While 'Drinkeries' is no proper self-respecting English word, I'll still go with it. With all the revolution in the English Language going on around the world, I think it'll survive the understanding.
So, since a couple of months I've moved to Berlin. While it's still true that because of various issues at various facets, I'm still struggling to establish a normal life here, I've begun to enjoy the city tremendously. Here, I'll focus on one particular aspect, as mentioned in the title.
One of the first interesting places I've been to was a Sri Lankan restaurant around Boxhagener Platz. Here is the link. It turned out to be refreshingly nice restaurant, true to the universality of the South Indian spices. If I still remember correctly, I had "Appes", which are like Dosas but are shaped like a bowl. Would definitely recommend it. It is a small place though, and when we went, we even met a waiter from Bangladesh, who was working there for his last day.
The next restaurant I enjoyed the food was at an Italian place near Ostkreutz/Boxhagener Platz. That one of the crazy neighbourhoods in Berlin which is absolutely jam-packed with cool restaurants and bars. The place served really GOOD Italian food. Further down the memory lane, we land at a Burger place in Panierstrasse, which is again another neighbourhood (in Neukolln) filled with wonderful places. You can check out the BurgersInternational here . You can see how 'lacker' the burgers look, and take it from a person who can identify decent food, that they were absolutely superb! I would love to go there again and again. Note that it is a small place, often very crowded, and you might have to be outside. And, as you see, the burgers are huge, so be prepared to open your mouths wide.
When Christian, Lewis and Sofia were around for a weekend, we were mostly visiting Christmas markets, but there was a Vietnamese place on Sonntagsstr. @ Ostkreutz which was quite nice, and the Aussie Burger at the restaurant of the Adina hotel was quite tasty. Another super cool cafe is Cafe Hilde at Prenzlauer Berg. Check out the cool baked goodshere. It is a relatively big cafe with a nice decor, and a very cozy atmosphere. The muffins and hot chocolate were especially good. Speaking of Cafes, the one you shouldn't miss at all are Cupcakes Berlin. I don't know about the coffee there, but given the quality of cupcakes I've had (read: terrific), I would go there again and again. Actually, I had got some cupcakes (hmm, its not Muffins, that's American! Even there was a British lady at the reception) as a surprise for Sabine's birthday. And these muffins we had at Standige Vertretung. This is a place which I still have on my list. We went to this place for a drink, and it was so crowded that we couldn't go in --- admittedly on a Saturday evening. The speciality of this place is Cuisine from Koln, as Julia told us. Actually, we went there after having dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Friedrichstrasse (well, Mittelstrasse actually), called Ishin . Unfortunately, I don't exactly remember what I had, but it must have been a Don, with some meat.
And speaking of Japanese places, another place at Prenzlauer Berg comes to mind, where Hana took me, and we had Okonomiyaki (see the picture). It is a delicious salty Japanese pancake, and even someone like who does not like fish, liked it very much! The restaurant is here, and for a more extensive review of the place you can read more. Shortly after the Okonomiyaki lunch, we visited the another cool chocolaterie and cafe in the area, in the very French fashion, Mon Plasir. If you go there, make sure you try the Macarons, and coffee, of course. Try whatever you want, I bet you won't be disappointed.
Coming back to more recent times, the first time we started doing 'informed' restaurant hunting, we went to Babel in Kastanienallee. A delicious Lebanese place, if ever there was one. Food was around 8-9 Euro, a lot of it, very good quality and extremely tasty. Again, it is a small place, and can get really crowded at times. In the neighborhood, there are two places that I need to try: one is a South African place called Cape Town, and another a South Indian, called Chutnify. We did try to go to Cape Town last Friday, but it was closed for some unknown reason, and Chutnify turned out to be a small but extremely popular restaurant, so no places were available for the whole evening. To take a hit, we went to Savanna . However, I wouldn't recommend this place too much, although you can get exotic dishes here. I had ostrich, while Miguel had Antelope and Hana zebra. To me, Ostrich and Antelope seemed fine, but I won't be trying Zebra. The quality of the food / meat was good, but the cooking wasn't superb, and the dishes generally expensive (even for traditional meat like chicken/lamb). Among the cereal dishes, one can choose rice, or couscous, or fufu. The latter is made from the root of some trees, and I wouldn't recommend it -- it was basically tasteless. Rice or couscous would have been much better. The African Beer Dju Dju was quite nice though, even if a bit expensive, and it comes in different flavors, much like the Berliner Weisse.
Finally, some 'drinkeries' before finishing this off. One of the really cool places I've been to in terms of quality and atmosphere has to be Hopfenreich. It has the largest number of craft beers I have seen available in a single place. Another place in Perenzlauer Berg, close to the Kulturbraurei, whose name I can't recall or find out from Google, but it was a very comfy place, with a particularly cozy nook that made for perfect drinking and conversation. And this is a classic example why these bars please me so much --- they have an atmosphere of casual decay and disdain, nothing is very polished, but stuck with old posters of a bygone era. Things look worn out, there are mysterious boxes behind curtains draped across big windows -- as if no one really cares if they get stolen or not, and no one cares what people think. It is this decadence that lends an aura that is quite difficult to conjure else where. In contrast, the bar/club An einem schonem Sonntag im August , has quite a different atmosphere. Often with (live) music, the seating places are arranged more like steps, and more carefully dressed people as well as smart, but casually dressed people come here. Quite recommended. Yes, and the bar at St Oberholz. Its quite a big place, but is more than the ordinary restaurant/bar as you can read in the blog. Besides having cool beer, they have a clever way of distinguishing male and female toilets (see the pic). And they have free WiFi, so a good place to work as well.
