Germany
It's a vegan wagon with THE most delicious burger this side of NYC. If you go to Berlin, you MUST try this burger. I had the smoked chipotle chile sauce and also on the same burger, the Pineapple chutney, perfect match.
Only open Sundays, or should that be Sun Days, from late morning to about 5 or 6pm.
They are also at Kreuzberg Markt Halle Neun on Fri and Sat
sundayburgers.com/
Prenzlauer Berg/ Bernauer Straße 13355 Berlin
Google map: bit.ly/z7HWGU
The cosmopolitan city of Berlin is a great place to spend Christmas. Wrap up warm and set out in the snow to explore this fantastic city with its mix of ancient and modern history. Call in at the Christmas markets in Potsdamer platz, see the beautiful Sony Centre lit up in blue lights. Try an alternative Christmas dinner – the Berlin classic currywurst (a curried sausage) and a beer then join a million people for the famous New Year's Eve party at the Brandenburg gate complete with a fairground, live music and the midnight fireworks - Fröhliche Weihnachten!
www.visitberlin.de
Google map: bit.ly/v1R3C6
A restaurant in Friedrichshain, a very short walk from Samariter Strasse (U5) station.
We arrived and it was busy with only one waiter. We had to wait quite a while but the ambience was lovely. Drinks were delivered quickly and we ambled over them waiting for our food.
The mains were very filling - a seafood risotto and a gnocchi with red cabbage. They were both flavoursome and tasty. We had a shared starter and a dessert and it cost 28 euros. We felt this was a bargain.
Worth the effort to get there
www.fliegender-tisch.de
Mainzer Straße 10, 10247 Berlin, Germany
+49(0)30 29776489
Google map: bit.ly/qBdj55
There aren't many old style restaurants in this part of Berlin, so this stands out for that reason - it's been around since the early 1900s. It serves traditional style German/Berlin food. Not everyone's taste, but if you're visiting, you should at least try it. There's plenty of meat and sauerkraut, and it isn't pricey. Inside is cozy, and great for winter. Outside catches the early evening sun from June to September.
metzer-eck.de/
Metzer Straße 33 10405 Berlin
+49(0)30 44 27 656
Google map: bit.ly/lhxOSe
Avoid the queues - and get treated like a diplomat all for the price of breakfast. Book online at the restaurant Dachgarten.
Go straight to the front of any queue to get into the Reichstag and tell them you have booked breakfast (or I guess dinner), get your name checked off the list by the guards (this is not something you can do on the spur of the moment and that makes the anticipation all the more exciting) and get escorted through security by your personal escort to the lift that carries you to the restaurant at the foot of the Richard Rogers glass dome. Terrific breakfast (and we are vegetarian) and then have the run of the dome and fabulous views over most of Berlin. Awesome. When we went about a month ago the Dome was closed in about three different languages unless like us you were eating in the restaurant!
If you are disappointed by this experience you have no soul!
Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin
+49(0)302262 99 0
www.feinkost-kaefer.de
Google map: bit.ly/dWMAyY
Great restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg area of Berlin.
Seemingly this was visited by Schroder, Clinton & Albright during a visit to the area in 2000.
German / French /Swiss dishes on menu.
(€7 - €17)
Knaackstrasse 37
Nearest metro Eberswalder Str.
www.gugelhof.com
This is a secret restaurant operated from someone's home in central Berlin - a sort of underground restaurant. Brilliant food and a really cool idea!
Unsicht-Bar is Berlin's completely dark restaurant. Diners order from a cryptic menu, and then are escorted into a pitch-black dining room (the servers are sight-impaired). I had a blast.
www.unsicht-bar.com/unsicht-bar-berlin-v2/en/html/home_1_idea.html
www.travelmusings.net
Maru is a small and cosy Korean restaurant, which offers quality sushi. You’ll get a good portion of nigiri for about £5, you’re not stuffed but not hungry anymore as well. You can choose this place for a late dinner - they serve food till midnight. Korean sushi is a nice option, if you don’t like the typical Japanese sour rice; it comes with a well flavoured smooth sauce.
I especially liked the atmosphere, they haven’t chosen the typical Asian interior and it matches will with the small size of the place and friendly people working there.
It is a place to meet for a date, as well as for a business lunch. If you want to show up with a group, I recommend to book, as the space is very limited.
Rigaer Str. 74, 10247 Berlin
+49 30 26545652
Di-So: 12-24h
Berlin in a nutshell. Peculiar mix of people - 70 year-old ladies in old-fashioned evening dresses and gentlemen in suits, urban bummers in Hugo Boss as well as crazy hipsters are to be seen in this old ballroom (existed since 1913) in the centre of Berlin.
