Restaurants, pubs and cafes in Berlin, Germany

January 11, 2010 9:19 PM

Traveling alone in Berlin-- looking for cafe, pub, and restaurant suggestions.

It looks like my brother's friends will not be able to meet up with me while I am there, my previous travel partners dropped out a while ago, and Mr. Oflinkey is a schoolteacher, so he was never able to come along anyhow.
I have perused a bunch of the posts tagged Berlin, and I have an ok idea of what I am going to take in while there, but I am looking for good food suggestions, a good cafe or two, and a few places where I can take in some beer. I am only in town from Thursday through Sunday for a conference, so I am looking for a good place for currywurst, fassbrause, and any other culinary treats. Thank you in advance!

posted by oflinkey to travel & transportation around Berlin, Germany (8 answers total)

If you like roast chicken and find yourself in Kreuzberg: http://www.zur-kleinen-markthalle.de/
posted by runehog at 10:32 PM on January 11, 2010

Knofi!

Monsieur Vuong and Dada Falafel are good, and very inexpensive. There's another Vietnamese place around the corner from MV that's quite good. There are lots of restaurants between the Schlesisches Tor and Warschauerstr. U1 stops (including a great ice cream shop, decent pizza, and a decent Alsatian restaurant), and also … shit, I can't remember! A specific area north of Mitte. God, it's been a long time.
posted by kenko at 11:45 PM on January 11, 2010

The two classic places for Currywurst (and probably also the best) are the Ost-Berlin Konnopke's, under the Eberswalder Strasse U-Bahn, and the West-Berlin Curry 36, which is directly outside of the Mehringdamm U-Bahn stop.

There's also the "organic currywurst" experience at Witty's and Fritz&Co, both stands in Wittenbergplatz, but they're more expensive than the others and I've never been particularly excited by their wurst, either (although Fritz has damn good fries).

To get the full experience you're going to want it "ohne Darm," especially if you're in the East, where it was generally only available "ohne Darm," that is "without casing." That means it's a boiled sausage with a sort of distinct texture. In my opinion, if you get it with Darm you're not really eating a Currywurst, you're eating a normal old Wurst cut up with ketchup.

As for beer, it depends on what you're interested in. Aufsturz at Oranienburger Strasse 67 has a totally awesome bottle list with over 100 German and Belgian beers, most for 3.20 or under. For brewpubs I like Brauhaus Lemke and Brewbaker, both of which also have tasty German food.

It's easy to find Fassbrause in bottles in drink shops in the former east especially--Zille's and Rixdorfer are both available widely--but I'm not sure if you can drink it on tap anymore. Let me know if you do happen to stumble across a good place!

(If you like Fassbrause you might also like Bionade, which is easy to find and delicious--I like the Ginger-Orange and Holunder flavors.)
posted by besonders at 1:24 AM on January 12, 2010

There's a really good Vietnamese restaurant called Manngo at Mulackstrasse 29 (in Mitte), the atmosphere is unremarkable but the food is as tasty as at M.Vuong. (Dada Falafel _is_ exceptional.)

Rogacki is quite an experience, it's way over in Charlottenburgh (Bismarckstrasse U-Bahn station).

Barcomi's on Bergmannstrasse (Kreutzberg) has good bagels and coffee.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:41 AM on January 12, 2010

Bonanza Coffee (the best coffee! plus cake) - this is in Prenzlauerberg on Oranienstrasse, very close to the Mauerpark Flea market, which is quite big and cool, if flea markets are your thing.

Tadshikische Teestube in MITTE: Afternoon tea with a difference! Tajikistani with a soviet vibe going on. The prices are quite reasonable with nice bit of food (blinies among other things) on the menu. The restaurant room is beautiful, and you'll be sitting on the floor. You should probably book if you're going on a weekend. It's on the first floor of this nondescript building so just walk in and there'll be signs, or a door man who can tell you.
Am Festungsgraben 1
10117 Berlin
Closest S-Bahn Friedrichstrasse


Welt Restaurant, Markt Halle - KREUZBERG - A giant plate of the best Schnitzel I had in Berlin is about 12euro - you can order a half portion for 7euro. The Jaegerschnitzel has the creamiest mushroom sauce ever. The apple strudel is delicious.
Welt Restaurant
Pücklerstr. 34
10997 Berlin, Germany
- weltrestaurant-markthalle.de
Closest U-Bahn is Gorlitzer on the U1‎

Leo Bettini in MITTE - bread/potato dumplings of all varieties. The knodel is very good, but the portions are small for what you get. Special shout-out to the apple-cinammon dessert knodel.
Mulackstr. 33
10119 Berlin, Germany
Get Directions
030 6050744
Weinmeisterstrasse or Rosa Luxemburg Platz U-bahns


Cafe V - KREUZBERG: Vegetarian Restaurant. Seitan schnitzel and stuffed artichoke with a side of spatzle among other delightful things. Yum!
Lausitzer Platz 12
10997 Berlin, Germany
030 6124505
Closest U-bahn is Gorlitzer


Wok Show China Restaurant, PRENZLAUERBERG
It's northern chinese cuisine - you get 40 dumplings for 10 euro. There is a vegetarian option. It's pretty great for the times when you're over the heavy german food. And there is some pretty crazy art to appreciate on the walls.
Greifenhagener Str. 31


Cocolo in MITTE - Great handmade ramen - ONLY OPEN FROM 6PM!
Gipsstrasse 3
10119 Berlin


Kotte cafe in PRENZLAUERBERG- 3euro buffet breakfasts (no hot stuff like eggs and bacon or what have you) on the weekend. Simple but great. I once had an excellent sauerkraut lasagne there for lunch. Sounds gross but it was actually delightful (note: pretty much every cafe will do a cheap weekend buffet breakfast).
It's on the corner of Sonnenburger and Kopenhagener strasse, not sure of the number
Closest U-bahn/S-bahn is Schonhauser Allee

For cheap Turkish food:

Hasir, on Adalbertsrasse KBERG does shish kebabs and stuff which are pretty good. A nice sit down place, so pricier than your average Turkish but still very cheap.


Also, Imrin Grill at Boppstrasse KREUZBERG. Great lentil soup, all bread baked on site.

Wow, I'm suddenly hungry. BTW, I didn't care for currywurst. The 1euro mini-pizzas from the shop outside SchleisseseTor U-Bahn, on the other hand...
posted by mooza at 4:08 AM on January 12, 2010 [3 favorites]

Cookies Cream is a spectacular upscale vegetarian restaurant. The experience of getting there (it's hidden in an alley) is cool too.
posted by Xalf at 7:05 AM on January 12, 2010

Breakfast 24 hours a day - or cocktails - at Schwarzes Cafe, Kantstrasse 148, near Savignyplatz, go to the second floor of the shabby-chic turn-of-the-century high-ceiling building with black painted walls and golden chipped stucko. The entrance is easy to miss.
posted by meijusa at 2:42 PM on January 12, 2010

I would ask on the Bowie bulletin boards to find out exactly where Bowie and friends went when they weren't in the studio. He lived here.
posted by pracowity at 3:07 AM on January 13, 2010