Ars Vini

If you're struggling with the German menu, ask for an English menu :)

Pros:
The cheese fondue (swiss) is fantastic, especially the unlimited bread. It was garlicy, so keep that in mind if you're on a date heh.
Service was good and everyone was really friendly.

Neutral:
The Ars Vini is a decent deal considering you get a pretty decent amount of meat. However, frying the items in pure rapeseed oil is just a bit too plain. I was hoping for a seasoned oil instead.
Side of sweet potato fries: The fries were really soggy when it came out. Good thing we had a pot of rapeseed oil there to refry them to perfection.

Cons:
Cash only.
Kitchen is slow. It took about an hour from the time we ordered until we received our food. After a long day of sightseeing and some beer in my system, I was getting sleepy.

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If I were to return, I'd opt to get two of the cheese fondues instead. That's where the money is.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I don't know whether we got unlucky or the place is just not as good as so many reviews said. I'm not inclined to try again though.

My complaint starts and ends with the simple Swiss cheese fondue. We both ordered it for dinner. It came out boiling hot and.. fluffy? More the texture of aligot than melted cheese. Couldn't quite figure that out until it cooled down and we started eating. Then I realized the fondue had been made with what I think was a whole lot of flour. I'm not a purist, a tiny bit of corn starch to stabilize the cheese is fine. But this tasted like a dish with a lumpy roux, more about the flour than the cheese. My friend's dish was particularly bad, almost the texture of porridge. Also both were overpoweringly salty. Something went very wrong and in retrospect we should have sent it back to the kitchen.

My other complaint was the wine list. Or rather lack thereof. Just a printed card offering "the Primitivo", "the Cabernet", etc. I'd expected a place called "Ars Vini" and kinda fancy to make an effort with wines. What's on sale is adequate and reasonably priced, but it's definitely not a wine destination.

Good things there.. A wide variety of cook-your-own meat options, which isn't my thing but people seemed to be enjoying them. The room is nice, the staff is friendly. A lot of the guests seemed happy.

*Edit* see the polite reply from Lars, the CEO. Apparently we missed out on the more interesting wine service and maybe we just had bad luck at the restaurant. Other people seem to like the place! Our experience was not good, but I appreciate the offer for us to try again.

Solid wooden interior reminds on Switzerland and alps. Exactly the right environment for the food style. A bonus :(nomen est omen) excellent selection in vine and great in advising. Before you choose you get to taste it.
Cheese fondue Is good for sharing (one) as a starter, i tried the mixed meat which is quite enough, nice little potatoes and good fresh bread fulfilled our wishes in an nice atmosphere
Guests i saw were mixed ages and relaxed and having fun.
PS
Gentlemen
Don't miss to visit the bathroom ...

The whole family loved this spot for dinner when were in Berlin. Great atmosphere, perfectly decent house wine, and really good and different fondue options. We had the Swiss and the Portuguese, and both were fantastic. All the staff were friendly and helpful.

Decent food and friendly servers, but extremely overpriced, limited time on the table, and only takes cash. Overall not worth it.


Positives:


1. Decent food

Everything was of good quality, from the appetizers to the cheese fondue to the meat to the chocolate fondue to the wine selection.


2. Friendly servers

Serves were quite friendly and attentive. They allowed us to taste a few wines so we could decide which bottles to pick.


Negatives:


1. Overpriced

Charged us €70 for two miniscule platters of appetizers with just a handful of sausages, olives and cheese. Couldn't believe it! So shocked when we saw the bill that we had to ask the server if this could have been a mistake. Apparently not.

In the end, paid €85 per person for a group of 10 people sharing two small platters of appetizers, two servings of meat and cheese fondue, dessert and wine.

By Berlin standards, this is extremely expensive. Almost a robbery. Though the food was decent, it's just not worth it.


2. Limited time on the table

When we reserved the table, they only gave us until 8:30 pm cause they wanted to have two seatings. This happens in the United States but very rarely in Germany, especially here in Berlin!

Thank God no one had reserved the table for a second seating, so we got to keep the table for longer in the end.


3. Only takes cash

Our bill was almost €900 and they would not accept EC card or credit card. We had to go to the ATM machine to withdraw cash. At this day and age, restaurants should have the facility to accept at least EC card payments - especially a restaurant that is overpriced such as this one.


Conclusion: Sadly, I can't recommend this place. Though I loved the food and found the servers friendly, I think the restaurant owners seem so greedy that it turned me completely off. I don't think I would come back here.

Great service, tasty fondue, we tried 5 different types and all of them were good! Especially Swiss cheese fondue was incredible!

Food service is EXTREMELY SLOW, I can not emphasize how slow it is. We ordered a swiss cheese fondue, and a variety plate with two skewers of steak, one scallop, one shrimp, mashed sweet potato and one sausage-- this dish was 25 euros which is absolutely absurd for the portions NOT including the fondue, which is 19 euros that offer nothing but bread. Taste is good, nothing to write home about LITERALLY. Maybe I ordered the wrong cheese, maybe it would have tasted better if I wasn't so frustrated about the slow service and/or if our variety meat dish wasn't cold, but this restaurant needs some major work to do.

Offers highchair for children but wouldn't take kids here because of the hour plus long wait.

Great great great service staff!! Our server did not speak very much English but you could tell he was trying very very hard to ensure we were happy. Since he didn't understand what wine we wanted (wine bar, yet no wine list?) he brought out three different wines for us to just try. Even opened a bottle just so we could try the wine before ordering. Outside seating is lovely and it is located on a very quiet street which was a nice break from the bustle of the city. Fondue and bread was amazing!!

I don't know what is going on with European restaurants being kept super warm, plus me eating like a pig that makes me so unbearably hot that I feel the need to escape, but this place was another offender. It was warm and cozy when we walked in, but after eating copious amounts of warm, hearty food, it was just too much.
A lovely fall night seemed perfect for fondue when we stumbled across this place on our first night in Berlin. The restaurant is warm and cozy with lots of wood and friendly service. We got the special they had going which was like 80 vats of various liquids for dipping 30,000 types of food. Okay, it was just oil, broth, and cheese, with the expected dippers, but it took up the entire table and felt like we had eaten for a family of four even though we didn't finish everything.
The food was good, the wine was good, I just wish the tables were a little bit bigger or the offerings were a little bit smaller!