Situated in a scraped building surrounded by numerous art galleries, the place was visited by Tom Cruise during his search for old-fashioned shooting locations for the film 'Valkyrie'. Good food and delicious home-made cakes. Music changes depending on the day (cha cha, swing, waltz and tango). In the summer, the garden is an additional attraction.
If you walk down the Auguststr (Berlin Mitte), you'll spot an enchanting garden and the scraped building behind it.
Clärchens Ballhaus, Auguststraße 24, Berlin Mitte.
www.ballhaus.de/
Cafe 100 Wasser is a good place to have a chilled out meal and a beer in the evening. The menu includes couscous, pizza and pasta at affordable prices.
Good service, relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff.
Cafe 100 Wasser
Simon-Dach-Straße 39
Berlin, Berlin 10245
Tel: +49 (0)30 2900 1356
info@cafe-100-wasser.de
www.cafe-100-wasser.de
This Friedrichshain bar has great atmosphere. Relax in the shabby chic surroundings (standard lamps, rugs, armchairs and wine-coloured walls) and enjoy whittling away the hours listening to the eclectic soundtrack, sipping beer for under two euros. Friendly staff and chilled out clientele. Look out for the wooden bowls of tea (bit odd and bitter).
Macondo
Boxhanger Platz, Friedrichshain
Off-the-beaten-track but central (in Prenzlauer Berg)
little cute family-friendly cafe serving cornish pasties, PG tips tea, great ice cream and soups. With English-speaking owner.
zionskirchstr.75
senefelder platz U-Bahn
030 44038577
www.cafe-am-teutoburger-platz.com
Nice American-style cafe bar serving delicious food in the hip Schlesisches Str area in Kreuzberg.
Near Schlesisches Tor u-bahn
Germany isn't that great for vegetarians, but for a delicious, cheap and filling meal, falafel is a must! On nearly every corner of Berlin is a Doner stall or shop and they all sell Falafel in a big chunk of FladenBrot (Flat bread which really is wonderful) heaps of salad and sauce!
One of my favourite places to get falafel is a Doner place under the arches on Friedrichstrsse by Friedrichstasse Ubahn, also in the supermarket on Hackeshehof and of course in Kreuzberg are some great places too!
An amazing restaurant on Bleibtreustrasse.'The Twelve Apostles', introduced Berlin to 12 types of pizza named for the 12 apostles. The most popular version is the Judas. I have never eaten food so tasty in such perfect surroundings. It is always very popular, so booking is recommended.
Bleibtreustrasse 49, Berlin, Germany 10623 · +49-(0)-30-3121-433
CHARLOTTENBURG - WILMERSDORF
The 12 Apostel is housed under the arches of the S-bahn railway in the heart of the 'Mitte' part of (what used to be East) Berlin. Every last square centimeter of the walls and ceiling is covered in sumptuous murals, and every so often the whole place shakes as a train passes overhead. Irresistable reminder of Liza Minnelli screaming at Michael York in 'Cabaret'. Often crowded, unsurprisingly, as the food (pizzas) is terrific too.
Georgenstrasse 2, S-bahn Bögen 177-180, Berlin 10117. Phone 030-2010222. Nearest U- and S-bahn stop: Friedrichstrasse.
The Shima restaurant is a place with excellent Asian food and a lovely atmosphere.
Schwäbische Straße No. 5, D-10781-Berlin
www.shima-world.de/
It's a great example of an urban artists' collective, situated in an old crumbling department store from the turn of the century in the middle of the up-and-coming mitte district.
It houses many artists' galleries and workspaces where the public are free to wander and these are often turned into venues for impromptu parties.
There is a great outside space dotted with sculptures and beer served from an old VW van in the back and there's a cafe inside serving food from breakfasts to supper and coffees and hot chocolates and also a venue for live music. A wonderful space just to hang out.
arthouse tacheles
Oranienburger Str. 54
10117 Berlin
www.tacheles.de
An excellent little Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of Kreuzberg.
The menu is limited, but there's a daily specials board in English along with a range of tasty lassi drinks.
The service was impeccable with the food cooked right in front of your eyes.
The best thing is, a meal and a lassi only cost me 8 euros.
Bargain.
Skalitzer Str. 103, 10997 Berlin-Kreuzberg. Across the road from U-Bahn stop Gorlitzer-Bahnhof
Search Been there