"Really good" Indian restaurants in Berlin

[ferrerabertran 2]

Hi guys,

 

I'm in Berlin since barely half a year. In Barcelona I used to go to a really good indian place but here - even though there are PLENTY of indians - I can't seem to find the same "satisfaction" here in Berlin. In that place everything was so authentic, you could ask for spicy food and the food was really spicy, etc.

 

The most close I have found is one around my neighborhood which I posted here in my blog (Yogi Haus): Asian cuisine @ Schöneberg

 

But what do you guys recommend otherwise?

[Guest]

Berlin is unfortunately a bit of a desert as it comes to Indian food. The only halfway decent place I can think of is Haweli on Luitpoldstrasse, but you won't get anything particularly spicy even there. Their chicken starter soup is good, though.

[Rossoneri 2,410]

"Really good" doesn't exist in Berlin, sorry! The best one I have found recently was Ajanta on Grolmannstrasse, but even though my meal was really nice and spicy, about 3 of a party of 15 were unhappy.

 

If you want an "awful Indian where the curry is Dosenfleisch with tomato sauce and curry powder", then I would have multiple recommendations for you...

[ferrerabertran 2]

Thanks for the recommendations - actually "Haweli" is always on my way to German classes and I always think about trying it so I will definitely give it a try...

 

I also remember my girlfriend had a truly spicy dish on an Indian in Friedrischain close to Warschauer str. but my food was not very good, so - yes, it's a bit random.

[Kanadisch 95]

There is a good Indian restaurant in Berlin, it's called Agni and it's in Moabit. See a quick review here.

[kirakay 111]

As someone who travels frequently to Asia, I do like a good Indian restaurant ... and thankfully have found once round the corner and happy to recommend ...

 

Restaurant Zaika

Wichertstraße 57

10439 Berlin

[Keefy 3,577]

A year or two back, when the Berlin Curry Club met, we tried quite a few places and (in my opinion anyway - I know many won't agree as I don't rate the Yogi Haus at all), the Kabir in Carmerstrasse, Charlottenburg was the best.

[Guest]

Buddha Republic is one of the best restaurants, Indian or otherwise, i have visited in Berlin. It is located in Charlottenburg near Savignyplatz.

 

http://www.buddha-republic.com

 

The restaurant serves South Indian cuisine and the specialty is Tandoori. The ingredients are fresh and everything is cooked to order. Customers can expect to wait 45-60 minutes for the main course to arrive. Our Indian neighbor wanted to invite us and insisted that this is the only Indian restaurant in Berlin which serves authentic Indian food.

 

Absolutely fabulous.

[catjones 1,649]

Try using http://www.qype.co.uk/de300-berlin?from_search= or yelp.com

[spaceman3 1]

there isn't one. buy "i love curry" by anjun anand and cook indian food in the house. much better than any of the boiled chicken muck curry you will get in berlin (or maybe anywhere else in europe outside of the uk).

[Keefy 3,577]

I reckon you're right - bought The Curry Secret and The New Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon and my home-made curries have improved enormously.

 

Was in the UK for a few days in January - went to an Indian supermarket in Bristol and bought a wok/kadhai, and a tawa for cooking chappatis and parathas.

 

The more Indian food I make, the easier it becomes and the more confident I get.

[Krieg 14,782]

Indian food here is like Mexican food is for Americans, everyone knows better what the real deal is.

 

Same with how to cook a steak, everyone knows how to cook it properly and everyone else is just clueless.

[vaninberlin 184]

I have checked a few out since moving here, most have been very disappointing when I ask for a spicy vindaloo and get something with a shot of tabasco for heat. Since moving to our present flat a curry shop opened around the corner called "Luck" on Neubahnhof & Boxhagener and they actually know how to make decent curries

[kludgie 3,099]

I've given up receiving or giving recommendations for curry houses in Berlin, one person's perfect meal is another's pigswill.

 

Here's two reviews of Luck on Qype to demonstrate...

 

Five stars...

I ordered delivery from this place a couple times (have never been to the actual restaurant), including today, and I’m totally impressed! Today I ordered the Paneer Jhalfrezi and naan, and – I swear to all things holy – exactly 15 minutes later my doorbell rang and it was the delivery guy with my food. (They had quoted me 45 minutes, which also would have been fine!) The food was great, the paneer jhalfrezi was perfectly spicy (to my taste, of course), and the naan was the best I’ve had in Berlin so far. Some reviews complained about small portions, but I experienced the opposite. Not only was the entree big enough to split into two meals, but they don’t skimp on the naan, either. Really big and soft!

