Berlin Restaurants

[scallopeater]

thank you all for your comprehensive responses! lots of ideas and I will of course report back in due course!

[anzu]

This is not so much a restaurant recommendation, but I'm adding it simply as a must-visit foodie destination, and on the principle that what seems obvious to me is not always obvious to someone currently in another country (or someone later reading this thread for Berlin recommendations).

The food floor (6th floor) in Kaufhaus des Westens - often shortened to KaDeWe. On Tauentzienstrasse, the U-Bahn station is Wittenbergplatz.

It can be hideously expensive, the lay-out is not exactly user-friendly, and trying to find my way out again I always feel like a rat in a maze...

However, all that is made up for by the food. You have both raw and cooked ingredients, as well as some places selling food to be eaten on the spot.

If you're coming from America, then checking out the cheese section with the wide variety of raw milk cheeses will probably be fun. The meat section is also interesting for comparison purposes, as the various preserved hams, sausages, etc. of each region of Germany are each displayed region by region.

At this time of year, all the Advent and Christmas goodies have their own special section as well.

[Schneier]

I had a stunning meal at Vau earlier this month. This was their October tasting menu:

1. Roasted lobster with fennel, orange, and finocchiona

2. Poached char with mustard leafs and hazelnuts

3. Roasted squab with a salad of wild rape and roasted cepes

4. Beef shoulder braised in balsamic vinegar with figs and mustard

5. 36er cheese with tomato jam and rocket leaves

6. Chocolate and elderberries

I was with a vegetarian, and I was especially impressed that the kitchen put together an excellent menu for her as well.

[ludja]

I had a stunning meal at Vau earlier this month. This was their October tasting menu:

...

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Thanks for sharing the menu of your dinner, sounds terrific. Do you remember any more details on the dessert? Were the berries on the plate fresh or were they transformed into a syrup, for instance?

[therese]

...Or maybe it's a jelly donut. I get them mixed up.

Anyway, headed to Berlin in May for short week of combined work and leisure. I'm staying a couple of nights at the Maritim proArte on Friedrichstrasse at Dorotheenstrasse (so a bit to the east of the Tiergarten) and three nights someplace else (probably on the east side of town).

At least one of my dinners is already booked for work, but I'm hoping to have a few out with friends (who are German, but not from Berlin, and other Europeans). Possibly opera one evening (except that I don't know yet which opera house---will check into this), maybe some clubs.

This is my second trip to Berlin and since I loved it the first time around have very high hopes for this trip as well. I'm looking for recommendations for:

1. Restaurants: everyday German and upmarket German. Not particularly interested in ethnic as I eat a lot of different sorts at home.

2. Hotels: I get the impression that the east is better than the west for general cultural stuff, but would be interested in places close to restaurant-dense areas as well. The Intercontinental is offering a good rate on the web, but it seems like it might be just a bit too big and glitzy.

3. Clubs: Places that one doesn't feel out of place over the age of 30. Ballroom dance/waltz actually cool if anybody knows of a place (went to a tea dance, the old-fashioned sort, one Sunday afternoon at the Meistersaal last time). Jazz/blues also good.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[therese]

So, of my original three queries, I've answered the second by booking on Hotwire. I'd had great success recently using Priceline in New York, but wasn't getting particularly interesting options for Berlin and so checked out Hotwire. Lured by the description of "boutique hotel" for $87/night I leapt, and ended up with what turns out to be a new property, the Wallstreet Park Plaza, in an old building on Wallstrassse, the Wallhofe, apparently an old office building. The interior looks very modern, inspired by a pun on the street name, and includes decor elements that are supposed to evoke Wall Street, like carpets patterned as gigantic dollar bills.

We'll see.

Anyway, looks like it's very central (23-24 Wallstrasse) and has good public transit.

So, back to the queries 1 and 3, restaurants and clubs in the area. Looks like Vau (mentioned elsewhere on eG) is close by. Anything else of interest?

[therese]

On the clearly very remote chance that anybody out there's been to Dachgartenrestaurant Berlin , the restaurant in the Reichstag, how was it? Not too much detail on the web site, but it apparently offers great views as well as the opportunity to bypass the queue to view the dome if one has booked ahead of time.

Other suggestions welcome.

[anzu]

I tend not to eat out all that much, and have never been to a club in my life, so I'm not that much help. However, some particularly restaurant-dense areas are:

1) The area directly to the north of Hackescher Markt, within the area bounded up to U-Bahn station Oranienburger Srasse if heading along the street of the same name, and (more or less) to the U-Bahn station Rosenthaler Platz if heading directly north.

