Hungry in Berlin

Yam-Yam, on Alte Schönhauser 6, just a stone’s throw from Rosa-Luxembourg U-Bahn (U2), is a nice find for Korean food — although the their Web site makes the place seem much more cafeteria-style than it really is.  Clean if not a bit Spartan, the restaurant (in a former clothing store location) serves up good, if not very good, Korean specialties — bibimbop and the like — and the kim-chi is properly spicy, even if the red pepper paste condiment seems a bit muted for local taste. Drawback: No beer. Bonus: Kids in the north of town don’t have to commute to Nollendorfplatz for bibimbop cravings. Check it out.

And second, completely unrelated to the first. Ever been to Rathaus Charlottenburg?  We certainly hadn’t. A serious need for refreshment after five-plus hours of Wagner at the Deutsche Oper led us around the corner to the Rathaus and its Ratskeller — which from the outside looks a bit touristy — but inside is a nice surprise.  Warm wood, fancy booths and a couple of impressive dining rooms (still with original 1905 sculptures of Pan and Bacchus leering at guests), a whole “Wild” menu and the feeling that you’ve left modern Berlin for a little bit of old Berlin, which can be terribly charming if you’re in the mood. The wait staff is unnervingly friendly, which is almost worth a trip on its own. Seems like it would be an ideal spot for groups; definitely a place for out-of-town guests. Or late-night beers, as it were…

Anyone who drops by here with any regularity knows we’re more than a little obsessed with Mexican food. So… it is with great pleasure that we read this, from Claudia, in the comments:

I went to a new Mexican food place, and not that I’m an authority on food or anything, but coming from Mexico I can say it is a little piece of home I loved the food. They are on Danziger Strasse 33.

The destination is Maria Bonita, and the folks from Toytown seem to be excited too. We haven’t tried it yet, but, um… we’ll be right back…

Thanks for the tip, Claudia! If anyone else has tried this place, let us know in the comments.

I certainly never do.  But apparently I do need to get out of the house more often, as the discovery of the Ethiopian resturant KoKeBe (no, not KaDeWe) was a very happy revelation, despite it being in the same Hinterhof location for years.

If you’re jonesing for spicy lentils and mutton, and love to eat with your hands, this is the location to do it. Good, if not slightly German-inspired injera (was that not a hint of rye in the sour bread?), nice spices (especially in the beef- and mutton-centric dishes) and a gorgeous coriander chicken dish, the recipe for which may have to be dissected on these pages at some point–very unique and tasty (and I’m guessing not too hard to make at home).

However, if dinner as mostly saucy purees or the thought of dirty fingers makes you cringe, Ethiopian may not be for you — but that said, it’s a great treat for groups who don’t mind sharing one huge platter and digging in with hands. Prices range from 7 to 12 Euro; there’s also a decent cocktail menu (although we drank beer, as it seems to match the food better.) What’s more, very friendly service and the potential for garden dining (and since it’s in a Hinterhof, you’re off the street and can enjoy food without car exhaust…) seal the deal.  Check it out.

And while we’re at it, anyone been to any other Hauptstadt Ethiopian joints? Now that I’ve broken my three-year fast, I’m ready to get my hands dirty again…

KoKeBe, Anklamerstr. 38, P’berg (near Zionkirchplatz)

A few weeks ago we asked a friend out to Indian food. I could hear the shrug through the telephone. “If you want to,” she said, which when translated, really means, “I think you’ve lost your foodie edge, and have gone all soft and wimpy on me.” Which, considering the suggestion, is easily understandable. We too for some time (OK, years now) have given up on Indian food in the Hauptstadt — too sweet, no spice, and heavens, far more flash (and flags) than real substance. Not worth the effort, and certainly not worth the price.

Hira Palace, located just under the S-bahn tracks (at the end of the street where the trams park; there used to be an Italian place there) in Hackescher Markt, despite its efforts to blend in with every other Indian restaurant in this town (yes, there are flags and buddahs and the rest), delivers good Indian food with authentic flavors — but only when you ask.  If you like the spice, when you order, be sure to in no uncertain terms tell the waitstaff (they are very accomodating and kind) that you don’t want “european style” flavors (which translates to not-hot) but proper spices. They’ll even offer a chili-sauce on the side, if you look particularly keen.

We’ve eaten there twice now, one time with a large group and once with just three people, and have always had more than enough food.  The dal (the style of which changes) is good; most of the vegetarian dishes are quite spicy and satisfying; the fish was mostly dry (but wasn’t much of a surprise.) Naan, as seems to be the case everywhere, is more roti in style (flatter, not yeast-raised) but perhaps one day I’ll start that tandoori-import business and make a killing in this town. Someday.

Check it out.  The Web site still lists the restaurant’s prior address in Charlottenburg, although last time we visited, the owner insisted that they were in the process of updating it.

