German Food, Berlin

beer gardens are more of a south German thing, not really typical of Berlin or northern Germany. But in the lovely neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg you can find a really pleasant, artsy beer garden, Prater Garten. It has a theater, a club (Bastard) and an enormous beer garden. There's also an indoor restaurant if you are there in the winter, and I like to take friends who visit there, because you can get some genuine German food (wurst, mashed potato rolls, the works) in generous portions and drink beer too before you head off clubbing. Most of the people who go are also neighborhood twenty and thirtysomethings, so it has a nice youthful air.

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The fact that this restaurant is located in the so 1970s looking Europa Center is a first clue on the atmosphere of it. Then the web page .. so beginning of the Internet.
But I read somewhere that the schnitzels they serve there are great so I gave it a try.
The food was indeed great. Very traditional, there was a variety of schnitzels. There was also good beer.
BUT we were by far the youngest customers, all the others were over 70. And there was this peculiar smell in the air, like a hospital or something.
I would recommend it for the food, but it definitely shouldn't be your entertainment for the night!

Favorite Dish: Zigeuner Schnitzel
Bauerschnitzel

To get this straight: In my book, the only thing typically German is to consider almost everything "typically German".

When it comes to dine in a "typically German" restaurant, it is likely, that you will end up in a place, frequented by tourists more than Berliners.

There's a reason why few restaurants serve "typically German" food. This "poor man's" cuisine has lost its attractiveness since wealth has grown somewhat since the end of WWII. Younger Germans (as well as those in the menopause) are more fond of Austrian, Mediterranean, French, Asian and even American food - as long as the respective meals match local taste. In Berlin, locals typically enjoy meals that could be considered "international" but adapted to local taste.

Berlin has never been the epitome of German cuisine anyway. South-west Germany is different: Spätzle, Maultaschen, lentil stew and what not have survived for a reason. But Berlin? Currywurst anyone?

You might think that there has to be a restaurant that focusses on traditional, local cuisine and is not frequented by tourists. There is, and if you don't mind if the restaurant is "upper class", my first suggestion would be "Restaurant Zander", Kollwitzstraße 50 (subway station: Senefelder Platz, Tuesday - Sunday from 6 p.m. on). Zander serves regional cuisine, hence their menue doesn't always read very mouthwatering, but they know what they do. (Main courses: € 20 - 30, 4-course menue ~ € 45).

Right across the street is Guggelhof. Here, the chef focusses on the three-country-corner (Germany, France, Switzerland), most notably the Alsace - which is French, yes ... still ...
Still you shouldn't wipe Gugelhof, less noble than Zander, from your list. And they open on Mondays, too. Ask for their English/French/Italian/Spanish (pick one) menue (Main courses: € 10 - 20).

From a restaurant to a pub: Deponie (see tip). Deponie is no place to really go dining, but being economy class, it is closer to being "typically Berlin". (€ 5 - 12)

Favorite Dish: http://www.zander-restaurant.de
http://www.gugelhof.de
http://www.deponie3.de/

This country pub has a wonderful atmosphere and is very nicely decorated also has a large beer garden and grill for the summer. They brew their own beer on the premises and also have a quality menu.

Favorite Dish: My favourite here is always the ribs with country potatoes. The ribs are not typically German but more to the American style very juicy and covered in BBQ sauce. The menu is not that large but all the meals are good and you get a very generous portion.

Very good food. Typical German dishes with a LOT of sausages, shnitchel and other meats, cooked surcrut and LOWENBRAU bier of course.
All that in a traditional bavarian style tavern (stuben)
Friendly staff, very good service, average prices

Favorite Dish: The cooked saurcrut (pickled cabbage) think was cooked with apples and tomato sauce. Definitely was fan-taste-ic

"Typical" Berlin food at Alexanderplatz? Go figure.

We didn't stop the first time we saw this place. But the second time we passed was around lunchtime and we were both quite hungry. A tipoff that it wasn't a typical tourist hangout was the absence of English or any language other than German on the menu. But I'll bet the waiters speak reasonable English.

If the weather hadn't been so sunny and warm-not hot- we would have eaten inside. Inside are dozens of pictures of Berlin, mostly old photographs. I loved it, I would recommend eating in the restaurant just for the comfortable and interesting atmosphere.

Both of us enjoyed our dishes. My husband didn't pass up the chance to have liver, one of his favorites. My fish, served whole with toasted almonds, apparently a typical way to serve this dish, was delicious. Cucumber side salad was made with fresh dill, a bit sweet, and lots of fresh onions. Terrific.

A great BierGarten in Kastanienallee, unfortunately when we went there it was raining so we had to sit inside. The place is very Bohemian-like .The people are almost exclusively locals (they were actually surprised to see tourists there). The food is just GREAT. Going to a Biergarten one expects the fatty German food. But everything was just delicious, from the Goat cheese salad, to the mushrooms, the divine potatoes and the lamb with Bier sauce. They had a good selection of beer, and it wasn't very expensive

Favorite Dish: Lamb with Bier sauce with baked potatoes - surprisingly light and very tasty!

Konnopke's Imbiss has been here since 1930, and is a great place to get the popular currywurst. While currywurst is available at may imbiss stands throughout Berlin, Konnopke's retains its original style and character. The food is still served by employees wearing striped pink and white uniforms, and the customers in line include those from all walks of life.