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Eating for all tastes and all budgets around the Gendarmenmarkt
Barbara Goerlich-2009-10-19
This year sees the 20th anniversary celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the intervening period has seen huge advances in the development of the capital’s gastronomy scene.
Michelin starred cuisine can now be found in a number of hotels, with the most notable example being Chef Christian Lohse who heads up the two starred Fischers Fritz restaurant at the Berlin Regent Hotel.
The Regent is located at the Gendarmenmarkt, the gastronomic heart of the new Berlin-Mitte area that includes Stadtteile Tiergarten, Wedding and a number of Berlin’s main attractions such as the Brandenburg Gate, Straße Unter den Linden (under the linden trees) boulevard, Humboldt University, Museum Island [Museumsinsel], Television Tower [Fernsehturm] and numerous federal government agency buildings.
The restaurant scene around Berlin’s most beautiful square is thriving. With a wealth of options to choose from, the restaurants in and around the Gendarmenmarkt enjoy almost cult-like status. But don’t be deterred as eating here doesn’t have to be expensive.
It’s in the historic old streets of the Nikolaiviertels (St Nicholas Quarter) district that Berlin is really alive with rustic restaurants and taverns offering traditional Berlin cuisine and, very often, home-brewed beer: Recommended addresses include the Mutter Hoppe (Mother Hope) Inn, Letzte Instanz (Last Resort) and Berliner Republik on SchifFbauerdamm where the kitchen stays open until 6am serving currywurst with Kohlrouladen (cabbage rolls), eisbein (pickled ham hock), wiener schnitzels, bratwurst and - unique to Berlin – a choice of 18 varieties of beer on tap.
The Hackesche Höfe (courtyards) is Germany’s largest enclosed courtyard complex Germany, listed as a preservation site of historic interest since 1972. With countless restaurants, bars, clubs and fashion boutiques, it’s the ideal starting point to sample Berlin nightlife.
Head for the first courtyard for the famous Oxymoron, a business lunch café and restaurant by day and an elegant dining room with a 20s style ambience and a hint of Art Deco by night. Those after a bit of culture can choose from street artists, courtyard theatre, cinema and the various artist studios dotted around the courtyard complex.
It’s during the summer months when things really come to life as the area around Oranienburgerstraße and Oranienburger Platz turns into one long open-air street party. The charming, rustic Brauhaus Lemke microbrewery and restaurant is situated under a viaduct arch of the S-Bahn on Dircksenstraße close by to the Hackescher market. Expect typical German dishes such as meatballs, steaks and pork knuckle and a fantastic range of brewed beers that add to the appeal of this beautiful restaurant.
The Potsdamer Platz, once Europe's largest construction site, is now a favourite tourist destination with shopping, restaurants, a casino and a musical theatre to attract visitors. 40 seconds is one of the best Roof clubs in Berlin, the name a reference to the 40 seconds it takes for the lift to reach the top where the doors open to a magnificent, 360 degree, panoramic view of night time Berlin. Cocktails, snacks and great music. Look out for the Sky Nights when admission is free.
Huge black and white photographs from the portfolio of celebrity photographer Helmut Newton adorn the walls of the Newton Bar. A pleasant cafe-bar by day transforms into a favourite haunt of a trendy, urban crowd by night. Owner Joseph Laggner also operates the neighbouring, and very successful, Lutter & Wegner restaurant which, itself, has two spin-offs in the Kaisersaal [Imperial Hall] and the Weinhaus Huth at Potsdamer Platz. All offer excellent wines and Austrian-inspired delicacies.
Lovers of home-made cakes and pies should head straight to Café Möhring, ideal for a coffee, slice of cake and relaxing seat in the sunshine after a hard day’s sightseeing. Diagonally opposite and located in an idyllic courtyard on Jägerstraße is Guy. Spread across four floors, owner Hartmut Guy offers visitors the choice of a café, bar and wine room. Famous for its lavishly stocked seafood etagère and an extensive wine list featuring over a hundred options to cover all tastes, Guy is currently offering a specially created menu to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the opening of its dining rooms.
Huge black and white photographs from the portfolio of celebrity photographer Helmut Newton adorn the walls of the Newton Bar. A pleasant cafe-bar by day transforms into a favourite haunt of a trendy, urban crowd by night. Owner Joseph Laggner also operates the neighbouring, and very successful, Lutter & Wegner restaurant which, itself, has two spin-offs in the Kaisersaal [Imperial Hall] and the Weinhaus Huth at Potsdamer Platz. All offer excellent wines and Austrian-inspired delicacies.
