The 38 Best Restaurants in Rome, Italy The 18 Best Louisville Restaurants The 38 Best Restaurants in Mexico City Crispy vada pav at a bustling central food hall kofte cooked on in-table grills at a modern Turkish spot a Japanese-inflected tasting menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant Despite its formidable art and music scenes the German capital has never really been seen as a serious food city It isn’t loaded with glamorous destination restaurants with international name recognition flashier European cities — but that comparison is exactly the problem Berlin isn’t trying to be Paris or Barcelona Berlin’s best spots tend to be low-key neighborhood haunts and candlelit bars that feel like living rooms You can dine well at the fine-yet-fun Otto on a meal prepared by Berlin native and Noma alum Vadim Otto Ursus and follow it up with an equally compelling meal at lovingly graffitied kebab shop Rüyam Berlin’s location at the crossroads of Eastern and Western Europe has made it a hub for transplants And while the city doesn’t have as many specialty dishes to its name as some other capitals it leans into prized signatures like currywurst (fried sausage doused with curry-powder ketchup and served with fries) and döner kebab (by way of Turkey) Note: Some Berlin restaurants only accept cash and service at many places can be almost aggressively inattentive Chasing down servers to take your order or pay is a regular part of dining out in Berlin — embrace it Tim Forster is a freelance writer and editor based in Berlin, covering food, culture, and technology. He is the food editor at the Berliner and former editor of Eater Montreal it’s not hard to find lahmacun around town in the Gesundbrunnen area just east of Wedding a whole team stretches out circles of dough so you can grab a few and save some for a snack later served in fresh bread with supremely tangy garlic sauce so be prepared to lurk out front waiting for your order A post shared by Örnek Lahmacun Evi/Grillhaus (@ornek_lahmacun) Visitors in the market for currywurst often gravitate to the big names like Curry 36 or Konnopke’s Imbiss — both of which are fine little more than a window tacked on the side of the Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn station Baude offers a quality-to-price ratio that’s off the charts a sausage that attains crispy-yet-juicy equilibrium and a ketchup-to-curry ratio that’s near perfect A post shared by Curry Baude (@currybaude.berlin) To call this side-street dining room a pizzeria wouldn’t be quite accurate although its springy sourdough pies with toppings like mushroom cream or ’nduja are worth a visit It’s hard to pin down the rest of chef-owner Jared Bassoff’s menu; “modern European” would be technically correct but it undersells comforting-creative bistro dishes like tender pieces of pork shoulder dotted with local vegetables or a sundae with milcheis (German-style ice cream) that fuses the chef’s American background with Germany it usurped the title of “Berlin’s hottest line” from (in)famous nightclub Berghain The restaurant now has three locations (two in Prenzlauer Berg but the spicy bowls of hand-pulled Shaanxi-style biang biang noodles are better than ever The brief menu centers around the silky wheat flour noodles with the perfect amount of spring to each bite This casual day-and-night Bosnian counter in Wedding dishes up the best börek in the city servers hack off a hefty quarter from one of the large circular specimens behind the counter The flaky dough delivers just the right combo of grease and crunch the small menu also features some succulent (and similarly cheap) cevapcici A post shared by Jane Silver (@janesilvereats) Courtesy of his experience with Danish superstar René Redzepi at Noma, chef and Berliner Vadim Otto Ursus applies his formidable expertise on fermentation with aplomb. The result is out-of-the-box, bright, and imaginative takes on German cuisine, served up in a stylish, brutalist space. The restaurant is small, so book ahead. If you can’t nab a table, consider heading to Trio over in Mitte where Ursus offers pitch-perfect takes on German pub fare The freshest news from the food world every day there’s no way around a trip to northern Mitte (right by the Berlin Wall memorial) for superb specimens of French baking courtesy of pastry pros Anna Plagens and Stephan Zuber Du Bonheur’s pastries are exquisite in terms of texture and flavor Berlin is home to diaspora communities from pretty much every South American country but it’s only in recent years that the city’s minuscule Latin American food scene has started expanding as budding restaurateurs set up small shops to offer ceviche and — in the case of this counter service spot in Prenzlauer Berg — Argentine empanadas The restaurant’s name nods to the classic beefy Creole option but the menu covers a range of Argentine specialties like spicy chicken and Italian-influenced ricotta-spinach The Pfefferberg Markthalle is a hub for top-notch casual dining in Berlin and while you can’t go wrong with any of its restaurants Americans may find the name to be a slight misnomer as the go-to menu item is a