Berlin Foodie Travels
Berlin Foodie Travels
Berlin
Berlin is a vast sprawling city, but it’s easy to navigate with a good map and a metro day pass. The day pass is an economical €6, makes for easy hop on/hop off freedom and is available from the concierge at most hotels. Interestingly, many of the restaurants recommended in this blog are located in the former East Berlin, which seems to have risen from its oppressed state and blossomed into a vibrant, prosperous and tony area.
One of my favorite restaurants experiences in Germany is Weinstein Weinschenke, Lychener Strasse 33. It is a small wine-oriented restaurant with a helpful and knowledgeable proprietor. The wine list is a compilation of small producers from the local area. Wines are poured by the taste and by the glass which provides ample opportunity to experience the gamut, even a hearty red as the wine list jokes “Yes, that’s right a hearty red from Germany!” It is indeed hearty and quite good, but I am partial to the more intricately flavored Riesling Blanc de Noir and the Pinot Noir Rheighbagau. The food is similarly sourced from small farms in the area and the owner takes the time to get to know farmers and producers to ensure top quality. The well-edited menu is designed so one can as easily enjoy a hearty plate of pasta or meat as a sampling of appetizers and snacks. Paprika scented green gazpacho is tangy and intriguing, and sampling of raw milk cheeses from a small production French dairy is worth every lactose calorie. It’s worth joining the neighborhood crowd sitting at the outside sidewalk tables in this inviting wine bar/resto for a well-priced, high quality meal with a little of the owner’s wine and food anecdotes thrown in for good measure. This is a highly recommended affordable, fun and delectable experience.
Oh if the pasta everywhere were as good as Sale e Tabacchi, Rudi-Dutschke Strasse 23, right next to Check-point Charlie. Given its proximity to one of the main tourist draws in Berlin, I have my doubts if Sale e Tabacchi will be up to my standards. The outdoor courtyard is pleasant and mainly filled with people who seem to be having business lunches, (yep- locals not tourists) a promising sign!
The menu is also promising...vitello tonnato, the famous Piemontese dish of sliced veal topped with a tuna mayonnaise served at a cool room temperature. The veal is served thinly sliced from the loin and is tender and cooked to perfection topped with just the right amount of tonnato sauce.
The high quality pasta used in the kitchen is apparent in the orecchiette and maritate (a pasta shaped like macaronara) combination. If it seems curious to mix the shapes, it should be noted that the Benedetto Cavalieri pasta company from Puglia (the heel of the boot) makes the same combo sold in one package. I would bet they use this high quality, artisanal brand. It is chewy and incredible. The tomato sauce (undoubtedly San Marzano) is thickened but maintains its bright acidity which creates an interesting foil to the creamy Pugliese Burrata (a gooey, delicious mozzarella cow’s milk cheese injected with cream in to the center).
Both the vitello and pastas are in the €9 range. This restaurant would be worth a taxi trip to the outskirts of town, but given its Check-point Charlie location, there is no excuse to miss it. It wins my best pasta of the trip award.
ETA Hoffman, Yorkstrasse 83, is located in a residential neighborhood with a local crowd. There are some hits and some misses, but you are guaranteed to not leave hungry. Some of the sauces are bit on the heavy side and portions are overly ample given the multi-course menu. There are several tasting menus from which to choose, starting at reasonable €38.
The amuse bouche of foamy cucumber soup is light and appetizing.
A beef carpaccio is topped with a tangy vinaigrette and some arugula is quite good, but an appetizer of chicken roulade resembles a breaded and fried hockey puck. It is heavy, clumsy and forgettable.
Angler fish is overwhelmed by its accompanying curry sauce, yet the arctic char has perfectly crisped skin, although it, too, could benefit by a lighter hand with the sauce.
The beef, topped only with fleur de sel (the best combo), is tender and delicious. Its accompanying sauce marries well without masking the beefy taste. The guinea is doused with a heavy hand of buttery foam, but the breast is juicy and comes with a minty, bright puree of peas.