2) Prenzlauer Berg, in particular the stretch along Kollwitzstrasse continuing on into Knaackstrasse.

This is probably easiest to get to by taking the U-Bahn to Senefelderplatz and walking north, or to Eberswalder Strasse, and walking south.

3) (just to show that not everything is in the former East Berlin side).

The area directly south from U-Bahn station Nollendorfplatz, in particular along Maassenstrasse and continuing on into Gotzstrasse. Incidentally, there is also a large greenmarket along here, at Winterfeldplatz, held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The side streets along here also have quite a few restaurants. This area has had a reputation since about the 1920s (though obviously disrupted greatly in the 1930s and 40s) for being a trend-setting - and also particularly gay-friendly - part of town. It's trendiness has partly been overtaken by the new areas on the eastern side of town, but it is still a fun region to visit.

Nothing to do with your questions, but for fun with chocolate not that far from where you're staying first, head for Fassbender und Rausch at Gendarmenmarkt (corner of Mohrenstrasse and Charlottenstrasse) just one block in eastwards from Friedrichstrasse. Apart from some really great chocolates, truffles, etc. you can also enjoy/be grossed out by (depending on your predilections ) kitsch items such as giant chocolate sculptures of things like the Brandenburg Gate.

Don't know about the Dachgartenrestaurant, but the queue for the Reichstag dome is always pretty long (probably about a minumum of an hour-long wait ?) even in hailstorms, below-freezing weather, etc. Now that the weather is finally warming up, the queue will be getting even longer, so being able to bypass it by means of food would certainly be worthwhile.

[therese]

Thanks for the tips, anzu. I'll post on what I found when I return.

[sem]

Hi.

My husband and I are heading to Berlin for a couple of nights at the end of May and am looking for some restaurant suggestions.

Anyone know of anything a little special?

Thanks

[malacitana]

Hi.

My husband and I are heading to Berlin for a couple of nights at the end of May and am looking for some restaurant suggestions.

Anyone know of anything a little special?

Thanks

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I personally like VAU which serves very accomplished

modern German food. They have a lovely terrace as well.

malacitana

[kai-m]

Hope this doesn't come too late:

The 2 most highly praised restaurants in Berlin right now are "44" at the Swissotel on Kurfürstendam and "Fischers Fritz" at the Regent Hotel on Gendarmenmarkt.

Personally, I didn't like the very modern (in design in cuisine) "44" that much, though. But I stand pretty alone with that.

"Fischers Fritz" is more classical. I haven't been there yet, but reviewers say that it could be the first place in Berlin to get 2 michelin stars in a long time. (It already has one).

The Ferran Adria-inspired "Remake" ist said to be good restaurant, too (though by not as expensive -and good- as "El Bulli", of course)

Hope that helps a bit.

Have fun!

[Catherine Iino]

Bump. Thanks to all for the recommendations so far. I will be in Berlin at the very beginning of August, so any further suggestions would be most welcome.

[Catherine Iino]

Therese--

I am heading for Berlin in a couple of weeks. How was your trip? Anything I should know?

Catherine

[sem]

Hi Catherine

We were in Berlin in May and had a lovely dinner at Restaurant Maxwell

Sue

[Ed Ward]

I have to say, having lived here for 13 years, I don't think anyone comes to Berlin to eat. Certainly not high-end food, at any rate. Maxwell's is near my house; I pass it every day. You get very small portions of indifferent "creative" cooking at inflated prices, and get to see loads of celebrities you probably won't recognize if you're not German. The couple of times I've been there with Americans they've been outraged at the ticket and the service.

My suggestion is to try to hit the mid-price restaurants for German food (Lutter & Wegner, for instance, or the Brecht Haus), and maybe one of the Muntagnola family's Italian places (Contadino Sotto le Stelle).

Downgrade your expectations and you'll probably have fun.

[ameiden]

In May we had a wonderful meal at the Lorenz Adlon, the Gourmet restaurant at the Hotel Adlon. Silver service and some great classically inspired cuisine. The chef has worked at the Auberge de l'Ill in Alsace and it shows in faboulous dishes such as Esturgeon with sauerkraut and caviar. Depending on where you sit, you also have a view at the Brandenburg gate. The wine list offers lots of good choices in German wine. We noticed that due to the hotel this restaurant has got a high celebrity factor and recognised Walter Scheel at the table next to us, Germany's President during the seventies. I can only recommend a visit to the Lorenz Adlon, this is as good as it gets in Berlin.