Lovers of home-made cakes and pies should head straight to Café Möhring, ideal for a coffee, slice of cake and relaxing seat in the sunshine after a hard day’s sightseeing. Diagonally opposite and located in an idyllic courtyard on Jägerstraße is Guy. Spread across four floors, owner Hartmut Guy offers visitors the choice of a café, bar and wine room. Famous for its lavishly stocked seafood etagère and an extensive wine list featuring over a hundred options to cover all tastes, Guy is currently offering a specially created menu to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the opening of its dining rooms.
Bocca di Bacco is acclaimed as the most elegant restaurant in the area. Chef Alessandro Mannozzi has cooked for world leaders and movie stars and regularly feeds ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder with his favourite hot chilli penne arrabiata.
Vau is currently the only Michelin-starred restaurant on the Gendarmenmarkt. Chef Kolja Kleeberg is a well-known figure on German television and is now the owner of this architecturally impressive restaurant. Master architect Meinhard von Gerkan is the man behind the Vau look that combines glass, steel, slate, pear wood and Thonet chairs.
San Nicci is among the capital’s most popular meeting places and can be found in the Admiralspalast, a theatre located on Mitte’s Friedrichstrasse. The Italian restaurant is part of the growing gastro-empire of Borchardt chef Roland Mary. With a restaurant, bar and cafe and seating between tall columns and under high ceilings, this place offers something for everyone. Borchardt itself is a brasserie in which to see and be seen is just as important as the food. No other place in the German capital commands a higher celebrity draw, with actors, politicians and business leaders.
The tables at Grill Royal on Friedrichstrasse are also highly sought after. The steakhouse on the River Spree is both stylish and hip. The Grills - sirloin steaks, beef tenderloin, roast beef and Wagyu steak - are renowned as being among the best in town, but equally impressive is the grilled seafood and vegetables. The clientele is largely comprised of creative media types. This is the hub of the entertainment scene and it’s here, not far from Royal Grill, San Nicci and Cookies, that you’ll find the Tausend Club and bar, a favourite with film makers, models, DJs and media folk.
For anyone looking to scale some heights, the 368 metre-high Fernsehturm [television tower] at Alexanderplatz (Alexander square) is a must. Two hundred metres up is the tower’s enormous 32 metre radius sphere complete with observation deck and restaurant offering panoramic views. The Panorama cafe and restaurant turns full circle on its axis every 30 minutes. A sightseeing tour is included and offerings include Caesar salad and ragout. Mouth watering cocktails are shaken and stirred in what’s been described as the "greatest bar in Berlin" and Happy Hours take place between 12 midday and 2pm and 5pm and 7pm.
Nobody should go hungry or thirsty in Berlin-Mitte - there really is something for everyone. Enjoy your meal.
Vau is currently the only Michelin-starred restaurant on the Gendarmenmarkt. Chef Kolja Kleeberg is a well-known figure on German television and is now the owner of this architecturally impressive restaurant. Master architect Meinhard von Gerkan is the man behind the Vau look that combines glass, steel, slate, pear wood and Thonet chairs.
San Nicci is among the capital’s most popular meeting places and can be found in the Admiralspalast, a theatre located on Mitte’s Friedrichstrasse. The Italian restaurant is part of the growing gastro-empire of Borchardt chef Roland Mary. With a restaurant, bar and cafe and seating between tall columns and under high ceilings, this place offers something for everyone. Borchardt itself is a brasserie in which to see and be seen is just as important as the food. No other place in the German capital commands a higher celebrity draw, with actors, politicians and business leaders.
The tables at Grill Royal on Friedrichstrasse are also highly sought after. The steakhouse on the River Spree is both stylish and hip. The Grills - sirloin steaks, beef tenderloin, roast beef and Wagyu steak - are renowned as being among the best in town, but equally impressive is the grilled seafood and vegetables. The clientele is largely comprised of creative media types. This is the hub of the entertainment scene and it’s here, not far from Royal Grill, San Nicci and Cookies, that you’ll find the Tausend Club and bar, a favourite with film makers, models, DJs and media folk.
For anyone looking to scale some heights, the 368 metre-high Fernsehturm [television tower] at Alexanderplatz (Alexander square) is a must. Two hundred metres up is the tower’s enormous 32 metre radius sphere complete with observation deck and restaurant offering panoramic views. The Panorama cafe and restaurant turns full circle on its axis every 30 minutes. A sightseeing tour is included and offerings include Caesar salad and ragout. Mouth watering cocktails are shaken and stirred in what’s been described as the "greatest bar in Berlin" and Happy Hours take place between 12 midday and 2pm and 5pm and 7pm.
Nobody should go hungry or thirsty in Berlin-Mitte - there really is something for everyone. Enjoy your meal.
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