Berlin Restaurants

Cafe November is one of those perfect places that every neighborhood needs. A friendly staff, a dark, candle lit interior, outdoor sidewalk seating on a beautiful tree lined block, great beer and breakfast available in the evening. You can't really beat that. Also, the food was excellent and they have great beers.

One would think this would be a tourist trap, but it is the complete opposite. Right across from checkpoint charlie lies this beautiful, dim and smokey cafe, where I lunched on a great vegetarian quiche. The building itself is a piece of history and the unchanged interiors transport you back to the 1940s. That staff didn't speak English, which made it even better and there wasn't a tourist to be seen. Maybe I hit it on a good day? Find out for yourself and let me know.

Favorite Dish: I only had the quiche and a salad, but both were great.

Atop a hill in Prenzlauer Berg lies this excellent pizza joint. Quite large and hip, with indie rock posters and scribbled writing covering the walls, I felt right at home. My expectations for the pizza were not so high being that I live in NYC, I love pizza and I have had some horrid pizza experiences in European cities outside of Italy, but I thought it was wonderful. The staff was quite friendly (on my first visit at least) and I made friends with 2 hipster chicks from San Francisco at the community style table. Our waiter even gave us free shots at the end of our meal.

Favorite Dish: Pizza.

1 more image

Because I spent all of my time at the Messe we did all our eating there. They have these pizza shop, hamburger stand as well as tasty German Sauerkraut hotdog that's great...

Favorite Dish: The fresh Sauerkraut...doesn't taste anything like the American sauerkraut.

A quaint outdoor/indoor cafe/restaurant/bar along Pappelallee. Full service bar, restaurant, and menu. Me and my friend stopped by one sunny afternoon, enjoying the sun, the drinks, and the food - as well as their free wifi - giving us an edge on finding our way around the city and contacting friends we were meeting up with. Good drinks, good food. I tried their Pad Thai. Quite nice. It's definitely a place to relax, chat, and chill when walking along Pappelallee. Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.

Favorite Dish: Pad thai is all I had

We were in a hurry and walked into this restaurant because it was near our hotel and it seemed to be busy with customers. The decoration was a bit sad. The waiter asked where we were from and spoke to us in French. I ordered medallion filled with mozzarella and ruccula (sp?) and my hubby had pizza mixta. My dish was really good, but my hubby thought his pizza was okay.

Hubby was starving and thought it was nice to have lunch here. We were lucky they had a dish of the day for 15 Euros otherwise I don't think we would ever eat here after checking their menu prices.

The main dish choice was between porc meat or fish, we chose the former which was served with orange peel and olives sauce, and asparagus and a gratin dauphinois.

Excellent service. The waitress was very helpful when we asked if she knew this certain place. She didn't know it but she asked someone else and she came back with a street-map and explained us where it was.

Tap water was free.

Coca-cola (20 cl): 7 Euros (!!!!!)

This was the closest place to the hostel where we were staying, Mitte Backpackers, all of about 20 steps away. One of the hotel clerks recommended it and rightfully so. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't remember the name of the place, but it was a Turkish deli. Being the most recent immigrant group to reach Germany, Turkish food is still pretty cheap. Very clean and with a friendly and patient staff. It was so great we continuously went there during our stay in Berlin!

Favorite Dish: The doner kebobs (forgive any misspellings please) were the main highlight as the were essentially a complete meal on their own: similar to a gyro, including meat and all sorts of fresh and crispy veggies, with a light sauce, and served on a flatbread...Big, toasty, satisfying and very inexpensive -- drippy goodness. Side items were of the vegetable kind and also just as fresh and delicious. One standout was a tomato and goatcheese (possibly feta) salad drizzled with herbs and olive oil.