My Berlin Food Journey – Part 4 Change of cuisine

One of my favourite things about Berlin was all the different cultures that seem to be represented. From the diverse art scene, cultural institutes and of course the food. In past posts I’ve discussed the Turkish influence, My Berlin Food Journey – Part 2 Hasir and My Berlin Food Journey – Part 3 To kebab or not to kebab.

Today I am going to talk about a few other cuisines I tired while out in Berlin.

I can’t believe I hadn’t tried it before, but I am glad I got to try my first taste of Sudanese food on my first night there.

We went to a great little place called Sahara
Sahara
Reuterstr. 56
12047 Berlin
Germany
Neukölln

I got a falafel & Halumi sandwich and it was ridiculously good and it only cost 3 Euros!

The peanut sauce is what made it. I don’t even know how to explain how tasty the sauce is. It isn’t fancy but you’re really just in and out and the most important thing, the food tastes good and the staff are friendly.

I am generally not a fan of falafel but this was well-seasoned and fresh. If this place was in the UK I would be there every week! It’s a must the next time you are in Berlin.

From my blog you’ve probably notice my love of Dim sum/Yumcha so I was pretty chuffed when my friend suggested going to Yumcha one night.

We headed over to Yumcha Heroes
Yumcha Heroes
Weinbergsweg 8
10119 Berlin
Germany
Mitte

I wasn’t blown away but by no means was it bad. I think with Yumcha it can be a bit hit and miss if you chose the wrong dishes and that’s probably what I did.

I got the roast beef rolls which are filled Chinese pancakes, served cold with tender roast beef, Peking Duck sauce, cucumber, carrots and leek.

I wasn’t a huge fan of them. I can’t really put my finger on why though so I am guessing it was my more personal taste preference than that they were bad.

I shared the honey spare ribs which was honey-glazed spare ribs, pak choi with ginger-soy-sauce.

These were probably the best savory part of the meal. The meat was tender and the sauce was really good.

I also shared the orange prawn’s dumplings (Prawns, water chestnuts, Schezuan pepper, egg, and bamboo)

I felt the dumplings were maybe a little under cooked as the casing was chewy and I didn’t like that aspect but the filling was really good.

My other friend got the Shanghai dumplings, one of the restaurant favorites and known as the mother of all dumplings with steamed Minced pork, Schezuan pepper, ginger, hot broth inside.

She really like these and they looked more cooked than the orange prawn.

My vegetarian friend got the vegetarian fried rice-paper roll filled with glass noodles, ginger, zucchini, carrots, Shiitake mushroom and bamboo.

She liked them but I thought it looked a little greasy. They may have been better seamed than fried.

She also got the green veggie dumplings filled with glass noodles, zucchini, Shiitake mushroom, bamboo and carrots

Again these looked better cooked than the orange prawn ones and she enjoyed them.

The best part of the meal was definitely the dessert. Usually Dim Sum/Yumcha places don’t do dessert, if they do its either jelly or fruit but this place had a few different dessert options that sounded really good.

We shared the Tang Bao which is 2 yeast dumplings filled with hot chocolate-nougat crème with vanilla sauce.

It was really yummy and was the highlight of the meal so make sure you leave some room for it if you go check out Yumcha Heroes.

I would go back again and try a few of the other dishes and of course get that dessert again. I also saw a lot of other places while we were walking around that I would have loved to try if we had, had more time. Most of the places not only looked great but seemed reasonably priced, which can sometimes be hard to find in London.

I know London has a lot of great restaurant from all different cultural cuisines but its funny how I always seem to try more when I’m on holiday. Just gives me an excuse to travel more I guess *smiles*

(Picture taken form http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/04/reader-recs-signature-dishes-around-the-world/)

My Berlin Food Journey – Part 3 To kebab or not to kebab

Or is it to kebap or not to kebap…

From my last post (My Berlin Food Journey – Part 2 Hasir) you saw how big Turkish food is in Berlin. I know when I think of Turkish food I think of kebab.

When I lived in Australia one of my favourite foods was yiros, basically what we call kebabs in Australia. Don’t ask me why. Like any food you have your hit and misses but generally most yiros shops were pretty good. There were two places in Adelaide that were my favourite, Andy’s yiros and Yiros house. Funnily enough I use to go the most with my mum. We went probably once every few months when I lived there and now every time I visit home we head to Yiros house at least once. It’s become a tradition I really look forward to.

When I moved to the UK I was told the yiros was just called a kebab and there was a shop on every corner. I was super excited until I tried them. They were nothing like in Australia, in fact they were pretty gross and I can see why they are only really eating when people are hammered after a big night out! I am sure there are some good places in London, but I am yet to find one.

I now tend to steer away from the kebab at all costs, so when I was planning my trip to Berlin and a friend said you must have a kebab I didn’t take him seriously and just ignored it. It wasn’t till we were in Berlin and our hosts said it was a must that I decided to give it a go.

