My Best 5 Burger Destinations in Berlin

With winter and cold weather just around the corner, it is about time to start exploring the varied food scenery of Berlin. A friend of mine which had lived here for a long time and got used faster with the unfriendly winters and rainy summers told me that one of the reasons there are so many pubs and restaurants and bars in this city is the unfriendliness of the seasons. I am not so sure about it, but I can hardly finish my journey through so many food styles and alternatives, and it is a good thing as it is part of my ever growing love for this city.

Since this summer, I started a long research - with more than one tasting for each place - looking for the best burgers joints in the city, and right now I am happy to introduce you to my best 5 places for a veggie - non-meaty treat.

1. Burger Art, Steglitz, Albrechtstrasse 131

This is the place to be not only for burgers lovers but for art lovers too. How could you chose between Hokusai (octopus and salmon), Dali (beef, Irish Cheddar, mayo, eggs and bacon, among others) or Frieda Kahlo (beef, goat cheese, avocado cream, onion, dried tomatoes and cucumber). For the Vegetarian-conscious customers, there is the choice between Kandinsky (with a strong addition of Gorgonzola cheese) and Mihri (my choice this time). Accompanied by some crispy sweet potatoes, my burger was a happy meeting between many different and complementary tastes: eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella, pesto and zucchini. 

Situated right on the other side of the spectacular Steglitz city hall and the shopping avenue, Art Burger doesn't have too much space indoors, but you can easily take away your treat or adventure outside when it is not raining. The preparation lasts around 15 minutes and a full menu - with a drink - costs around 10 EUR.

2. Loui's Burger, Zossenerstrasse 25 

A couple of minutes of walking from Gneisenaustraße U-Bahn and very close to Markheineke Markthalle, Loui's Burger offers a wide range of burgers, prepared on the spot, and served in an underground space with long wooden tables with some limited number of tables outside. Their vegetarian burger didn't impress me to tears, but the salmon hand-made one was amazing, with the right sauces and many veggies to die for. During the week, there is a special business lunch offer of 6.50, which includes drink, potatoes and a burger, that is totally worthy. A plus for the bread which is always fresh and delicious.

3. Kreuzburger, Linienstraße 74

Kreuzburger in Rosenthaler Platz is everything about burgers. Classical, well done, fast served at a convenient price. If you are visiting this hip area, you can take a break and enjoy one of them. My veggie burger was made of cheese, with cauliflower and salad. My bread was a bit dried, not as fresh as I expected, but the portion of sweet potatoes was big enough to make me forget about this failure. The full menu - with a drink added - can be purchased with less than 10 EUR.

4. Homemade TS Burger, Carl-Schurz Straße 61, Spandau

For all the wrong reasons, Spandau is usually off the beaten travel path, and even locals are rarely going there, although there are so many interesting things to see and explore (coming post featuring this past of Berlin in the making). During my often visits there - among other things, they have a very rich library with top notch books - I discovered a lonely burger joint, where your meals are prepared in the front of you - which might have the disadvantage of smoky oil smell all over your clothes after -, with a friendly and family friendly service - they even have a special box with pencils and colouring sheets for the little ones. The vegetarian offer of Homemade TS Burger includes only veggies, mozarella and haloumi cheese. There are also vegetarian wraps.

My choice was a creamy Mozarella burger with potatoes and a Coke, a delicious and cheesy fast way to finish your lunch.

5. Burgers Berlin, Pestalozzistr. 25 

Charlotteburg-Wilmersdorf area do have a lot of burger joints which might be interesting, but none of them convinced me completely. The problem when you don't eat meat at the restaurant, is that you are often left with some bland, unattractive veggie options, especially available when it comes to burgers. Burger de Ville, for instance, on Ku'damm 22, do have some great menu, but the veggie one was completely unimpressive and when I went there, on a Sunday, a couple of months ago, the place was looking a bit unkept too. My latest discovery is Burgers Berlin, a relatively newly open plance, which has a nice American ambiance, with blues playing in the background and a fast, friendly service. My vegetarian burger was a pleasant surprise too, with a well balanced combination of Italian mozarella, pickled cucumber, onion and a generous portion of ruccola.

If you are visiting Berlin soon and looking for some inspiration about what to do, check this list of 75 Best Things to do in the city.