Dessert is a nondescript bread pudding served with a surprisingly tasty plum ice cream. The wine list is a comprehensive, mainly German selection . The Spatburgunder (a pinot noir clone) is at the lower end of then menu’s price spectrum (€36).
WKD, Lebensmittel in MItte, Rochstrasse 2, is everything you could want in a casual lunch spot. There are bins of produce for sale from local farmers and a refrigerator case houses a vast array of cheese and cured meats.
Communal farm tables are located inside and on the sidewalk while wines quaintly provide the decoration for many of the interior walls. The menu runs the gamut of very serious, elaborate dishes to simple cheese and salumi platters. Prices vary accordingly. The waitress happily pours complementary samples of open wines and provides a brief explanation (even for my one glass decision). She is cheerful and seems to enjoy practicing her English as much as I enjoy not having to read the menu in German (which I don’t speak). I love the grauerburgunder, a pinot gris.
The creamy risotto (€12) with chanterelle mushrooms is brightened up by the addition of fresh tomatoes and the flavors work together.
The wienerschnitzel ,(€15) served with a potato cucumber salad, is the best I have ever had. The veal is so absolutely light and tender and the crust crisp doesn’t have a trace of oil. This is definitely worth walking out of your way; lunch only.
The proprietor of Weinstein turned me onto a place that Food & Wine Magazine had recommended, Bandol Sur Mer, Torstrasse 167.
It’s a tiny, very tiny, spot in what seems to be young part of town. I would highly recommend walking down Tucholskystrasse with attractive bars and restaurants. If you take the Metro to Oranienburger, you’re right there.
The beef tartare topped with quail egg is amazing. The accoutrement come on the side so you can add as you like. The inner chef in me likes this but I can see how things might go array... The “tomato tasting plate” features tomatoes in 7 different preparations makes me feel like a judge on Iron Chef. It’s a fun dish. A fish soup, bouillabaisse-style, is a fishy departure from the rest of the terroir driven items but I take full responsibility for that one.
The substantial portion of grilled veal was rare, salty and tasty. Two appetizers and one main course is more than plenty of food and will keep you on track budget-wise. The wine list is a rather weak selection of French bottles. The fun neighborhood and good food still make it worth the visit.
Ottenthal, Kantstrasse 153, in the wealthy, beautiful West Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg, is filled with smartly dressed locals on Sunday night when many restaurants are closed. The menu and wine list are Austrian. A tasting menu of pumpkin soup, wienerschnitzel with potato salad and mixed greens, and apple strudel is an outstanding value for only €25.
The soup is served with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and is delicately seasoned, which I like. A salad that starts off looking run of the mill is anything but. The pumpkin seed dressing and the hidden tomatoes, cucumbers, beets and carrots give it a unexpected twist.
The wienerschnizel is, again, a great version but this time the potato salad really steals the show.
Fresh tagliatelle comes with arugula, fresh tomato and parmigiano in a delicate truffle sauce. Indeed an odd combo but it’s actually quite good.
The well-crafted strudel would be a good way to end, if only I could resist eating these tasty cream cheesy bites that will put me over the edge!
The Austrian wine list is immense but the friendly staff will help steer you in the right direction. A Blaufränkisch is usually a good bet for me!
I highly recommend a stroll in Charlottenburg ending with dinner here.
The ginormous KA DE WE food hall is located on the 6th floor of a high-end department store of the same name,Tauentzienstr. 21-24. The selection is staggering (an entire city block’s worth).
It’s hard to put into words, but think of the case above, now think of one equal in size just for Italian cured meats, and then one for Spain, and 3 for Germany, oh and wait France.....
Another plus to the tourist (who cannot rush recently purchased goods home and start cooking) is that there are at least 20 bars, each specializing in something different. There is definitely something for everyone, whether your taste runs lobster and champagne, sushi and sake, wurst and doppelbock or ravioli and vino. No continent left behind!
The Hotel Adlon Kempinski is rich with history and provides an ideal location, by the Brandenburg Gate. Guests of the hotel should not miss the in-room movie of the hotel’s illustrious yet harrowing past.
Ciao for now!
8/19/09
Berlin