superb buttermilk-brined chicken sandwich loaded with Indian spices; for vegans tamarindy take on a vada pav (fried potato sandwich) is also a formidable choice you have your choice of fries or sweet and spicy samosa chaat Lokal was among the first places in the city to embrace nose-to-tail cooking and heavy use of regional ingredients A refreshingly simple restaurant with an unpretentious-yet-classy terroir-focused German cooking after more than a decade on the scene Zur letzten Instanz may be the city’s oldest restaurant The historic two-story building and garden has housed restaurants and bars since 1621 (although it didn’t pick up its current name until 1924) and it’s been in the same family since its postwar reopening in the ’60s The central location means the restaurant skews a little touristy (and it’s played host to notable visitors like Charlie Chaplin and Jacques Chirac) but the classic Berlin dishes here are the real deal but other dishes like cabbage-wrapped pork belly shine too but as you walk up to the entrance — in an alleyway delivery dock — it’s clear the restaurant isn’t your typical exemplar of fine dining selected by a tire company Owner Heinz “Cookie” Gindullis’s background in the Berlin club scene is evident in the vibe with hot red banquettes and industrial-chic exposed concrete (not to mention a large painting of a German expletive) The anything-goes approach extends to chef Nicholas Hahn’s outré lineup (a small a la carte selection and a tasting menu) which includes items like potato ceviche or a dish of red peppers infused into items like chips and ice cream The mostly natural wines are paired with superb care but it’s worth choosing the option to mix a wine pairing with the restaurant’s non-alcoholic drinks to get a taste of some of the team’s creative This legendary deli dates back to the 1920s when it started out as a specialty smokehouse with a focus on fish Rogacki has spread its wings to sell some of the finest meats You’d be remiss not to try the smoked freshwater trout and eel which are both pulled from the waters surrounding the city and jump on a train to the lakes around Grünewald for a picnic lunch A true gem among the somewhat dreary chain restaurants that dominate this office-heavy part of town Liu is Berlin’s go-to for sharp bowls of Sichuan-style noodles in a range of varieties Head over at lunch for the hand-made tianshui noodles and Sichuan peppercorns make all options a good bet The spicy chilled noodle dishes in summer are a refreshing mix of hot and cold A post shared by LIU 成都味道 (@liuchengduweidao) Germany’s bread culture may have its own UNESCO listing but the good stuff isn’t always easy to find among Berlin’s endless discount supermarkets and train station bakery chains and other glutenous marvels from this wooden shack at Holzmarkt A post shared by DIEBACKPFEIFE (@die_backpfeife) Don’t be fooled by Larb Koi’s humble description of its offerings as home-cooked fare; at this gem tucked in a touristy stretch of Friedrichshain chef Monay Sakarin dishes up some of Berlin’s finest Thai food With the exception of a superbly tangy papaya salad the small menu skips standard dishes that you can get elsewhere and leans into specialties from various regions deep-fried sea bass or a phenomenal (if elusive) octopus curry Larb Koi isn’t scared to play with some serious spice A post shared by Larbkoi (ลาภ-ก้อย) (@larbkoi2020) bar-hoppy Boxhagener Platz may serve Berlin’s best hummus and the version with toasted nuts is a particular highlight The rest of the menu focuses on specialties from the city of Aleppo such as pomegranate salad or kibbeh with tender meat and crispy bulgur Many Vietnamese restaurants tend to cater to blander German tastes That’s not the case at this multipurpose Charlottenburg restaurant A rich bowl of pho with fixings like meatballs or tenderloin Check as well (and definitely worth your time) The minimalist brasserie vibe will make you want to stick around for another beer after your meal A post shared by Madame Ngo (@madame_ngo_une_brasserie_hanoi) The counter bar that wraps around chef Micha Schäfer’s kitchen is a stunner and an effective stage for his tasting menu The chef forgoes unsustainable imports to focus on ingredients from the Berlin-Brandenburg region The menus take a New Nordic approach to German items from asparagus to kohlrabi — only in season Though meat is fading out of focus at Nobelhart & Schmutzig It’s all deftly paired with contemporary wines by owner and host Billy Wagner who is widely regarded as one of the best sommeliers in the city Berlin’s robust French community means that most neighborhoods have a reputable brasserie dishing up steak frites and duck confit considering chef-owner Régis Lamazère was raised by a father who cooked at a two-Michelin-starred restaurant on the Champs-Élysées mixing brasserie staples like tartares with more novel dishes often with plenty of meat and earthy flavors from mushrooms and herbs There’s ample (and surprisingly affordable) fine French wine and a superb rice pudding for dessert Berlin’s small Georgian food scene punches above its weight While you can count on