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• Daluma? I barely know her!

Ok, I'm going to be tough on Daluma. If you love Daluma, don't read this. Go back to your things. A restaurant's main responsibility is good food. Good food is what makes Il Ritrovo’s service tolerable. Good food brings people together and makes them happy. Daluma, on the other hand, makes me angry I’m there and eager to leave. Daluma’s food isn’t bad, but scarcely makes the cut. Their focus on health(ier) food is laudable, but the price is flavor. I'm not saying "healthy" food can't taste good. It's just that Daluma makes weird choices. I've been there some 5 times, and never came out feeling very happy about it. I've eaten "healthy" food in less expensive places that matched flavors really well. (My last experience with them included some funky-ass quinoa that tasted of nothing but paprika. Plus, a bad smoothie.) Now, I don’t expect Berlin to always be cheap and punk. I don’t mind that The Bowl is priced a bit high. The markup on their dishes is synonymous with their good service and fresh ingredients. I can’t say the same about Daluma. It’s not Lucky Leek levels of expensive, but also not an experience worth the price tag. The money you pay at Daluma gets you acceptable food and a frustrating social experience. Daluma is a haven to hipsters and overpaid young adults. Ok, that’s nasty. I’m sorry, but it’s just that every time I’m there, I feel so uncomfortable… People continuously stare at you. I expect they’re grading your clothes and haircut. Mine are nothing special, so yeah, I shoudln’t be at Daluma. As the song goes: I wish that I could be like the cool kids, 'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in. Ask yourself: am I cool enough to be at Daluma? The answer is probably no. It’s not their fault that service is hit-or-miss, and that too-cool-for-you people took over the place. But there was so much they could do better. The restaurant is uncomfortable, wastes a ton of space on the wooden pyramid, is far too expensive for what you get, and doesn’t do basic flavor matching. I’m sorry, I wanted to like this place, but I don’t. The final nail in the coffin was the recent choice to go non-veg. Adding salmon to their dishes, claiming it to be sustainable. Sustainability is more than a hashtag, folks. I’m not saying this because I’m vegan, I’m saying it because I understand statistics: fishing is *not* sustainable. If you’re in Weinbergsweg looking for healthy food, go across the street. Or up the street. Or to BioCompany. Just don't go here. Updated from previous review on 2016-09-06