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I love this place! It’s virtually a minute away from my front door, the coffee is nice and you can hang out in the sun in the afternoon.

Service is really friendly, free wifi and decent priced sandwiches. What more can you ask for?

They also sell beans and all kinds of coffee accessories for home.

Updated, 2012/01/22

This is one of my favorite spots and it hurts to take off two stars, but I’m doing it for the following reason: the coffee is just mediocre too often.

I wish new people working there would get an introduction or whatever. I’ve had over five coffees lately which I dumped into a trashbin outside because they tasted so bad. :( Galao often works, but everything else is just ruined.

Add to that, it often takes 10-15 minutes to get a coffee.

Every so often there are still a couple “regulars” here who manage to make an amazing coffee. But the overall experience is just too inconsistent.

So first off, we selected this place primarily based on the reviews here, and because I had not been there and most/all other Indian restaurants in Berlin are pretty mediocre.

Anyhow.

The interior of this place is actually really nice. It’s not your average Indian restaurant and generally not what you’re used to when you know Indian restaurants in Berlin.

Service-wise, very friendly and even helpful. There’s a couple things I’d like to address though: first off, it wouldn’t hurt to have a waiter dedicated to certain tables vs. random waiters taking your orders. And other people bringing drinks and food who basically tell you numbers of the items, and I usually don’t remember those. This is minor though and something they can easily streamline.

More importantly: people should get their food at the same time. Waiting for others to get their food is a no go if you label yourself and your restaurant to a higher standard. But otherwise, we can’t complain about the service.

On to the food: we ordered a soup each and a veggie starter from the special menu. My (curry) soup didn’t have any taste what so ever. A let down. By any, I really mean any. It tasted more like water than anything. I seasoned it with the sauces we got with the veggie starter though and it was alright.

We also split a starter, they were small veggie “burgers” on a little salad. I forgot how much they cost (I think 7 EUR’ish), but they were a little too basic to be on the special menu and a little too expensive for my taste. I’m also not sure how Indian they really are. They were seasoned really well though.

The mains were a veggie curry with their home-made cheese and Chicken Madrasi. Spice-wise, a typical Indian exerpience … in Berlin. I asked a waiter prior to ordering, maybe you can’t expect too much, but I was hoping for an honest recommendation and I can’t believe he’d be into that.

My standard is pretty high since I work with Indian people, I’ve had a lot of Indian food and attended a couple Indian weddings and other festivities. The food at Radas is in my opinion better than Amrit’s fatty sauces and soups but it would still be pretty outrageous to serve this food otherwise.

Just to clarify: the food is not bad, or anything. But except for the name, it’s just not very Indian.

Generally, I’m not sure what people expect from Indian food in this city. When recipes are watered down and don’t have any of the spices and taste you love about it, why get Indian food to begin with?

It seems like most people (on Qype) are impressed by a hot plate or a smoking pot when they order food. Maybe that’s all that counts? (If you disagree, feel free to leave your Top 3 Indian places in Berlin.)

For drinks, we got two of the non-alcholic cocktails off the cocktail menu. Mine had mint and lime and brown sugar in it. A mojito without the rum. I liked it a lot.

Anyhow. We got an espresso (I know, very Indian ;)) to finish it off and paid 55 EUR (for two, including tip).

Overall – the place’ interior is very nice, service is friendly, but it’s just too overpriced for the cooking. And that’s essentially why I take two (2) stars off in my rating. It would be nice if they chopped off half of their menu but did whatever is left extremely well instead of just OK. If food is labeled to be hot, just bring it out hot. Focus on North- or South-Indian cooking.

The place seems busy and popular though. Rasas was packed when we arrived. People going here are your average upper/middle-class Charlottenburgers, aged 35+. But it’s not like you would not expect that when you know the area a little. Of course this is not something I can hold against Rasas. ;)

Since I live across town and drove 20 minutes to get there, I can say that it wasn’t good enough to come here again any time soon. But I wouldn’t really object to going there. If it had to be “Indian” (note, quotes), this seems like a safe bet.

