Restaurants in Berlin

[Sprachprofi]

My boyfriend and I love eating out. So here are some places we already discovered that serve good food in central Berlin:

Some of Berlin's most amazing-looking restaurants can be found on Oranienburger Straße at night. For example, try the Amrit Indian restaurant-bar (Oranienburger Straße 45) with torch-lit entrance, fountain and colourful drapes all over the ceiling. Despite the look, prices are not extra-ordinary. The Singaporean restaurant "Mirchi" a few meters from there isn't bad either.

If you are looking for Italian food, try "La Scala" on Rosenthaler Straße. Their pizza is some of the best Italian-style pizza I ever had and at lunchtime, it's only 5.50 EUR for any pizza or pasta dish.

On Weinbergsweg, you can also find good ethnic food, for example "Maya" Mexican (not tried yet), a Vietnamese place with very authentic food and "Tagore", an Indian restaurant that manages to provide amazingly yummy dishes even for people who don't like it spicy.

Do you know any other good restaurants? Berlin seems like a mecca for people who like foreign cuisines...

[ericflesher]

I lived in Berlin for a couple of years, and a couple of spots I used to go to quite a bit were:
Tadshikische Teestube (Am Festungsgraben 1, Mitte), next to the Gorki Theatre. (A bit hard to find, on the first floor and toward the back of the building.)
Böse Buben Bar (Marienstr. 18, Mitte), mainly for the brunch buffet, which back in 2001 cost a whopping 3 euros.
12 Apostel (Georgenstr. 2, Mitte) for pizza.

There were plenty of others in Prenzl Berg, but it's been a while since I've lived there, so I don't know if they're still running. (I've also heard good things about Gugelhof (Köllwitzstr. 59) but never ate there.)

[Sprachprofi]

Thanks for the tips!

Here's one more tip, a place we only found last night: the Vietnamese café/restaurant "Kim Qui" on Torstraße near the intersection with Gartenstraße (don't know the exact number). It serves the most amazing Vietnamese food ever - Chuck confirms this, too, he used to eat lots of Vietnamese in Calgary. Just be careful: if something says "scharf" (spicy) on the menu, it actually is more spicy than you'd expect in Germany. Kim Qui also serves Vietnamese desserts.

[Sprachprofi]

Kim Qui is moving this Saturday, so tomorrow I will absolutely have to eat there.

Another great place to eat that we recently spotted is "Buddha Imbiss" on Johannisstraße. It's an Indian restaurant, not as cool-looking as "Amrit", but more authentic and cheaper. Warning: if they say spicy, they mean spicy!

[sejarus]

I'm going to be in Berlin in 3 weeks (!) I'd like try some German cuisine, preferably something not overrun with tourists like me. Any restaurant suggestions?

bill

[Sprachprofi]

The restaurant "Tucholsky" on Torstraße near Tucholskystraße is quite good and they offer a lot of German specialties and Berlin specialties. They have a large outdoor seating area and the inside is full of Tucholsky memorabilia. I haven't seen many tourists at this restaurant, except one time when a huge French group was taking up all the chairs, probably on a themed outing.

This restaurant is an easy walk from Oranienburger Straße. Oranienburger Straße is a nice alternative to Unter den Linden - Unter den Linden is one of Berlin's most famous streets, so you'll see lots of tourists and restaurants are expensive. Oranienburger Straße features delicious food at normal prices.

[sejarus]

I just got back from an 8-day business trip to Berlin. Thanks so much for recommending the restaurant Tucholsky. It was just as you described it--delicious authentic German food at reasonable prices. And the outdoor seating area was wonderful--a nice quiet area not far from a pretty lively street.

Bill

[peptastic6579]

I'm planning a trip to Berlin in November. I'm a vegetarian so my main concern is how friendly is Berlin towards Vegetarians? Jonathan Safran-Foer's book 'Everything is Illuminated' has me concerned about traveling to the Ukraine but I hope Germans are more understanding of the Vegetarian lifestyle.

Happily, my online research says Berlin is has many restaurants geared towards vegetarians.

My research for vegetarian restaurants came up with falafels and veggie burgers.
I've read there are many vegetarian/vegan friendly fast food places but it's short on dining restaurants. The prices seem cheap too.
I guess as long as I can find some fruits and veggies to supplement the pizza and falafel I'm set for November!

[Sprachprofi]

Don't worry, nearly every restaurant has vegetarian options!

It's easiest if you go to an Indian, Vietnamese, Thai or Ethiopian restaurant of course, but German restaurants also have vegetarian options in Berlin, because there are so many vegetarians here. In Friedrichshain, around Simon-Dach-Straße, almost every place is vegan-friendly even.

By the way, the best Arab food can be had from Yarok on Torstraße - get a vegetarian mixed plate.