pretty much any place focusing on the cuisine Charlottenburg’s Salhino might have the edge offering saucy stews loaded with fresh herbs and barbecue skewers with adzhika (red pepper sauce) like khachapuri and fat khinkali filled with meat or cheese Don’t skip a tapluri (honey cake) or buffalo milk yogurt laden with nuts and honey for dessert Sisters Xenia and Sophie von Oswald let influences from their Iranian background and childhood in Australia shine through at this Tiergarten breakfast-brunch-and-lunch spot Like a chilled-out Aussie cafe with a substantial food menu the place serves hearty sourdough sandwiches that are among Berlin’s best whether you go for a filling of ham and cheese or tahini-roasted carrots The Persian stews with crisp saffron rice are a soul-warming delight on a cool Berlin day Switch things up and seek out the Sudanese version (sometimes called tamiya) which is usually served in Berlin with a rich The version at Omdur is made with perfectly fried falafel and tender magali (fried vegetables) Service is friendly and the charming yellow dining room is lined with photos of happy customers making the restaurant ideal for a low-stress lunch or late-night snack A post shared by Omdur Sudanese Streetfood (@omdur.sudanese.streetfood) Adana is the most iconic Turkish grill at the heart of what’s historically been Germany’s largest Turkish neighborhood Grab a seat so you can watch the chefs grill spectacular lamb chops and minced adana (lamb) skewers over sizzling hot charcoals on an open fire The trick to digesting all that meat is to order cold mezze to start followed by plenty of raki with ice and water There’s also a second location right around the corner on Skalitzer Strasse While a lot of Berlin’s seemingly infinite döner spots offer serviceable kofte Konak Izmir is a specialist worth seeking out as many customers do to devour sandwiches from lunch until 3 a.m The kofte sandwich is a sublime creation of spiced grilled sausages layered with fresh herbs a hybrid between Turkish flatbread and a baguette is a bit thicker here than at comparable places This Kreuzberg restaurant started out in 2015 as part of a project to integrate West African refugees into the city and spicy; think domoda (saucy peanut stew with chicken or sweet potato) Don’t skip the drinks; options like tamarind or baobab lemonade are exquisitely refreshing on a sweaty summer day look no further than this bright counter in Kreuzberg Owner Shabnam Syed draws on her mother’s recipes to put forward a small menu of dishes that offer a nuanced mix of flavors and spices Rotating weekly specials allow Syed to put forward dishes that you’d otherwise never see in Germany Don’t forget to add a lassi to round out your meal and grab a jar of house-made chutney to take home Bring a crew to this unassuming Chinese restaurant in Schöneberg where you could pick a meal off the extensive menu blindfolded and walk away impressed Soulful northeastern (Dongbei) cuisine is the name of the game A few Sichuan touches like cucumber salad also slide into the menu (and are equally delicious) Every Friday to Sunday from April to October (weather permitting) Thai vendors congregate under colorful umbrellas in a Wilmersdorf park to sell a sublime selection of homemade noodle soups This massive picnic of dishes from throughout Thailand — especially the region of Isan — draws crowds from all over Berlin new rules are set to push Thaipark out of Preußenpark after three decades but it’ll continue as a street market on Württembergische Strasse right alongside the park Hovering ambiguously between the realms of British pub Bart checks a lot of boxes: It’s affordable enough to frequent The mostly small plates include a fancy Scotch egg Go on a Sunday evening for the sublimely English roast dinner A post shared by St. Bart (@st.bart.pub) A standout among Berlin’s newer Turkish dining options Fes shakes things up by offering Korean-style in-table grills and excellently seasoned kofte But don’t get too entranced by the barbecue: The mezze platters are stars in their own right While German restaurants can often fry up a solid schnitzel anyone with passing knowledge of the German-speaking culinary world knows that Austria tends to do it better This old-school spot in rapidly gentrifying Bergmannkiez certainly backs up that reputation Pull up a chair at a candlelit table and dive into a perfectly crispy juicy Wiener schnitzel with potato and cucumber salads but you can also go for saucy goulash or cheesy spätzle If you don’t want a schnitzel the size of your face the menu thoughtfully offers smaller portions too drink in the impressive dining room at Eins44 a former distillery with white-tiled walls and cavernous ceilings chef Julius Nowak and team don’t rely on just looks seasonal menu strikes the perfect balance between casual and fine dining coming off eminently refined without crossing the line into fussy The a la carte and tasting menus shift regularly Expect dishes that capture foraged and farmed flavors of Germany and central Europe like uber tender venison or earthy morel mushrooms as well as left-of-center dishes like broccoli