Foodie review: Hashi Japanese Restaurant in Berlin

If you are looking for a drink to grab and some snacks to come along in Ireland, you have the Irish pub, in the Spain, the tapas bar and in Japan you have izakaya, or the sake shops. Identified by the red lampions in the front of the entrance, there are places where the customers have some glasses of sake accompanied by some snacks to make the time go faster. 

In Berlin, as far as I know there is only one such Japanese foodie destination: Hashi, in Rosenthaler Platz, which I visited a couple of weeks ago.

The interior looks very casual, with a touch of creative design: the small chopstick-like pieces of wood hanging from the ceiling. Japanese newspapers are glued on the walls leading to the toilets, creating a kind of local experience. 

It is a good place to come with friends and extended family, and they do have a very sophisticated Stokke children seat, which is my first in Berlin and Germany in my 2 years of baby life. During the summer, there is a huge outdoor space from where you can watch the hipster humans walking in this part of the city. 

The service is friendly too, an element which gives me always a good reason to return. My only problem was the hard-rock music from the background, which was a bit loud for my taste, although I used to hear such music at least once in a while. I was just not in the mood for noise, what can I do?

Card payments are possible - which I insist to remind to people not living in Berlin is not necessarily the case everywhere.

The prices are moderate but the meals deserve every single cent, as I would try to explain further.

Although I lived in Japan for one full year, coming along with sake wasn't one of my achievements, therefore, during my visit I haven't tried the drink which made izakaya famous, prefering instead some decadent American classic soft drink. Not even tried a cocktail, one of them being very tempting, at least in name - Wasabi mule, anyone? - or the classical Asahi beer. 

I have more to say though about what I actually did: eating. The yams fries were the best surprise ever. Deeply fried in oil and covered in the typical tempura batter, they were the best combination between the sweet taste of yam and the basic taste of tempura. The mayo added on the top balanced further the sweet taste. 

With a taste of regret that the fries are over, I continued with the 'main' meal: a bento box whose main character was a salmon soaked in teriyaki sweet sauce, served warm. The gluey rice topped with black sesame reduced the sweetness. The fresh salad was the healtiest in the box, a combination of tomatoes, rocket and some lettuce. In the middle, typical Japanese pickles which I am not so fond of because I do not like pickles in general. The portions were big, simple in taste, but once combined, offering a delicious memory without making you feel full like a rhinoceros. 

The conclusion of a glorious Japanese meal: altough I haven't tried any sake, I had the pleasure of discovering a couple of new tastes and combinations and would accept an invitation to come back any time, eventually ordering the same meals. Because good foodie memories always need to be nurtured. 

Where to eat Hong Kong Waffles in Berlin

The famous tasty Hong Kong Egg Waffles can be also tasted in Berlin too. Although the beginning are modest, it was about time that the hip and trend-setter city open the doors to a delicous street food treat. The honeycomb-shaped waffles with egg shaped bubbles, filled with icecream and covered by whipped cream and other toppings of choice are already a popular treat all over Europe, from Camden in London to the town of Poznan, in Poland. 

Let's see what I had in Berlin for now.

Chicken Buzz - Rosenthaler Platz

The first and the best impression of those fantastic waffles was overwhelming because of so many topping choices and so little space in my belly to have them all. Practically, you can fast the whole day and break it with the carb-loaded bubble waffles - mine was a bit burned up on the edges - plus the icecream, plus some fruits - lychee was a perfect fresh choice - plus more toppings - that you carefully write on a piece of paper and handle with your order. Delivered with some Mikado sticks and an Oreo cake. 

They do have a special menu only for those waffles, and the preparation lasts around 5-7 minutes. One treat costs 4.90 Euro and it is worth every single cent of it.

ZUKA Dessertkultur - Emser straße

Zuka is my favorite sweet corner in Wilmersdorf, both during the summer - where you can sit on the benches - or the winter. I am trying to go there at least once the month, for their perfect looking and tasting Macha latte and their exquisite desserts. The last time I've been there I noticed that they introduced the Hong Kong waffles on the menu - at the price of 5 Euro -, at least for the summer time, and hurried up to try them. 

After the previous experience, I was a bit disappointed, because it is completely experimental and limited in topping choices. The dough is tastier, and they do have some interesting icecream choices - my black one isn't sesame as expected, but black vanilla which honestly doesn't sound different of a normal vanilla, except the colour - but otherwise there is not too much to juggle in terms of creative tastes. 