I think I'll close now. Quite a mouthful of places that I've listed. They look good, and hopefully there will be more in the future to come. In a phrase, Berlin is a foodie/drinkie's sublime paradise.
So, since a couple of months I've moved to Berlin. While it's still true that because of various issues at various facets, I'm still struggling to establish a normal life here, I've begun to enjoy the city tremendously. Here, I'll focus on one particular aspect, as mentioned in the title.
One of the first interesting places I've been to was a Sri Lankan restaurant around Boxhagener Platz. Here is the link. It turned out to be refreshingly nice restaurant, true to the universality of the South Indian spices. If I still remember correctly, I had "Appes", which are like Dosas but are shaped like a bowl. Would definitely recommend it. It is a small place though, and when we went, we even met a waiter from Bangladesh, who was working there for his last day.
The next restaurant I enjoyed the food was at an Italian place near Ostkreutz/Boxhagener Platz. That one of the crazy neighbourhoods in Berlin which is absolutely jam-packed with cool restaurants and bars. The place served really GOOD Italian food. Further down the memory lane, we land at a Burger place in Panierstrasse, which is again another neighbourhood (in Neukolln) filled with wonderful places. You can check out the BurgersInternational here . You can see how 'lacker' the burgers look, and take it from a person who can identify decent food, that they were absolutely superb! I would love to go there again and again. Note that it is a small place, often very crowded, and you might have to be outside. And, as you see, the burgers are huge, so be prepared to open your mouths wide.
When Christian, Lewis and Sofia were around for a weekend, we were mostly visiting Christmas markets, but there was a Vietnamese place on Sonntagsstr. @ Ostkreutz which was quite nice, and the Aussie Burger at the restaurant of the Adina hotel was quite tasty. Another super cool cafe is Cafe Hilde at Prenzlauer Berg. Check out the cool baked goodshere. It is a relatively big cafe with a nice decor, and a very cozy atmosphere. The muffins and hot chocolate were especially good. Speaking of Cafes, the one you shouldn't miss at all are Cupcakes Berlin. I don't know about the coffee there, but given the quality of cupcakes I've had (read: terrific), I would go there again and again. Actually, I had got some cupcakes (hmm, its not Muffins, that's American! Even there was a British lady at the reception) as a surprise for Sabine's birthday. And these muffins we had at Standige Vertretung. This is a place which I still have on my list. We went to this place for a drink, and it was so crowded that we couldn't go in --- admittedly on a Saturday evening. The speciality of this place is Cuisine from Koln, as Julia told us. Actually, we went there after having dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Friedrichstrasse (well, Mittelstrasse actually), called Ishin . Unfortunately, I don't exactly remember what I had, but it must have been a Don, with some meat.
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| Okonomiyaki |
And speaking of Japanese places, another place at Prenzlauer Berg comes to mind, where Hana took me, and we had Okonomiyaki (see the picture). It is a delicious salty Japanese pancake, and even someone like who does not like fish, liked it very much! The restaurant is here, and for a more extensive review of the place you can read more. Shortly after the Okonomiyaki lunch, we visited the another cool chocolaterie and cafe in the area, in the very French fashion, Mon Plasir. If you go there, make sure you try the Macarons, and coffee, of course. Try whatever you want, I bet you won't be disappointed.
Coming back to more recent times, the first time we started doing 'informed' restaurant hunting, we went to Babel in Kastanienallee. A delicious Lebanese place, if ever there was one. Food was around 8-9 Euro, a lot of it, very good quality and extremely tasty. Again, it is a small place, and can get really crowded at times. In the neighborhood, there are two places that I need to try: one is a South African place called Cape Town, and another a South Indian, called Chutnify. We did try to go to Cape Town last Friday, but it was closed for some unknown reason, and Chutnify turned out to be a small but extremely popular restaurant, so no places were available for the whole evening. To take a hit, we went to Savanna . However, I wouldn't recommend this place too much, although you can get exotic dishes here. I had ostrich, while Miguel had Antelope and Hana zebra. To me, Ostrich and Antelope seemed fine, but I won't be trying Zebra. The quality of the food / meat was good, but the cooking wasn't superb, and the dishes generally expensive (even for traditional meat like chicken/lamb). Among the cereal dishes, one can choose rice, or couscous, or fufu. The latter is made from the root of some trees, and I wouldn't recommend it -- it was basically tasteless. Rice or couscous would have been much better. The African Beer Dju Dju was quite nice though, even if a bit expensive, and it comes in different flavors, much like the Berliner Weisse.
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| This is the men's bathroom, I'm sure you can tell! |
I think I'll close now. Quite a mouthful of places that I've listed. They look good, and hopefully there will be more in the future to come. In a phrase, Berlin is a foodie/drinkie's sublime paradise.
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