Restaurant

From the outside Augustin does not look inviting - an anonymous building near the end of a row of similar buildings. You have to look twice and high for the signs, and it is only the glimpses of people sat at tables through the windows that indicate a restaurant.

 

I decided to try Augustin at a time when I thought it would be busy and took a friend so we could sample more of the menu but when we arrived it was much quieter than expected and we had a choice of tables. There is a range of seating from small plush wooden booths, a balcony area, and areas around and behind a central bar.
 
The staff are costumed to maintain the feel with the girls in pastiche Bavarian beer hall outfits and the boys in check shirts which felt slightly more Midwest USA. They were friendly, attentive and those that dealt with us had reasonable English the waiter we had was impressive in that he read his customer well, bring both English and Russian menus offering drinks but not being ‘pushy’.

The menu is not extensive, but there is a good variety of starters, main courses, side dishes and desserts. It is well presented and very clear leaving no room for ambiguity. There is a fairly good wine selection but, in keeping with the Germanic theme, beer is the bigger seller. There is a good selection of beers with a house beer available in filtered and non-filtered too. 
 
The drinks arrived promptly, the food order took slightly longer, but arrived together and correctly. There were a range of options that I could have selected, but decided to go with a rib eye steak, which I have come to find as a good leveler in the restaurant trade! There was a choice of cooking options explained in the menu and reinforced by the waiter. I like my meat rare and this was a very passable rare.

What was disappointing was the presentation – literally a piece of meat on a plain white plate – a little bit of garnish, greenery or something would have made it look more appetizing. The side orders were good sized portions, but these two were just simply tossed into a bowl without any thought or finesse.
 
My colleague chose the salmon which came better presented with a very tasty sauce and a side order of rice. The salmon was a very good size and was well cooked and not too dry. The rice was unfortunately very bland in flavour and looked better than it tasted.

In many respects the Augustin ‘experience’ does not offer real value for money – there is a balanced choice of meals at a range of prices and the food that we tried was generally good but it lacks that extra touch that I would expect from an AB restaurant and I was left feeling flat.
 
The staff is friendly, courteous and knows their products. The restaurant, bar and restrooms were clean and well kept but the restaurant feels a little tired. When we were there they had a live musician playing the saxophone in a balcony area above the bar, but I wonder if the choice of entertainer should fit the theme of the restaurant more so to enhance the atmosphere.