with white chocolate and almond cream or potato risotto Famous for their fatteh and musabbaha (a well-spiced hummus variant) draw a melting pot of diners from multicultural Neuköllnn As is the norm in many of Berlin’s Levantine eateries many menu items are available both in sandwich form or as hearty platters (there’s no wrong choice here) so grab takeout and head to the nearby canal at Weichselplatz A post shared by Petr Huml (@gastrosoph1) Don’t waste 45 minutes of your life queuing with the tourists at Mustafa’s home of Berlin’s most famous chicken döner kebab You’ll get a crispy yet pillowy flatbread filled with tender and just a sprinkle of cheese and lemon juice choose between sauces like garlic or sesame to top it all off There’s another location in Prenzlauer Berg In a part of the city loaded with Turkish and Syrian food give some love to one of Berlin’s very few Yemeni restaurants (which expanded to a second location in Moabit The cuisine here mixes influences from the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa into a uniquely hearty selection of dishes Try a cheese- or meat-stuffed sambosa and the saucy lamb stews a biryani-like dish with slow-cooked meat and creamy yogurt Chef Sarah Hallmann’s Michelin-starred restaurant is partly notable for its focus on reforming macho restaurant culture and flattening the kitchen hierarchy but often balances earthy local produce with nods to Japan in ingredients like yuzu and nori or show up without a reservation for access to a small bistro menu if you don’t want to commit A post shared by HALLMANN & KLEE (@hallmannundklee) What began as a cart in a Berlin market in 1959 is now ground zero for the definitive version of currywurst, Berlin’s uniquely funky sausage dish. This should come as little surprise, given that the snack bar’s founder was nicknamed the “curry professor.” Don’t pass on the ketchup; Krasselt’s makes its own house version and it’s part of why this imbiss (fast food restaurant) soars above much of its competition Krasselt’s doesn’t draw long lines of tourists at the Tanzcafé you can put on your dancing shoes and help see these effects take place anyone can volunteer for an afternoon boogie at these special cafés Dance School at Silesian Gate, Pfuelstraße 5, 10997 Berlin, Germany Senior Center Caroline Bertheau, Schönwalder Allee 26, 13587 Berlin, Germany Municipal Hall of the Ev. Luther, Bülowstraße 71-72, 10783 Berlin, Germany Kiezclub Rathaus Johannisthal, Sterndamm 102, 12487 Berlin, Germany Couple ballroom dancing | © werner22brigitte/Pixabay and there are a multitude of programs for volunteers to take part in throughout the year Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $800 on our unique trips See privacy policy Give Something Back to Berlin at Sharehaus Refugio, Lenaustraße 4, 12047, Berlin, Germany Klunkerkranich, Karl-Marx-Straße 66, Auf dem Parkdeck der Neukölln Arcaden, 12043 Berlin, Germany Flughafen Tempelhof, Platz der Luftbrücke 5, 12101 Berlin, Germany Urban Gardening at Klunkerkranich | © Andreas Lehner/Flickr American Church in Berlin, Dennewitzplatz 1, 10783 Berlin, Germany Language swap Give Something Back to Berlin runs two language swaps, in English and German, at Refugio Café in Neukölln They offer free language learning via meet-ups which provide a chance for newcomers to practice their language skills in a social setting Some partner off with regular tandem partners while others make friends by chatting in groups targeted at their language level They’re always eager to involve native German and English speakers to help students of all levels volunteers can simply turn up to Sharehaus Refugio’s café on Wednesdays from 5:30 pm for German exchange and Tuesdays from 6 pm for English GSBTB also offers an additional English language swap every Wednesday from 6 pm at ImmobilienScout24 Sharehaus Refugio, Lenaustraße 4, 12047, Berlin, Germany ImmobilienScout24, Andreasstraße, 10243 Berlin, Germany Refugio Café | © Alice Dundon/ Courtesy of Alice Dundon Karl-Heinrich-Ulrichs-Straße, 10785 Berlin, Germany Am Kiesteich 50, 13589 Berlin, Germany Oldenburgallee, 14052 Berlin, Germany Wasgenstraße 49, 14129 Berlin, Germany Seehofstraße 1, 14169 Berlin, Germany Siethener Str. 11, 14974 Ludwigsfelde, Germany Prenzlauer Berg, Bezirk Pankow, 10405 Berlin, Germany Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in November See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Summer See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in July See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Autumn See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in September Art 10 Masterpieces You Can Only See in Munich See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in October See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in June Design The Most Beautiful Churches in Berlin See & Do Germany's Most Beautiful Abbeys and Monasteries Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in August Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in December US: +1 (678) 967 4965 | UK: +44 (0)1630 35000 tripssupport@theculturetrip.com © Copyright 2025 The Culture Trip Ltd