Eating in Berlin - from sausage to gourmet
Berlin cuisine is not considered a refined one comparing to the Parisian kitchen, for example. Like most Germans, residents of Berlin eat at home potato salad, sauerkraut and sausages. The restaurants in Berlin tell "another story". Berlin has a huge variety of restaurants of all kinds and all nationalities: Berliner sausage patties stalls, Turkish Dürüm Döner and falafel, Asian fast food, Italian pasta, German food, and gourmet restaurants.
Many fast food stalls are Turkish, thanks to an increased presence of immigrants from Turkey in the city.
Two original Berlin foods are quite popular: meatballs called Bulette and grilled sausages called Curry Wurst.
Another popular dish is Eisbein, (literal translation: ice-foot). It's a strange looking dish, but delicious. Actually, it's a part of a pork finger, coated and spiced.
Try the local drinks Berliner Weisse mit gruenem Schuss. It's green beer mixed with syrup - a refreshing beverage on a hot day.
Cheap food places: Imbiss & Gaststaette
Berliners have some unique phrases concerning food: Schrippe is a small round bun; Stulle is a sandwich; Broiler is grilled chicken.
Berlin food fits every pocket, depending on the level of the restaurant. You can buy a meal even for 2 Euros and get out satisfied.
Generally speaking, prices get cheaper as you move away from the city center. National origin is an important factor too. German restaurants are more expensive than Italian and Balkan menu restaurants. "Junk food" is in abundance. A fast food stall is called Imbiss, in German. It's the right place for "hungry beggars".
By quality rating, The Gaststaette is higher placed than the Imbiss. Gaststaette is a combination of restaurant and pub, and serves traditional German menu, though the simple kind. Berlin has about 3,000 such restaurants, almost every street corner.
Tips and customs
When entering a restaurant in Berlin (and in most places in Germany), no waiter awaits you and leads you to the table. In Germany, diners like to choose where they want to sit. Therefore, it would be a mistake to stand at the door waiting and think of you being ignored.
It's common in Germany to sit at one table with stranger diners. When the restaurant is full and there is a vacant place at your table, do not be surprised to watch someone you do not know sitting in front of you.
If you are a group of diners, the waiter would not mind if everyone will pay separately for lunch. The waiter or waitress will even ask you if you want to pay getrennt, i.e. separately, or zusammen, which means together.
Some things should be kept in mind. First, pay the waiter a tip, up to 10%. Do not be surprised if you find the waiter or waitress sitting on the chair next to you to summarize the bill. Tips are rounded up the nearest euro.
Dining areas
There is a geographic distribution of gastronomic places. District Kreuzberg - Berlin's demographic melting pot - is one of the largest concentrations of cheap popular restaurants in town. Great food is served there - usually, national food, and not expensive. You can get there dishes out of Germany and Europe, mainly Italian, Balkan, Bavarian and Austrian.
Charlottenburg district, especially the Ku-Dam area, has famous restaurants, popular and always full guests. The food there is a little more expensive than that of Kreuzberg, but still within reason.
Quarter Mitte has some of the most prestigious restaurants, but also some nice places that offer a more common menu.
District Friedrichshain is known as the capital of student pubs, called Biergarten, especially in the public park Volkspark Friedrichshain. The district also has many good and non-expensive restaurants.
District Prenzlauer-Berg) is another cultural center of Berlin. Here you can find any kind of food - from Turkish kebabs to a delicious five dishes meal. Night life here is vibrant, and a hot meal can be found even early in the morning.
Last but not least is Schoeneberg district, which is close enough to both centers of Berlin but still quiet. There are many nice cafes and restaurants there.
