Your Tips for a Passionate Eater in Berlin (FOOD)

As someone who lives to eat, I couldn't be happier having moved to Berlin from Washington, DC a few months ago. Irrationally strong peanut butter and cheddar cheese cravings aside, it's great being somewhere with high-quality, diverse, interesting food.

So, I'd like to pick your brains: what's especially great here in Berlin? I know, I know: the bread, the cheese, the beer, the wine!

But which items specifically? Frankly, I'm averaging 1.5 hrs. per grocery trip, and restaurants have been hit-or-miss. Exploring is fun but often a bust (as with the disappointing bottle of Spaetburgunder-Schwarzriesling blend I bought yesterday and the crappy yellow curry I had tonight).

My idea is to use this thread a repository for (y)our collective food knowledge. Which variety of cheese is to die for? Have you discovered an excellent apple? Which restaurant serves a delicious pad thai or doro wat? What's Berlin's best mayo? Have you bought a case of your perfect house wine?

To get things started: I think the rosy Elstar apple is crunchy, tart perfection. And it sure beats a Red Delicious.

So you are doing market research for a project and need the help of unpaid workers. Where do you people come up with such ideas?

they have really good spätzle at a cafe/restaurant in moabit(by brikenstr u-bahn) called arema. spätzle is a kind of cross between dumplings and noodles

Hal, come on! Conspiracy theorist, much? LOL.

Megan, thanks for the tip. I love spaetzle.

I have another one: the Turkish yogurt sold in a big red bucket at Aldi (or was it Lidl?) rocks. It's mild and rich. Yum.

Did some googling...it's "Yayla" Turkish yogurt, sold in 1 Kilo containers at Lidl. Great deal.

there is a really great but rather expensive chinese gourmet restauarantt at at the end of simon-dach str. called lan´mian. i think you have to order a set meal(changes every week), which is like 36 euros, 3 courses, all diferent dishes. i had the second best meal of my life here.

Where was the first best?

you can get both of those things here. any bio shop will have real peanut butter and edeka/real has cheddar.

Yeah, I know. I just meant those aren't things I usually crave...being in Europe does weird things to my notions of comfort food.

Out of curiosity, is eating really your main aim in life or was that just a typo in your first post?

Kaisers sells 'English' cheddar, admittedly not as good as something you would get from a farm shop in the west country of England, but better than crappy Gouda by a long way.

i like this post! its fun!

well, i would say the best food you can get in berlin is street food or turkish food. the 'mustafas gemuse hännchen döner' is probably the best kept sandwich secret in kreuzberg...meringdam...highly recommended. its so amazing. while u are in the area, go to curry36, right next door. also the 'hasir' in kreuzberg , off of oranienstr. is regarded as good döner. and you will find excellent products at the turkish markets in kreuzkölln every tues and friday, by the canals...fresh produce so ripe, and lots of interesting breads and olives, dips, cheeses, ect. its also fun because of the atmosphere. and if you are in prenzlauer berg...i recommend going to kastanienallee...u can find some great falafel there. but i forget the name of it. i would stay out of mitte for good food...all tourist traps generally speaking.

also the german yogurts are out of this world...the sobeke brand is really excellent...most supermarkets have it, def. the bio stores and kaisers. for milk i recommend the kind in the poury bag...its the freshest and for 1 euro u can get it at kaisers or bio company. and also any of the 'honeys of the region'...in the supermarket u can find these honeys from brandenburg/berlin and they are really great, and totally special flavor. and u can get great bread just about anywhere because its germany! :-)

ive lived here for over a year, and yet to find a really good coffee shop in berlin, or sushi, so...to continue this thread, any suggestions?

:-)

and for house wine i recommend going to the Bacco on bergmannstr, just in front of the Markthalle. just ask for their red bio wine- its the PERFECT house wine...and so affordable!

Babel on Kastanienallee for falafel.

sassaya for sushi is decent, i'm not a sushi expert though