Where to eat in Berlin

The view across Berlin’s ‘most beautiful square’ – Gendarmenmarkt – from the Sofitel

The German capital dishes up more than the national dish of currywurst (curried sausage), eisbein (pork knuckle) and the fairytale name of hoppel poppel (scrambled eggs with leftover meat and potatoes). Berlin in north-east Germany boasts a treasure trove of edgy cuisine, whilst still grasping firmly to indigenous kitchen fare. On a recent two week tour of Champagne, Paris, Hamburg and Berlin, we spent five days in the latter – and another so many days researching the destination 😉 My sister once said that she sometimes loves the research more than the place itself. I tend to agree 🙂

Here’s a FooDiva #BerlinDiva culinary travel guide on where to dine in Berlin for brekkie, lunch and dinner – as well as a few drinking options. Anywhere else you’d like to recommend? Guten appetit 🙂

BREAKFAST:

• House of Small Wonder: interestingly, this first floor café in the Mitte neighbourhood is a Brooklyn, New York import. A fantastic spot for nourishing tasty breakfasts. Its version of croque Madame, with a ham and Gruyère cheese-filled croissant topped with scrambled eggs is delicious. Good leaf tea selection – in fact Germany as a whole embraces tea just as much as coffee. Happy days 🙂
• Commonground: not to be confused with Common Grounds in Dubai, yet slightly similar in concept with a hipster feel. Located on the ground floor of the Circus hotel in Mitte, the inner courtyard is where we sat. The dishes are MAMMOTH portions – easily shareable. The breakfast tacos (pictured right) with confit pulled pork and scrambled eggs is a serious brunch dish, and will set you up for the day…and night 😉
• Paper & Tea: not for brekkie, but do pop in, if you’re a tea diva like me. Two locations in Charlottenburg and Mitte. A shop where you can also taste a diverse range of fine teas (hard-to-find white teas included) and buy a cuppa to take away. Online ordering facility too. Recommended to me by Dubai-based Avantcha Tea.

A trio of cafes that cropped in my research but I didn’t get a chance to try:

• Sets in Charlottenburg.
• Hallmann & Klee in Neukoln.
• Benedict in Wilmersdorf.

LUNCH:

• Kadewe: Berlin’s posh department store, Kadewe, the second largest in Europe after Harrods, boasts a couple of floors dedicated to dining. Skip the top restaurant floor, and head just below to the 5^th for delis and market stalls serving every cuisine under the sun. We sat at the ‘Austernbar’ and ordered deep-cupped, sweet Kumamoto oysters with a glass of Champagne – as well as grilled sardines from another fish stall.
• Aigner: this independently operated Austro-German restaurant and patio overlooking what Berliners call their most beautiful square, Gendarmenmarkt, happened to be located in our hotel, the boutiquey Sofitel (I highly recommend) which proved quite handy for a late night arrival. I ordered grilled Nuremberg sausages with sauerkraut, mustard and mashed potato, followed by seasonal white asparagus with air-dried ham, parsley potatoes and lashings of hollandaise (see right). The rosè house wine was an excellent pairing.
• Refugium: a restaurant built in the Baroque vaults of an 18^th century French church on the same Gendarmenmarkt square. A lovely terrace also beckons. We popped in for a light lunch of cream of asparagus soup on a glorious summer day.

DINNER:

• Markthalle Neun: every Thursday evening (from 5pm), street food stalls set up shop in Berlin’s market hall, Markthalle Neun, located in the Kreuzberg district (Berlin’s equivalent to Brixton, dare I say). Grab a beer or Pimm’s on arrival whilst perusing what to munch on. The Japanese okonomiyaki, cheese and pickle toastie, and a Frankfurter hot dog (pictured above left) are must-eats.
• Borchardt: a Berlin institution that I would liken to London’s Ivy where you might end up dining next to Angela Merkel. We didn’t. Go here for the classic Viennese dish of Wiener schnitzel, but beware, when asked if you’d like the small or regular portion, insist on the former. The regular (pictured above right) is enough to feed four 😉 The outside terrace boasts an incredible canopy to shield you from the rain should the skies open up, like they did for us.
• Restaurant Tim Raue: when a two Michelin star restaurant deserves a third star, and a much higher than 37 ranking on World’s 50 Best list. Chef Tim Raue who I interviewed in Dubai last year draws influence from across Asia with both a light cooking style and ingredients to create a modern playful menu of hugely aromatic dishes – see photo on the right. It’s a shame Dragonfly’s wrong and unlicensed location (City Walk) in Dubai forced it to close. He has no plans to reopen in Dubai.

If you’re after another Michelin experience, I was recommended one star vegetarian restaurant and oddly named Cookies Cream by followers who are not vegetarian. I am always sceptical of veggie restaurants as I dislike unhealthy soya and tofu (and am allergic to mushrooms and truffles) making it tricky to pick dishes. I’ll leave you to try it!

DRINK:

Three bars were on my radar, two of which are al fresco venues, but sadly whilst the weather was steaming hot in the day, it drizzled at night forcing these to close. I hope you have better luck!

• La Banca Bar in Rocco Forte’s Hotel du Rome with a summer deck.
• Monkey Bar in the 25 Hours Hotel Bikini for sun downer views from the 360 degree terrace.
• Victoria Bar is not an outdoor bar but it is well known for its innovative cocktails.

A bientôt.

FooDiva. x

?NEW CULINARY TRAVEL GUIDE?. The German capital dishes up more than the national dish of currywurst (curried sausage), eisbein (pork knuckle) and the fairytale name of hoppel poppel (scrambled eggs with leftover meat and potatoes). Berlin in north-east Germany boasts a treasure trove of edgy cuisine, whilst still grasping firmly to indigenous kitchen fare ?. On a recent tour of Champagne, Paris, Hamburg and Berlin, we spent five days in the latter – and another so many days researching the destination ?. My sister once said that she sometimes loves the research more than the place itself. I tend to agree…can you relate? ?. See link in profile for a FooDiva culinary travel guide on where to dine in Berlin for brekkie, lunch and dinner – as well as a few drinking options. Anywhere else you’d like to recommend? Guten appetit ????? #BerlinDiva #GermanyDiva #FooDiva

A post shared by Award-winning food critic????? (@foodiva) on Jul 2, 2018 at 10:35pm PDT

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