Since the last visit to the Dong Xuan Center, the mammoth Vietnamese shopping mall/wholesale outlet/grocery center, was culinarily unsatisfactory, and since we found several other places to eat after we’d had a rather disappointing meal, we were anxious to get back and see what else the place offered. K, our intrepid researcher/photographer, had gone out on a weekend with his family and reported a fantastic meal in one of the larger restaurants, so we decided to drive out there again and see what was what.

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It started when they ran out of merguez at our local market stand. The surly sausage flipper gave the last sandwich to the person right in front of us, and that decided it: we would hit up Le Cous Cous for dinner and get our own.

This tiny place, run out of a hut on Amtsgerichtsplatz, is what every restaurant find should be: hidden in plain sight, in a former flower shop designated as a historic monument. The Denkmalschutz regulations mean that there isn’t even a sign on the front, just an open side door and some blackboards showing the specials. Inside you’ll find a neighborhood hangout with an upright piano, a few tables, and an open kitchen, all in a cheery yellow and white-tiled space smaller than your living room. Read the rest of this entry »

We’d been hearing about it for years: a huge Vietnamese market somewhere in the deep east, where the freshest herbs and vegetables you could want for your Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese cooking were available, and the space was dotted with lunch-stands serving many kinds of phô, the famous beef-and-noodle soup. The question was, where was it?

Which was exactly the question we found ourselves asking yesterday noon, as four of us, in two cars, in the wilds on the border of Lichtenberg and Marzahn, pored over cell-phones and GPS units, looking for this place one of us had scrupulously researched on the Internet. As it turned out, we’d found where it had been, but where was it now?

Eventually, an answer bubbled out of cyberspace: the word Herzbergstrasse appeared on a cell-phone, and buttons were pressed, speculation was tossed around, and eventually our caravan made its chaotic way towards the Dong Xuan Center, another planet in the Berlin cosmos.

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I’m ashamed of myself. The first time I passed Omoni (Kopenhagener Str. 14, Prenzlauer Berg), I saw the sign announcing that it was a Korean/Japanese restaurant and mentally went “Yeah, sure.” Like Thai sushi.

Um, let’s look at the history books. First of all, there’s ample (if suppressed) evidence that the earliest non-aboriginal inhabitants of the islands now known as Japan came from Korea. Second, Korea has had a contentious relationship with Japan over the centuries, including having been colonized by it from time to time. Third, a large number of Koreans live in Japan to this day, treated as second-class citizens, forced to change their names to common Japanese ones.

So, yeah. Korean and Japanese makes sense. Omoni certainly makes sense. It’s one of the best restaurants in Berlin. And, while they do make sushi, you really owe it to yourself to go beyond that point and seek out some of the sublime, subtle dishes elsewhere on the menu. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s just gotta be the best lunch bargain in town: a plate of 40 steamed Chinese dumplings, the form of dim sum known as jiao-zi, for ten Euros.

Hand-made, stuffed with ground pork with shrimp, ground pork with celery, ground pork with cabbage, and spinach, these are the same basic dumplings Americans know as pot-stickers. And you can eat them until you just about burst, dipping them in a sauce you mix at the table made up of black vinegar and home-made chili oil.Where? At Wok Show, Greifenhagener Str. 31, corner of Kugelstr., in the northern reaches of Prenzlauer Berg. The proprietors have been in Germany for 18 years, in this location for eight months, and word of mouth has spread not only to the local Chinese student community, but to such prominent Berlin Sinophiles as Alexander Ochs, proprietor of the eponymous gallery on Sophienstr., who’s a weekly visitor. Read the rest of this entry »

In the beginning, there was stale bread. And then Oma got creative and created the knödel.

There is little wrong, especially when the temperature dips into the single digits, with boiled bread dumplings — especially when there’s some goulash to go along with or simply melted butter and grated cheese.

Sure, one might bitch about Berlin’s lack of green vegis heading into the end of the year, but it’s only for appearances. If you find yourself lost in Mitte (unavoidable, really) and you stumble upon Mulackstrasse, keep an eye out for an unassuming cafe with a goofy light-box sign (see image).

Leo Bettini makes homemade knödel and pasta, to go or to nibble right there in its bare-bones, white dining room (which reminds me of an Ikea-inspired kindergarten classroom, complete with tiny stools. There is a kiddie table, too.) The knödel go traditional as well as fancy — the day I visited they offered four flavors: wild mushroom, bergkäse (like Emmenthal) with caraway seeds, spinach and dried tomato.

Super-friendly staff; pretty gut-filling fare. But good, and certainly a good sign of the times — the more specialty food stores Berlin inspires, the better the potential options for good, authentic food.

Got a secret snack place that does something special? Let us know below. (am)