Have you just begun your Year Abroad in a European city? Are you already planning an extensive interrail route for next summer? If so, this guide is for you! In this edition of Eat.What.Where, Milly shares some of her favourite places in…
Berlin. Where do you start? It can be overwhelming at times, and if you find yourself left with too many options and spoilt for choice, this short-list combines one don’t miss address with another along the way; it’s all about choosing a specific area of the city to discover! This selection of cafes, bars and restaurants are all located near other delightful places, allowing for uncomplicated overindulgence! Renowned for its understated innovation, its obscurity and creative use of space, Berlin is an expert in merging cafés, clubs, concept stores and vintage shops into one; it’s practically impossible to find a place that is just one of these things. Who wouldn’t want to combine a midday coffee and slice of cake (or two) with a bite of lunch, followed by dinner and drinks, to fuel you on a full day of exploring?
Here are a few special places to head when thirsty and hungry…in BERLIN
Gluecklich Am Park, Prenzlauer Berg
First stop! This colourful café, named ‘happy in the park’, is a place where everyone is cheerful, satisfied and it’s always sunny. The vibrant seats and décor will brighten anyone’s gloomy day; babies feasting on ice cream and happily smearing freshly baked waffles on their yummy mummies, students slurping on home-made mint and elderflower lemonade and high-class hipsters sipping coffee. This café come concept store and clothing shop is a short walk away from Rosenthaler Platz up the hill, passing the small Weinberg park on your left. It caters for everyone with a sweet tooth or with an obsession with all things cute and colourful. Their ice creams, waffles and lemonade are all home-made and delicious!
Kastanienallee 54
10119 Berlin
U Rosenthaler Platz
Mon-Sun 10am-8pm
W imbiss, Prenzlauer Berg
A play on words… the McDonalds M flipped upside down says it all: this little street food venue is anything but McDonalds! It’s the healthy and creative Indian fast food alternative. The New York Times has recommended their typical Berlin Fritz lemonade and the Club Mate cult drink, once guzzled down like water by hipsters, however my favourite thing about this place is the special pizzas made with naan bread! You can select your own ingredients and add as much spice and olive oil as your heart desires. Undecided? Choose the aubergine caviar pizza and you’ll have no regrets. To get there, walk straight from Gluecklick am Park to Kastanienalle; then continue on towards Eberswalder Strasse for more Berlin bohemian beguilement!
Kastanienallee 49
10119 Berlin
U Eberswalder Strasse or U Rosenthaler Platz
Sun-Thurs 12am -10pm
Wohnzimmer, Prenzlauer Berg
This is a prime example of a Berlin café-bar fusion, complete with a hint of nostalgia of your granny’s living room; it’s a time machine! Once you’ve walked through the door, you’ll be taken back to the 60s and you won’t want to leave the comfy vintage sofas and armchairs! Later on in the evening, the café transforms into an eclectic bar and if you stay into the early hours of the morning, it will mutate into a club until the sun rises the next day. Try their Apfelschorle cocktail, hot and boozy fizzy apple juice, just perfect on a cold winter’s day. Afterwards, head on to Lychener Strasse, where you will stumble upon lots of other bars such as Zu mir Oder zu Dir, An einem Sonntag in August in the Prenzlauerberg Kiez and one of Berlin’s most enchanted quiet squares, Kollwitzplatz.
Lettestrasse 6
10437 Berlin
S Prenzlauer Allee
Mon-Sun from 9pm
Chan Asian Food Market, Kreuzberg
This restaurant is very speial. It’s a recipe for falling in love, and not only because of the food you can eat; it has a certain magic, with its fairy lights tangled in bamboo trees and view of the glistening river Spree. On a sunny day in Berlin, a walk along this part of the canal between Maybachufer and Paul-Linke-Ufer is ideal. Sitting on the edge of the water, this Asian restaurant offers a menu of Thai cuisine bursting with fresh ginger, lemon-grass, coconut, coriander, beansprouts and lime; you’ll fall for the green Thai coconut curry or the Pat Thai noodles with tamarind paste and peanuts. Afterwards, pop into Hotel Bar (Mariannenstrasse) for yet another surreal journey back in time. This bar is tiny and enchanted, and if you manage to make a good impression on the barmen they might even invite you to stay over in the somewhat stealthy hotel above the bar…if you make the cut!
Paul-Linke-Ufer 42
10999 Berlin
U Kotbusser Tor
Lunch 12pm-4pm
Dinner until midnight.
Der Goldenen Hahn, Kreuzberg
For a more sophisticated evening of wining and dining, head to Der Goldenen Hahn: a cosy, small and dim-lit Italian restaurant with a very German feel. They love their wines and their food is cooked freshly every day. If you are with a bigger group, choose the same set menu for everyone. Before dinner, you could head over to Markthalle 9 (Eisenbahnstrasse) – a historic market place with amazing street food, or stroll over the river Spree to the bridge Oberbaumbruecke for some views of the city. Afterwards, head to Rosa Caleta Bar for some drinks and the perfect end to your Berlin foodie experience.
Puecklerstrasse 20
14195 Berlin
U Schlesisches Tor
Mon-Thurs from 7pm
Milly Reid
Image credits: Jules Holleboom, Milly Reid, Lene @ Beyond Meek, Der Goldenen Hahn