The guys suggest there local
La Fiamma
Kottbusser Damm 31
10967 Berlin
Germany
Kreuzberg

I had the traditional doner kebab lamb meat in bread with salad and garlic sauce.

t was ridiculously good. Different to the yiros from Australia but a good different. The bread was so soft, meat was tender and full of flavour and the salad was nice and fresh. Although I had already eaten a lot that day I was still able to nearly finish the whole thing and it was huge.

One of the friends I was with was not a fan of red meat and the other was a vegetarian so for them we went down the road a bit to
Urfa Kebap
Kottbusser Damm 33
10967 Berlin
Germany
Kreuzberg

They got a chicken doner and a vegetable and halloumi doner. They both looked amazing and the girls gave great reviews.

Next on our kebab journey of Berlin is the famous Mustafa's Gemuse Kebap.
Mustafa's Gemuse Kebap
Mehringdamm 32
10961 Berlin
Germany

Do you ever have a flashback to something and then when you look into it, that flashback was totally made up! That happen to me in Berlin. When we were walking along Mehringdamm and I saw a big queue for a kebab cart called Mustafa’s Gemuse Kebap I had a flashback to a show I had watched a few years back called Anthony Bourdain No Reservations – Berlin. It was due to this flash back I decided we had to go there and eat! Turns out my flashback was a lie, as it wasn’t in that episode and from a bit of internet searching it doesn’t look like Anthony Bourdain has even been to Mustafa’s Gemuse Kebap. I’m sure I must have seen it on some show I just have no idea which show!

I’m not upset that my mind was playing tricks on me though because we went and it was awesome.

Other than my fictional memory of one my favourite chefs/authors/television personality giving this place a great review, you could tell it was going to be pretty damn good from the giant queue of people. We first passed by on a Saturday and it was crazy. People must have been lining up for over an hour for food. We decided to go back on our last day, a Monday, for lunch. The queue was still huge!

We waited probably about 45mins. The guys that work here are insane, working in this tiny little box from 10am to 2am.

The wait was worth it though, tender meat, tasty fried vegetables and delicious sauces. It was super tasty and whatever the secret marinade is, it’s fantastic!

I can’t really compare it to the one I had at La Fiamma because I had the chicken doner here and the lamb at La Fiamma. They were both great.

The funniest part of my fictional flashback of the Berlin episode of Anthony Bourdain No Reservations was not that Mustafa's Gemuse Kebap wasn’t on it, it was that Hasir’s was! (My Berlin Food Journey – Part 2 Hasir)

Check it out below, parental discretion advised.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLhV6sXExSs

I had completely forgotten Hasir was on this episode. I was lucky my hosts were in the know, so I got to go. When we went to Hasir’s I knew we were going out for a big German meal that night so I decided not to have a doner kebab…which after watching the show again I am kind of regretting. At least I can use needing to go back to Hasir’s for an excuse to go back to Berlin! Will have to swing past La Fiamma and Mustafa’s again to *cheeky smiles*
 

My Berlin Food Journey – Part 2 Hasir

From bakeries to kebab shops and even an outdoor market (Tukenmarket in Maybachufer Strasse) Berlin is filled with amazing Turkish food and I got to enjoy my fair share of it while I was over there.

Turkish people first settled in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries but the biggest group of migrants came in the 1960s seeking relief from political unrest. Along with the migration came an amazing culture including tasty, tasty, Turkish food.

Locals of native Germany have embraced the Turkish culture especially the food and now there is not only a currywurst stand/shop on every corner there’s also a kebab place!

Turkish food is typically simple but full of flavour. It’s a lot of fresh vegetables, meat and seafood, olive oil, rice, dried fruits, grape leaves, yogurt, spices and a big use of the grill. I myself have never been to Turkey but I have had a lot of Turkish food in both Europe and Australia and none of it compared to Berlin.

I am going to do a blog soon about the amazing kebabs I had while I was in town but today it’s all about Hasir! 

Started in 1984 with a tiny grill restaurant Hasir has now grown into a chain of six restaurants dotted all over Berlin. We went to the original in Kreuzberg.

Hasir
Kreuzberg
Adalbertstraße 10
Tel. 030/6142373

There’s only one word for the food that we tried here…excellent. It’s fresh and fast and full of flavour. You can even watch how fresh your food is by seeing your meat being flamed grilled and brought straight over to you.

The restaurant itself has a nice atmosphere and we sat by the wide windows as it was a nice sunny day which was lovely. As the restaurant has been open for over 30 years they have a lot of pictures and articles clippings on the wall which makes it feel homely.

On to the food.

One of our hosts had the Iskembe Çorbası…bet you are wondering what that is well…its Tripe soup….yuck! I was not game enough to try it and I didn’t take a photo either but the person who got it thoroughly enjoyed it so if it’s your cup of tea then it’s probably a very good quality tasty version.