[Catherine Iino]

Thank you all. Ed, I have definitely gotten that impression from my research so far--beginning with the fact that Germany doesn't even get it's own region in the Europe forums. If you know of any funky, amusing, unusual, or downright weird food-related spots, I'd love to hear about them. I have a particular interest in traditional breads; do you, or does anyone, know of interesting bakeries in Berlin?

Sue, Restaurant Maxwell does look lovely.

[kai-m]

I have definitely gotten that impression from my research so far--beginning with the fact that Germany doesn't even get it's own region in the Europe forums.

Well, don't be fooled, because this doesn't tell you *anything*...

In fact, germany has more michelin-2*&3*-restaurants than any other european country besides france...not that the michelin is the "holy grail", but, well, you get the picture...

Go to "Fischers Fritz" and you will taste what I'm talking about...

best

kai

[Behemoth]

I have definitely gotten that impression from my research so far--beginning with the fact that Germany doesn't even get it's own region in the Europe forums.

Well, don't be fooled, because this doesn't tell you *anything*...

In fact, germany has more michelin-2*&3*-restaurants than any other european country besides france...not that the michelin is the "holy grail", but, well, you get the picture...

The distribution of forums on egullet can be taken as an indication of the interests of a mostly english speaking audience, as well as the forum's resources in terms of managers and moderators. It cannot be taken as an indication of the quality of the cuisine in this region. I got the impression Ed meant Berlin has some catching up to do in terms of fine dining; I doubt he was speaking about Germany as a whole. There are a lot of very fine places to eat in Munich or Hamburg, for example, but Hamburg is not a huge tourist destination and when Americans/Brits come to Munich on vacation they are more interested in biergartens than Michelin-level restaurants. Which is fine...but I wouldn't read into it any more than that.

[Catherine Iino]

Thanks, Kai-M. I'm going in any case, so of course I'll be looking for interesting culinary finds. I was kind of joking about the names of the forums, by the way. I should have put in a smiley.

But, help! Does anyone know of a good Turkish restaurant in Berlin? My husband, who is there now, sent an emergency request for information. There must be some.

Thanks!

[malacitana]

Thanks, Kai-M. I'm going in any case, so of course I'll be looking for interesting culinary finds. I was kind of joking about the names of the forums, by the way. I should have put in a smiley.

But, help! Does anyone know of a good Turkish restaurant in Berlin? My husband, who is there now, sent an emergency request for information. There must be some.

Thanks!

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There is the Hasir chain (5 restaurants) which offer decent Turkish food. Their newest restaurant is on the Oranienburgerstr. near Hackescher Markt. But don't expect high-end dining.

[malacitana]

I have to say, having lived here for 13 years, I don't think anyone comes to Berlin to eat. Certainly not high-end food, at any rate. Maxwell's is near my house; I pass it every day. You get very small portions of indifferent "creative" cooking at inflated prices, and get to see loads of celebrities you probably won't recognize if you're not German. The couple of times I've been there with Americans they've been outraged at the ticket and the service.

My suggestion is to try to hit the mid-price restaurants for German food (Lutter & Wegner, for instance, or the Brecht Haus), and maybe one of the Muntagnola family's Italian places (Contadino Sotto le Stelle).

Downgrade your expectations and you'll probably have fun.

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Berlin has nine one-star Michelin restaurants, most of which are deserved. So there is definitely the possibility of high-end dining in Berlin. Maxwell, by the way, is certainly not in that category. Definitely noteworthy, in my opinion, are the restaurants VAU, with a style of cooking which is not French, but creative takes on german and austrian food, and 44, where Tim Rause does some fantastic and very creative cooking (not recognized by Michelin so far).

[Catherine Iino]

Thanks, Malacitana. I arrived in Berlin yesterday and actually ate at VAU last evening. My husband, who has been here for a couple of weeks already, said it was 4 or 5 times better than anything else he had had here, but we both thought it was nowhere near up to the standards of, say, some wonderful restaurants we tried in Sweden a couple of years ago. Vau's food was creative and attractive, and the service was just fine, but in most of the dishes, the flavors did not quite come together gracefully. I do appreciate the recommendation for 44; I'll try to get there.

Do you by any chance know of any really good traditional bakeries here? I'm particularly interested in bread, but I'm more than happy to go hunting down good pastry as well.

[therese]

Therese--

I am heading for Berlin in a couple of weeks. How was your trip? Anything I should know?

Catherine

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I ended up having to cancel this trip, very last minute (literally the morning of the day I was due fly out) due to short staffing at work. So no specifics to offer, but I'll look forward to your report in preparation for my next (as yet unplanned) trip there.