Reisschale

If I'm in the vicinity of Hermannplatz and craving Asian food (meaning Thai or Vietnamese), it's pretty much indisputable that Hamy is where I would go. But a friend suggested meeting up here, just a few doors down, so that's how I ended up having Reisschale for lunch today.

The inside is long and narrow but pretty non-descript. Since it was a sunnier fall afternoon, we opted to sit outside, as the tables had plenty of free places.

Most of the menu items are standard but also a bit pricier than I expected (they were between 5 and 7 for dishes at lunchtime). Luckily, the vegetables and tofu in peanut sauce was the daily special, so I got that for €4,90. It was good, but not the best I've ever had.

I also ordered a fresh lime juice soda, which was really good but also very sweet (not a bad thing in my book, though it's a dealbreaker for others).

The people working were nice and efficient, so overall not a bad experience. I still prefer Hamy, but if that place is too packed (which it often is), Reisschale isn't a bad alternative.

Never again. In just over a few months, the food quality has gotten greasier, an unwelcome sensation for Thai food, but that's not all.

Last time we ordered our usual Phad Thai, but the noodles came dry like a towel! When I asked my waitress where the Phad Thai sauce was, she first thought I meant sweet & sour sauce extra on the side. No, but I had ordered that before (as my Phad Thai had become increasingly dryer with each visit). I clarified that I meant Phad Thai sauce, but she had NO idea what I meant, so I had to explain to her: tamarind, fish sauce, lemon- none of it was familiar to her. So she called over a cook.

Worse is that the cook insisted that the Phad Thai does not come with any Phad Thai sauce and that's how it's always been. We countered that in many months we usually ordered the Phad Thai, and there was always some sauce on it. He argued that no, it never does, and we must be mistaken. I pointed out that whatever I look like, I am not from here, that I've lived next to Thai neighbours many years, and have been to Thailand, and in every case, Phad Thai has Phad Thai sauce on it! But he insisted that they had no such thing, and that they never put sauce on theirs. So I just asked him to kindly stop arguing with me as an educated customer and let us try to enjoy the rest of our dining experience.

To further add insult to injury, their normally questionable level of service dropped off to non-existent until the waiter we normally have, you know, the one with short mannerisms like he used to be a physics professor back home but is now forced to work in his cousin's restaurant, well he came over to bus our table and asked if "hat's geschmeckt" and I told him exactly what I thought. Only he admitted they used to put a sauce on it, but even then it was never tamarind, which was too expensive for them to buy, but rather a mix of substitutes plus lemon juice. Hoodwinked all along! I offered to come teach them how to make it sometime & left.

Long story short, I'm abdicating my dukedom of this place and I will never set foot in there again. I've been lied to, argued with, discriminated against & deceived. They've made a business of riding on Hamy's overflow & taking up the slack, but instead of trying to better themselves, they've just become contented, cheaper, and worse. Wait it out for a table at Hamy instead.

I fell so-so about this thai/vietnamese restaurant. The inside decor is rather bland-generic, but there's hope upon seeing the kitchen. It could serve authentic enough food, but it doesn't. The food wasn't bad, mind you, it just ended up being your generic germanized thai imbiss. We ordered two different curries and couldn't tell them really apart, besides than one had mushrooms. I still give it 4 stars, because I still enjoyed it and the service was friendly, though I secretly know that as soon as this place shop for the night, these people make the best possible thai food and eat it all themselves. Why not serve it to the public? Surely, germans are ready for it?!

The trick with this place is to order off the Traditionelle Kostbarkeiten page of the menu. (I think they've translated this is traditional valuables.) These seem to be Vietnamese dishes, so the other Thai-esque food on offer is presumably just to cater to the locals. The beef pho is reasonably good and definitely more flavoursome than anything you will get at Hamy's (whose popularity remains a mystery to me).
The rest of the menu is not that bad, but it is the same pan-Asian mix you can get at any Berlin Asia-Imbiss.

I get the feeling the people working here actually know how to make much better food but they don't put in that effort in what you get on the plate. The dish I ordered was way too spicy for me but that wouldn't have been a problem if only it tasted better. I would have loved the dish to be more fresh and with more flavours in it. This is an average Vietnamese/Thai restaurant, nothing special and definitely not comparable to the one next door, still the price was the same as that one. I would not come back here when there are so many other good Vietnamese ones (Pho Phan is one of my favorites for example).