You can spend as much or as little as you like on food in Berlin; it's one item, at least, that won't break the bank. The city's compressed, cosmopolitan nature means that it has
restaurants offering a whole gamut of cuisines from around the globe. Indeed, ethnic eateries - many of which serve full meals for under DM15/¬7.50. - are at least as ubiquitous as traditional German Gaststätten. And nowhere is more than a stone's throw from a
bar , at least in the western part of the city. Just about every street corner has a small Kneipe, ranging from lugubrious beer-swilling holes to slick, upscale hangouts for Berlin's night people. Most stay open later than elsewhere in Germany: it's quite feasible to drink around the clock here, the result of a law that requires bars to close only for an hour a day for cleaning. It's worth bearing in mind that many are excellent (and inexpensive) choices for food, especially breakfast, which may be served till afternoon - or later.
The city's most distinctive drink is Berliner Weisse , a top-fermented, very pale-coloured wheat beer with a low alcohol content (usually around 2.5 percent). It has an acidic taste when drunk neat, but it's normally pepped up with a shot of fruity syrup, or Schuss , and served in a large bowl-shaped glass as a summer refresher. Ask for it mit grün and you get a dash of woodruff, creating a greeny brew with a strong herby taste; mit rot is a raspberry-flavoured kiddy drink that works wonders at breakfast time. The city's two large breweries, Kindl and Scultheiss, both make Berliner Weisse , in addition to their own version of Pils . A broader portfolio of beers is available from an ex-GDR brewery, Berliner Bürgerbräu, whose products include a dark Bock and an even darker Schwarzbier .
Restaurants
The more established restaurants are in the west, but in the last few years the eastern districts of the city have experienced a restaurant boom. Generally speaking, these eastern establishments cater to a young and savvy crowd and emphasize
nouvelle and ethnic menus. Particularly in Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, there are now plenty of choices and excellent food to be had.
Snack bars
The cheapest places for a meal are the
Mensas of the Technical University on Ernst-Reuter-Platz and at Hardenbergstr. 34, which are officially for university students only and open Mon-Fri 11.15am-2.30pm. In addition to these, there is a wide variety of inexpensive
snack stands and stand-up eateries in Berlin. In fact, there seems to be a Turkish fast-food stand, Italian pizzeria, or a Chinese or Thai takeaway on just about every corner, but separating the good from the ugly can be a bit hit or miss. The following are recommended.
Al Rai , Grosse Hamburger Str. 20/21, Mitte. A spacious, informal place where you can linger long over your tea. It offers Arab specialities such as couscous and shish kebab.
Brooklyn , Oranienstr. 176, Kreuzberg. Wonderful, inexpensive American-style hero sandwiches, cheesecake and brownies.
Duy Thai Snack , Prenzlauer Allee 226, Prenzlauer Berg. Inexpensive and tasty Thai cookery including many vegetarian and noodle dishes.
Soup Kultur , Kurfurstendamm 224, Charlottenburg. Soup kitchen with changing daily specials and take-away service. Mon-Fri noon-8pm. Sat noon-4pm.
Hausbrauereien
Berlin has supplanted Munich in the leading role in the national enthusiasm for new-generation Hausbrauereien, where beer is brewed in the bar-cum-restaurant where it is served.
Alter Fritz , Karolinenstr. 12, Reinickendorf. A popular excursion destination in the north of the city, this is set in a huge and leafy beer garden. Its speciality is a malty, copper-coloured beer; it also brews a Bock and a Weizen .
Aschinger , Kurfürstendamm 26, Charlottenburg. Old-fashioned underground Bierkeller, first established in 1892. Nowadays with a large tourist clientele, it brews a range of unfiltered beers and serves inexpensive traditional German food.
Brauhaus Georgbräu , Spreeufer 4, Mitte. This riverside Hausbrauerei in the historic heart of the city makes light and dark beers and its own powerful Korn ; it also has a menu of hearty old-style Berlin cuisine.
Brauhaus in Rixdorf , Glasower Str. 27, Neukölln. Berlin's closest relative to the British village pub, this is crammed full of knick-knacks and beer-related paraphernalia.