Now on to the less ewwww food.

The girls got
Humus with Turkish bread
Mashed chickpeas with sesame oil and spice and fresh made Turkish bread

Sigara Böreği
Fried Puff pastry rolls with sheep's cheese

and Enginar Tava
Artichoke bottoms filled with feta cheese and breaded

All very tasty.

I decided to get a Karışık Sıcak Meze which included the above along with
Meyhane Köfte - slightly spicy flavoured small meat balls fried
And the house speciality Müttebbel
Grilled and chopped eggplant with yogurt and garlic

 

Also again very tasty and full of flavour.

My other friend got the Sis Kebap which is a lamb skewer with rice and salad.

I was lucky enough to try and little and it was really good. The lamb was so tender and really nicely spiced.

Everything we tried was really good, great strong flavours that worked really well together.

The only downfall of the place was the service. They clearly know what they are doing food wise but service wise they left a bit to be desired. They are clearly a lot friendlier to there friends and regulars and seemed a little put out by anyone else being there but the food did make up for it. If they can get the service up this place would tick all the boxes.

Go, check it out, hope for the best with the wait staff and enjoy the food!

 

My Berlin Food Journey – Part 1 Snacks and Drinks

In the middle of July I took a trip to Berlin. It was a really fantastic break away and has maybe even claimed the top spot as my favourite European city.

It was everything I expected the city to be and more! There were a lot of highlights including the East side gallery, chilling in Tiergarten, checking out the amazing street art and learning the history of the city on a walking tour. I also got to travel with a good friend and catch up with some friends who have moved over there, which was probably the best the highlight.

Coming a close second though has to be the food. From the traditional German cuisine, to the amazing Turkish food, the oddness of currywurst and of course some sweet treats. A definite journey for the taste buds.

I will be doing a series of post from my time in Berlin, hope you enjoy!

Part 1 Snacks and Drinks

I have to start with currywurst. What can I say about it, it was….a sausage *smiles*. Basically currywurst is a pork sausage that is steamed, fried, sliced, and then served with ketchup and curry powder. It is a favourite fast food option in Berlin and seemed to be everywhere.

 
As you can probably tell I wasn’t really a fan but it wasn’t horrible either.

I was travelling with a friend who was vegetarian and we were completely shocked to actually find a place that did a vegetarian (it was actually even vegan) form of the currywurst. The sausage is made of seitan, wheat protein, water and herbs. It probably doesn’t taste like the original Currywurst but it was really nice to be able to include her in this German tradition and it did of course have the famous Currywurst sauce. You can find it at the Original Berliner Currywurst.

We didn’t quite see it as the culinary treasure the Germans seemed to see it as, but when in Germany…

One thing we did really like was the street food markets and the amazing pastries they did. We had a Poaca for breakfast one morning which is actually a Turkish snack. It’s a pastry served cold with different fillings. We had spinach and feta in ours. It was really tasty.

I will delve more into the massive Turkish influence in food over in Berlin in a future post but boy do they have some good Turkish food.

Another breakfast favourite was the pretzel. Can’t got to Germany and not have pretzels. We saw a lot of the bike carts going around and selling the huge pretzels but to be honest I wasn’t game to get one from there. They didn’t look overly hygienic. We opted for a suggestion from our hosts and headed to The Brezel Company.

 
My friend got a plain one and I got a cheese one and they were soooo good. Really fresh and tasty. The service was quick but also really friendly and although we didn’t sit in, it looked like a nice place with a good laid back atmosphere.

 

We also got a chocolate covered one for later in the day. This wasn’t as good as the original or the cheese but again when in Germany…

 

We all know I am not a big drinker but you can’t go to Germany and not have beers.  When in Germany...
I think the first few beers I had weren’t even German actually *smiles* but they tasted good.

The best one though had to be the Augustiner Pils I had in the Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt restaurant. This one was German for sure. It was a dry, slightly bitter, slightly sour tasting beer and I really enjoyed it, especially with the rich heavy German meal we were eating (to be blogged about at a later date).

One drink I kind of got a little bit addicted to was the Fritz-limo and Fritz-Spritz. Thank goodness we can’t get them in the UK!

Fritz-Kola was started by two friends who wanted to create a new kola brand better than everything offered by the big soft drink companies at the time (2002). They got popular very quickly and the rest is history.

I tried the apple, sparkling grape, apple cherry elderberry and orangeade. Funnily enough I never ended up trying the original Kola.

 
They were really nice and refreshing, still tasting really fruity despite being a soft drink so probably fairly artificial. I really liked them and had a lot more than I should of but when in Germany... *smiles*

Well that is it for this addition of My Berlin Food Journey. Keep your eyes open for the next instalment, coming soon.