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Berlin restaurant recommendation

Whilst I typically shy away from requesting or providing restaurant recommendations I've become worn out by the wealth of Berlin restaurant recommendations from a variety of sources all of whom fail to reach any degree of consensus so it's become a bit of a task.

Whilst this request is directed primarily at Mark in Berlin (who consistently offers recommendations) I also welcome advice from anyone else.

Myself and five other friends will be in Berlin for two nights this weekend and flying back Monday evening. We are a group of foodies who travel for a long weekend somewhere in Europe once a year to eat, drink and see some sights (eating and drinking are the main pursuits). We like to sample the local cuisine but also enjoy non native (we had a fantastic Vietnamese in Prague and incredible pizza in Warsaw that rivalled any I've had in Italy) and fusion. Cost isn't really an issue (we have a substantial kitty built up) but we usually enjoy one exceptional experience such as a chef's table and then more moderate affairs, mixing up local favourites with new and keen establishments. I appreciate that we may be late for reservations in some of the more popular restaurants but I can all but try!

Had enough of Eisbein over the years and boiled potatoes can never be made interesting but still love sauerkraut, sausages of all kinds (no currywurst though, an abominable creation), dumplings, Spätzle etc. No fussy eaters, game and offal readily accepted, and a good wine list greatly appreciated.

Willing to travel for something worthwhile however our hotel is located on Leipziger Strasse so it would be nice to be within reasonable distance from that location.

Thank you in advance!

Posted by
11156 posts

We dined at Aigner twice, near Gendarmenmrkt.
Lighter preparations of German foods. Schnitzel
and Duck were excellent.

Posted by
5262 posts

Thanks Suki, just checked but they're closed until Spring 2020!

Posted by
610 posts

We really liked Fez Turkish Barbecue. The setting was comfortable and the food was delicious. It is a good place to share a variety of dishes. The appetizers were our favorite part. The main dishes are a variety of meat that you cook yourself tableside on a grill with lots of great spices and sauces to accompany it.

Posted by
2231 posts

Hey JC,

OK, let us try to find a few places for you.

Before let me give you a public transport tip for this Sunday (9-22): With a regular single trip AB ticket you can travel the whole day on public transport within Berlin city limits (source: BVG press release). With four persons just buy the 4-trips AB ticket, so all 4 of you can travel through whole Berlin for 9 EUR the whole day. Do not forget to validate / time stamp tickets once per ticket before first journey of the day.

On this weekend there will be True Italian Food Festival with 55 participating restaurants.

Very special but I guess fully booked out is "Dinner in the sky": you are served a delicious meal while you are high up in the sky ... :-)

Always a very good choice for German kitchen in various ways is Borchardt near Gendamenmarkt, walking distance from Leipziger Strasse. Another good place is Zur letzten Instanz, close to Alexanderplatz (sausages & Sauerkraut).

Surprisingly good I found brewery Lemke at Hackescher Markt: was there on this Monday for a Wiener Schnitzel (veal) and it was really good, my Swabian friend enjoyed Schwäbische Kässpätzle and was also positively surprised. And he knows how they shall taste.

A little cross-over Korean & Spanish kitchen is Kochu Karu. It seems to be one of the new darlings of Berlin. No longer a hidden tip, so reservation needed.

Excellent wine and Italian cuisine you will get at Il Sorriso which is close to Ku-Damm.

On Sunday you could do a little hike onto Teufelsberg. Weather is forecasted as last greetings from summer. After that you could try Tiroler Bauernstuben which is a long established classic for Austrian cuisine.

A lot more tips for this weekend.

Maybe I will be at Kaffee Einstein at Gendarmenmarkt on Sunday morning. If you look for a handshake and a small talk with a real Berliner write a pm - I will answer nearly every question :-)

Have a good time in Berlin.

Posted by
5262 posts

Thank you Mark for your detailed reply, very useful. I've forwarded it to my friends for their consideration. I may well take up your offer for a meet up over coffee, I'm the early riser of the group!

Posted by
5262 posts

Surprisingly good I found brewery Lemke at Hackescher Markt

Definitely bookmarked this!

Posted by
63 posts

You probably know about these two already but here goes. My wife and I had a nice meal (wienerschnitzel and veal goulash) at Lutter and Wegner just a couple blocks north of Leipziger Strasse. They also lay claim to a "championship" saurbraten. Another spot was Clarchens Ballhaus across the Spree River on Auguststrasse where I had the zwiebelrostbraten and my wife kasespatzle. The food was enhanced by the 1930s ballroom atmosphere. Neither sounds as exciting as the recommendations you are asking for but if you had to settle for either you probably wouldn't be disappointed.

Posted by
4684 posts

A good relatively ambitious, but not over-priced, place is Renger-Patzsch in Schoneberg.

If you fancy some Rhine cuisine, I also like Staendige Vertretung on the bank of the river near Friedrichstrasse station.

Posted by
5262 posts

Thank you for your recommendations. I posted a few and a couple I had found myself onto our group Whatsapp last night but instead of any agreement being made it descended into a barrage of piss taking so what will probably happen is what we've done on previous occasions and settle on somewhere on passing which worked particularly well in Warsaw and occasionally in Prague. It also looks like I'll be meeting Markk from Berlin for coffee on Sunday morning as I'm usually the only one up early enough!