. So I gave up, ate what I can (I just finished a marathon in Berlin) and asked for the bill. And the chief waiter had the guts to charge me the spaghetti at the same price with the steak!! After we disputed it, he then adjusted the price (which is still more expensive than the angle hair pasta that my wife had). We came to this place recommended by the concierge of the grand Hyatt. So if you come to Berlin, don't eat at this place and if you happen to stay at grand Hyatt and the concierge recommends this place, show him this review! read more

Essenza - The inedible beef steak - Italian Near Me - Berlin, BE

Good wine list. Food was very so so - pasta wasn't creamy enough and so stingy with black truffle; the osobuco was overcooked to my taste. I hope this is not the best Italian Berlin has to offer. read more

Essenza - Pasta w Black truffle. The amount was tiny - Italian Near Me - Berlin, BE

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My wife and 2 daughters had dinner at Essenza last night and it was one for the family history books. After multiple trips to Italy, we know a real Italian restaurant we see one. First of all, the wine list is encyclopedic: Ornellaia, Sassicaia etc. Of course expensive but plenty of reasonably priced wines also available. We all had different pasta dishes and they were extraordinary. The real deal. Dessert? Excellent Tiramisu. A fantastic Italian restaurant in the heart of Berlin read more

They were not the friendliest people. The host first told us there was no tables. When we told him that we had reservations, the host barely looked at the list and said we didn't have reservations. It wasn't until we mentioned which hotel we were staying at and how the hotel called for us for the reservations that magically a table opened up and we would only have to wait five minutes. The food was very good. However for the amount of money it cost, I wouldn't go back for the negative attitude the people who work there have. read more

Pretty good for Italian in Germany. Reasonably tasty food and the service was reasonbly good. The biggest minus was the prices--about 20 euros for an entree. The wine that was ordered was pretty good--nicely aromatic and low tannin--I will need to get the name from my colleague who ordered it. If this had been an Italian restaurant where there were more Italians, it would have rated as only 2 stars, but because it is in Germay, I would give it 2.5 stars because it is expensive or difficult to get the necessary ingredients to make something authentic and on a par with all the great Italian restaurants in places with more Italians. read more

This restaurant is great. The food is authentic Italian and they have some nice wines and cordials to enjoy. I had fresh pasta with a light cream and fresh truffle sauce. It was seasoned beautifully. I enjoyed our waiter, and honestly, it was the best meal I had in Germany. read more

Appealing ambiance, utter crap (and horridly expensive) food. I work across the street and am always tempted by the view inside. Took my wife for her birthday dinner following cocktails at Catwalk. Excellent wine list and the menu READ like a gem...but the actual food...yuck. For sure will not go back, especially after dropping 160 Euro. read more

This restaurant was one of our worst experiences during our entire Germany/Netherlands trip!!! We chose this restaurant because it was close to our hotel and because we were STARVING after being on a 5 hour walking tour and felt Italian food would cure the starvation. We walked in and were immediately greeted by what seemed like a very nice and jovial waiter/host that looked like he could be Tony Soprano's cousin or brother. We were just about the only ones in the restaurant when we walked in. He sat us and took our drink order after some language barrier issues with names of drinks, etc. He brought our drinks, but never brought my husband's vodka drink. My husband had become so frustrated during the order process that he decided not to mention it. A few minutes later the waiter came back over to take our food order. We all ordered very basic food...spaghetti, fettucini, etc. and then we noticed a few more patrons coming in. About 30 minutes passed and we started to notice that every table had bread except for ours. No big deal, maybe they forgot. My friend got up and went to the back and told the other waitress and she immediately brought us a basket of bread. We noticed more and more people coming into the restaurant and the restaurant was starting to fill up. We spent the next 30 minutes eating bread and talking about the sites we had seen. We then realized that it had been an hour since we ordered our food and also noticed that every single table that had come in after us already had their food on their table. We tried for the next 15 minutes to capture the attention of the waiter or waitress and were unsuccessful because they were so focused on every table except ours!!! So, 1 hour and 15 minutes had passed since we placed our order and we were getting mad. One of my friends was IRATE and stormed to the back and cornered the waiter and demanded that we be served immediately pointing out that our table had been forgotten while every other patron had been served. The food was on our table within 4 minutes. We have no idea what took so long as these were simple dishes and the dishes were HOT when we got them so it is not like they were sitting back there forgotten. I guess they forgot our order and us completely or the order got lost...whatever the case, it should not have taken 1 hour and 15 minutes and one of us getting up to get him for the waiter to realize something was not right!!! My irate friend swares it is because we are American and they were just f***ing with us because Americans are notoriously impatient, agressive, and pushy. I am really hoping that is not the case!!! I would have given this place 1 star, but the food was actually decent when we finally got it!!! I would only suggest this restaurant to someone who is not very hungry and has an entire day to waste waiting on food. Oh, also perhaps if you are not American??? I hate even typing that, but??? read more

Very nice and kind of upscale restaurant. Nicely designed, elegant service and it looks like a perfect spot for a special dinner. But food is so disappointing. I had the worst fish I ever had for a long while. For their price point, quality of food is unacceptable. read more

be careful! The waiters are salesmen. They offer you playfully something and at the end when the invoice arrives you feel cheated. we left with a very sad feeling. read more

We were at lunch here sometime ago, mainly because a visitor fancied Italian and it was close-by. This restaurant is on the ground floor at the triangular tip of a skyscraper in the Potsdamer Platz area and one enters through a revolving door at the apex. This is sort of interesting in that the place spans out in front as you enter, but the decor is staid with dark furniture so the impact is somewhat lost on us. Anyway, the rent must be very high here as the waiter was only too eager to recommend the specials of the day, which were also the most expensive dishes. My friend did try one of the recommendations but to be honest it was nothing too special. I had a pasta dish which was done al dente and that was quite fine. Perhaps they tried the hard sell on us because we spoke English as the place does smell a little like a high-class tourist trap and the goodbyes were rather superficial as if they don't expect us back again. It may be also that we weren't dressed well enough as the few other tables all wore business suits. However, if you are in the area, and you fancy Italian food, then this place and Moreno Carusi (across the road in Leipziger Platz) are probably the two best Italian joints in the vicinity. I might try the dinner here one evening as the wine list looks quite interesting and if I wear a suit and speak German, then maybe the service might also improve! read more

The best and most truly Italian restaurant in Berlin. We had olive soup with swordfish carpaccio bruschetta; sea bass stuffed with squid risotto; and wonderful lobster pastas. The polished service made a fine meal even better. We'll be back. read more

very delicious food , varied from steak, grimps, sea bass, pasta. worth of the money, if compared to Shanghai read more

Essenza - sea bass, but not so attractive a after a lot starteier - Italian Near Me - Berlin, BE

Want to feel like you have been taken advantage of as a tourist? Looking around & seeing wonderful meals that are NOT yours? We ordered the veal ribs that were on the "business luncheon" menu. The meat was way overdone & all I could do to slice it. The only reason we ate any of it was because we were very hungry and didn't want to wait for another dish. When we told the waiter this was the worst meal we've EVER had in Europe, he shrugged. Ha, he did take the offending dish off of our bill, Danke. read more