Good Restaurants in Berlin

There are so many restaurants in Berlin, and it's quite impossible to visit them all. Food, and specifically good food, is however one of my passions, so I do try the impossible.

There are various sites with restaurants reviews, for example those in my list of other relevant websites. What you'll find below, are my personal recommendations based on my personal experience. Having said that, I have to note that I eat kosher style, so I didn't try any pork etc. at the following places (which all offer also non-pork or veggie alternatives).

In order to help you stay focused, I tried to limit myself in each category to those 3-5 places that I frequent with my own friends and family. In each category, I marked one restaurant with a heart (♥) as my personal favorite, even though it was sometimes a hard choice to make. Not all websites have an English version, so if you're puzzled and can't figure out the address etc., I'd be happy to help.

Please also note that none of the these restaurants is certified as kosher, although the vegetarian and specifically vegan places listed below might serve as a reasonable substitute (for kosher restaurants, please have a look at the page Eating Kosher in Berlin).

If you're interested in Berlin's very expensive Gourmet restaurants (which, in my humble opinion, aren't always worth it), please scroll down to the last category in the list. There's also a separate page with a complete list of all Michelin starred restaurants in Berlin.

For your convenience, I added (at the bottom of this page) a Google map marking my recommendations, so you can easily locate each restaurant and see what's around your hotel.

And last but not least, here's an interesting article about tipping in restaurants.


Local / German style


Beer gardens / chilling (irrelevant in wintertime, naturally)


Austrian

  • Gasthaus Alt Wien: "Old Vienna" is in the posh borough of Prenzlauer Berg and seems to have the quality to stick around for many years
    http://www.altwien-berlin.de/

  • Ottenthal: An honorable establishment in Berlin's bourgeois quarter. If the TV series "Mad Men" had taken place in Berlin, this would definitely be one of their dinner locations
    http://www.ottenthal.com/en/

  • ♥ Austria: The largest Viennese Schnitzel in Kreuzberg, I recommend sharing one for two... Please note that there's another place, called "Felix Austria", which you might see on your way looking for the original "Austria" - this recommendation refers to the original that's simply called "Austria"
    http://www.austria-berlin.de/

  • Café Einstein (the original villa!): the most Viennese café in Berlin, recommendable for its world-known Apfelstrudel
    http://www.cafeeinstein.com/

Fish / Seafood


Italian

  • Bocca di Bacco: probably the best (and most expensive) Italian in Berlin
    http://www.boccadibacco.de/

  • The 12 Apostels: a classical choice with 2 great locations
    http://www.12-apostel.de/en/

  • ♥ Mondo Pazzo: very popular with locals
    http://www.mondopazzo.de/

  • Il Pane e le Rose: in Berlin's trendy Friedrichshain quarter of the young & beautiful
    No website; address: Am Friedrichshain 6, 10407 Berlin. Tel.: 030-4231916

  • I Due Forni: Probably the most Mediterranean atmosphere that a Berlin pizzeria can offer
    No website; address: Schönhauser Allee 12, 10119 Berlin. Tel.: 030-44017333


Otherwise European

  • Pasternak: Russian delicacies in one of Prenzlauer Berg's most beautiful streets (it's really close to the Rykestraße Synagogue and, although not kosher, offers sometimes Russian-Jewish specialties)
    http://restaurant-pasternak.de/

  • ♥ Gugelhof: Let me put it this way - when I was studying in Heidelberg, my German professor for philosophy asked the class, where the best German cuisine is. Everybody said something, but at the end he corrected us all and answered: The best German food is in Alsace (which is, nowadays, actually a part of France, although many Germans still consider that as an unofficial part of Germany). So, to put it short, Gugelhof serves Alsacian food at its best.
    http://www.gugelhof.de/pages/pages_e/index_e.html

  • Breslau: Polish "Pierogi" and much more from Eastern Europe's most fascinating land (in my eyes)
    http://www.restaurantbreslau.eu/

Asian


Vegetarian / Vegan (i.e. practically kosher!)


Fine meat / grill

Sweets
  • Fassbender & Rausch: Berlin's oldest chocolate house, est. 1863, and as they maintain, the world's largest. There's a shop, and on the second floor a very nice café with all kinds of chocolate creations...
    http://www.fassbender-rausch.de/

  • Sawade: Just a bit younger than Fassbender & Rausch, but some say better, Sawade is a local establishment for handcrafted chocolate art works. One of their locations is in the famous Hackesche courtyards, which is right within the so-called Jewish quarter
    http://www.sawade.berlin/

  • Martin's Place: Joseph Martin is an Israeli chef that makes the most delicious cakes in Berlin's multicultural and multi-ethnic borough of Neukölln
    http://www.facebook.com/martinsplaceberlin

  • ♥ Der Kuchenladen: The "Cake Shop" is, well, exactly what it should be. Great cakes that go well with an afternoon tea in West-Berlin's very bourgeois borough of Charlottenburg.
    http://www.der-kuchenladen.com/

  • Ritter Sport's World of Chocolate: Except for the huge variety of products, they offer children the opportunity to make some chocolate themselves. Adults can make up their own recipe and let the professionals prepare it. Why leave Berlin with a normal souvenir when you can bring your very own kind of chocolate as a great gift for your loved ones back home?
    http://www.ritter-sport.us/#/en_US/berlin/


Israeli (not including certified-kosher places)

Gourmet


Stylish & Trendy / Hipster (primarily because I didn't think of a better title yet)


Good Restaurants in Berlin


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