In the end I wish there were not just OK, but outstanding Indian restaurants in this city. If Rasas is really the top of the line, then the bar is still pretty low.

As far as interior design is concerned, this place is not my favorite but I didn’t go there to discuss that, I went for the waffles. They come with two options: regular or vegan (or vegan and non-vegan) with lots of toppings on top.

Overall, pretty stellar. Be careful about what you order, the people behind the counter don’t know too much about what is vegan (half of the toppings they suggested were not), but that’s fine.

Otherwise, the place is cramed, coffee is “alright”, it’s self-service and it sometimes takes a long while for things to come.

Anyway: Just wait for the waffles, they are well worth it!

I really like this place, food is great, coffee is good and the people are chill.

I'd say stopping by for an espresso is a must, but pasta only if you're not in a hurry and don't mind waiting for 40+ minutes.

Nice. Just got introduced to this place. No bells and whistles. Good (fresh) food and friendly service. I'll be back. :-)

I am really not sure if I should score four or five for this place.

First off, they probably make the best Latte in all Friedrichshain. At least so I think. But here comes the problem, if you drink a second one, because the first one is so damn good, you always feel paralyzed from it.

They also serve bagels and sandwiches which are all pretty damn good.

Now off to the weak spots: they really could open earlier than 10 AM and what's up with being closed on a Monday?

Update 2011/03/07: Took a star off (3/5). Whenever I went here in the last 12 months this place was filled with soccer moms occupying a minimum of 2 tables at the same time by bringing their buggy table-side.

On the weekends, this place beyond packed and should be avoided at all costs too. Even a coffee to go can take 10 to 15 minutes. Service is pretty slow - always - regardless of the crowd. More importantly, the coffee isn't as good as it used to be. Or maybe my taste just got better. Who knows.

IMHO, other places in Friedrichshain took the lead from this one pretty easily.

Sweet spot. A pretty new burger place in Friedrichshain. The people working here are friendly, but not the fastest cats, but it's well worth the wait.

The music playing when we waited for the food was pretty chill and so we didn't mind the time. The shop itself is pretty small, so sometimes you may even have to wait outside, which sort of sucks during this time of the year.

I had a Mediterranean burger, which was really good. All vegetarian, Mozarella, tomatoe, pesto - delicious. Fries were good too. The other burgers are supposed to be pretty good as well - so people say.

Updated 2011/03/07: Took off a star because I found (IMHO) better burger places. Looking back now, this place is just too small and the burger paddies (meat) are not 'self-made'.

The vegetarian options are certainly alright, but also nothing special. They are what every other burger shop does nowadays. A little creativity could help.

I'd trim down the menu and do less. Less options, but higher quality.

I love this place because the food is pretty stellar, and it has been consistent like that for at least 10 years. That's basically for how long I've been going to this place.

Yes, point taken, sometimes the service folks are stressed but on the one hand, that's almost always the case wherever you go in Berlin. The reward is great pasta, great pizza and even better deserts.

We come here every so often for lunch also and that's the only time when the place is not as packed. If you go in the evenings and mind waiting or come with a larger group, you should better do a reservation (in person).

Also, don't whine about everything. :-)

If you treat those people with respect, they'll treat you with respect also. They just don't take anyone's sh!t like some people think service people are supposed to. This might be different in Munich or in Hamburg, or wherever you come from. ;-)

The food is pretty amazing. That's the reason to come back here again and again. Service is always nice and friendly. The place itself has a certain atmosphere to it.

I've been here for lunch a couple times and also in the evening. Liked it a lot either way.

Pricewise, not a bargain, but totally worth it.

The only downside to this place is that if you come for the lunch deal, you really need to bring time. The food is not fast. Plan an hour+. If you're with a group of people, better call it advance.

A pretty new place serving pretty tasty Vietnamese sandwiches aka banh mi's!

I don't have much to complain, but they could really use more vegetarian and maybe vegan options, aside from that the sandwich was tasty and the service was great.

Currently for me a very close second to Co Co (in Mitte). But it's really, really close.