 

One star...

I ordered from here via the internet because I am too lazy to move or cook, and I couldn't eat the food. I had a chicken korma, garlic naan, and onion bhaji. The Onion Bhaji was not what I was expecting, it like cheap onion rings covered in curry powder next to a sorry looking salad. The Naan bread was soggy and didn't taste natural, and I could only eat a bite of the Korma before throwing it away. I haven't been to many Indian restaurants around here, I'm from England and we have a lot so maybe I'm fussy, but I have also been to India. This is not what Indian food tastes like. It reminded me more of the plane food I received on the way back from India that left me throwing up for a day.

 

As some of you say above, cook your own - never been disappointed yet!

[vaninberlin 184]

I did not say they were perfect, just decent, i still can't get over how much shredded cabbage every place uses... :P

[dessa_dangerous 13,306]

 

Try using http://www.qype.co.uk/de300-berlin?from_search= or yelp.com

 

an unfortunate phenomenon in Berlin seems to be that a lot of Indian restaurants write piles and piles of their own reviews. Amar in Falckensteinstraße is one (of many) such places. Any real review is one star, all the fake ones are five stars. Even with their best efforts, though, they still only manage to average two or three stars.

 

Another problem with "ethnic" food reviews in Berlin is that Germans just don't have any idea what proper Ethiopian or Thai food is supposed to taste like. Pair that with the seemingly nationally shared hatred of anything spicy and you've got a mass of satisfied customers taking to their computers to heartily recommend what a lot of us would consider hardly worth the money. When you need opinions on cake, coffee, a bar, a club, or a German restaurant, you'd do well to ask the resident Germans. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the two most commonly posted-on foodie threads in the Berlin forum are called "Pleeeeeze help me!! Seeking good Mexican/Indian food!"

[Guest]

 

seemingly nationally shared hatred of anything spicy

But then there're some great Korean and Chinese eateries / restaurants in Berlin wo scharf wirklich scharf ist. Silla on Bundesallee and Tian Fu on Uhlandstrasse spring to mind...

[dessa_dangerous 13,306]

mmm. And where are you from again?

 

 

 

 

 

 

but regardless--there is an amount of "authentic" foreign cuisine in Berlin. My point was that you need to ask for it, and preferably, don't ask a German. My husband (German) and I were at Bejte the other night. There were plenty of people enjoying the food (and a lot of English being spoken) and just as many people who literally could not get through their food even a tiny bite at a time. Bejte is a fantastic restaurant and gets written up a lot because it's just that great, but some of those adventurous souls who just want to comfortably embark on a culture safari don't realize what they're getting themselves into. That's not to say allllllllllllll Germans hate spice or spiceS, but it was funny to see grownups flapping their hands at their mouths after taking a bite of something that maybe had a chili seed in it or something. I don't know where my husband gets his steel taste buds, but it's certainly not from his momma's cooking. Lovely food but the lady sneezes at the thought of black pepper.

 

 

 

She is from Bautzen

 

 

 

[yenable 6]

Dear all, I am from India and since last 4 months i am here in Berlin.

I love really spicy food, I have tried almost 12 Indian restaurants here in Berlin, none of them satisfied or even can be called as Indian restaurants.

But I found Agni is better of all, If you request the cook to make it spicy defiantly you will satisfy with the taste.

More over I have noticed that he even uses different base(curry base) for different recipes.

I recommend everyone to try Restaurant Agni.

 

for more info: http://www.restaurant-agni.de/

[camilleelise 202]

A little off topic, but I've just got to evangelize a bit. Anyone craving a nice spicy non-Indian curry should go have the chicken curry and roti at Merle's Trinidad restaurant near Mehringdamm right_now. Absolutely gorgeously spiced, I didn't even ask for it to be spicy, so my friend and I were surprised when what was served had what would be a completely inedible amount of spice for the majority of Germans (but was perfect for us and what we get so frustrated trying to find around here)!! Her beef stew was not as spicy, but they also brought a mango chutney type thing (very different from the Indian kinds I've had) and a chili sauce that was super hot and delicious to kick up the heat factor even more. We talked to Merle about how great it was and how hard it is to find spicy food because Germans don't like it--she said something along the lines of 'we're not cooking for the German tastebuds', which was both refreshing and sad--refreshing for the obvious reason, sad because you can see what happens to a restaurant when they don't water down their food for the German palate--the place was completely empty, and I've heard from others who have been there that it was almost empty every time they've been as well. So go support this great restaurant before they buckle under the pressure and make the food boring like almost everywhere else!