Lemke , S-Bahn arch 143 by Hackescher Markt, Mitte. Always has three varieties of the house beer on tap: Export, Bock and Festbier . Serves, incongruously, Japanese food.
Leopold's Brauhaus , Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13, Mitte. Despite its unpromising location in a modern shopping centre, this makes a good attempt at re-creating the ambience of a Bavarian beer hall. It makes an excellent Zwickelbier as well as various seasonal brews, and has a good menu, particularly of poultry dishes.
Luisenbräu , Luisenplatz 1, Charlottenburg. Large, bustling Hausbrauerei within sight of Schloss Charlottenburg. You can watch the light and dark beers being brewed; they're served in 0.2 litre glasses to ensure maximum freshness. The food is inexpensive, particularly at lunchtime, when there are changing daily specials; live music is performed several evenings per week.
Traditional cafés
Berlin is exceptionally well endowed with elegant old-world cafés serving delicious Kaffee und Kuchen in an unhurried environment.
Café Bilderbuch , Akazienstr. 28, Schöneberg. Classy yet cosy Viennese-style Kaffeehaus with delicious spiked coffee drinks. Various kinds of live music (with dancing Thurs 7-8.30pm & Sun 4-7pm) are performed several times a week in the back room.
Café Einstein , Kurfürstenstr. 58, Schöneberg. Housed in an old villa with a fine garden, this is as close as you'll get to the ambience of a prewar Berlin Kaffeehaus . International newspapers are available, and breakfast is served 10am-2pm. There's also a branch at Unter den Linden 42, Mitte.
Café Hardenberg , Hardenbergstr. 10, Charlottenburg. Large, old-fashioned café with excellent and cheap food that draws in local students.
Café Möhring , Kurfüstendamm 215, Charlottenburg. Founded in 1898, this is probably Berlin's best-known traditional café, offering a changing daily selection of some two dozen cakes, plus a range of main courses, ice creams and fresh fruit cocktails. An offshoot can be found at Charlottenstr. 55, Mitte.
Kaffeestube , Poststr. 19, Mitte. A Nikolaiviertel café that tries to recreate the atmosphere of a Biedermeier coffee house.
Operncafé , Opernpalais, Unter den Linden 5, Mitte. Located in a former royal palace, this café successfully evokes the atmosphere of imperial Berlin. Coffee and amazing cakes make it a recommended place for a break while visiting the many sights and museums in the vicinity.
Tadschikische Teestube , Palais am Festungsgraben 1, Mitte. Housed in an eighteenth-century palace, this is a convincing re-creation of a Tadzhik tea room, where you take off your shoes on entry, then recline or sit on cushions placed around the floor. As well as a range of speciality teas, light meals of Russian and Tadzhik origin are available. Open Mon-Fri 5pm-midnight, Sat & Sun 3pm-midnight.
Wintergarten , Fasanenstr. 23, Charlottenburg. Occupying a handsome villa in a quiet garden, this is part of the Literaturhaus, an institution devoted to poetry readings and other bookish events. Breakfast is served from 10am.
Bars and café-bars
Berlin's bar and café-bar scene is focused on a number of distinct areas. Both drinking and eating are generally best done away from the obvious tourist strips like Unter den Linden and Kurfürstendamm, where standards tend to be lower and prices higher. The Scheunenviertel , just north of the city centre, and the inner-city district of Prenzlauer Berg today boast the city's most eclectic possibilities. Friedrichshain , a district characterized by working-class neighbourhoods and former squats, seems poised to offer refuge to those disenchanted with increasingly chi-chi Prenzlauer Berg or Mitte. Meanwhile, the institutionalized anarchy of Kreuzberg - for so long the area to be after hours - is starting to feel slightly shopworn, though it would be quite easy to spend a few weeks bar-crawling here before you even began to exhaust the possibilities. Adjacent Schöneberg tends to be a little smarter and a little more sedate; you'll find a scattering of slick cafés alongside corner Kneipen, but none of the extremities of its neighbour.