With only two limited choices as for now, I hope that the winters are long enough to allow the waffle experts in Berlin to consider introducing those beauties on their menu. The stronger the competition the better. 

Breakfast chez Benedict in Berlin

As in the case of the afternoon tea, also when it comes to breakfast  Berlin has a long way until it will reach a degree of elegance and refinement comparable to London or Paris. But it is important to keep trying and searching for the best. Thus, when I've found out that the famous Benedict breakfast chain made in Israel has decided to open its branded place in my city, I almost jump of excitement. Finally, the fat generous Middle Eastern breakfast  

Elegantly decorated, with leather couches and luxuriant wall prints, the place reminds of a little French eatery with a touch of British charm and warm customer service. It is situated at the ground level of a boutique hotel at the intersection between Uhlandstrasse and Pariserstrasse, a quiet and posh part of Berlin.

In Israel, Benedict - present in Tel Aviv, Herzliya and Rishon LeZion - offers 24/7 breakfast, but for Berlin, as for now, it is open only until 16.00. The menu was also adapted to the expectations of the German foodie market. What it didn't change is the excellent customer service, which is not only careful to serve you, but to create a certain ambiance that calls you back, whatever your impressions about the food. It has that human touch in so much demand in many of the food places in Berlin, including the high-end ones. 

Too much talk, let's eat. As I am keen to try good Egg Benedicts, I am for a truffle mushrooms version, which is tasty and well done, except that the choice of bread - white and maybe not necessarily fresh, doesn't match. At all. However, the full flavor of truffles which I love a lot, melted with the egg yolk, give my brains a good feeling which make me forget that detail. Maybe the next time there will be a change of bread, I said hopefully to myself and jump to the next order. I love long rich breakfast, you know...

The coconut banana pancakes are not too sweet, soaked in delicious tasting sauces and added some extra natural sugar from the banana. The dough is special, not the usual American pancakes one might expect. The strong cappuccino makes balances the sugar in the blood, but after all, the winter just started and we all need some warm and little sweet surprises. As for me, I would for sure be back this season, to check more of the menu. Because, as you know already, breakfast is my favourite part of the day.

Foodie Berlin: Flakes Corner, in Hackescher Markt

Breakfast is my favourite part of the day, and besides coffee, cornflakes - and cereals in general - are my faithful companions. I particularly love the sweet ones, from the cinnamon covered type to the chocolate small waffles. Thus, when I've found out that over 100 cornflakes boxes - especially those American beauties that it is almost impossible to find in the usual store - are available to try at Flakes Corner since October, I hurried out to take a look and a full spoon. 

The store and eatery is situated on Neue Promenade 9, very close from the S-Bahn station Hackescher Markt. One can choose up to 3 sorts of cornflakes, plus cereals-based shakes. Topics of all sorts - like marshmallows - are available for extra 0.70 EUR. You got a bowl and a little bottle of milk - you can also choose what kind of milk you want, including soy. Energizing cocktails - VitaBoost, orange-based etc - can be also served. 

The overall design of the place is inspired by the 1970s, with a bit too loud music from the same time as a musical background. Expect a lot of plastic chairs and 'nostalgic' decorations on the table, including colourful Rubik cubes. Cornflakes were always fashionable and will always be so making the right choice of cereals doesn't have necessarily to do with the 'old good times'. I bet the GDR -times weren't too cornflakes-friendly either - as it was obviously an American product. The service is friendly and both English and German speaking and quite helpful when it comes to making the right choice for the bowl content.

As for me, I went straightforward for one type of cereals - it was past 13.00 anyway, and I already had my usual fat breakfast - Fruit Loops with marshmallows, soaked in the cold milk. Sweet enough  - with some fruity sensations, and the extra sweetness brought by the marshmallows - to bring me energy to continue my exploration of the Hackescher Markt. When my bowl was empty and had to leave, I had one more look at the many boxes of cereals and promise to come back. Because, breakfast should be a day-long feast, isn't it?

Best Berlin food markets

Berlin evolved in the last years into a top foodie destination in Europe and in the world. You can find here restaurants featuring the food from all over the world, presented in various variants, as vegan and vegetarian, in more or less gourmet or raw variants. You can easily spend years discovering all the flavours and recipes of the planet without leaving your 'hood' or being homesick. Besides the restaurants, there are other popular tasty spots in the city attracting locals and tourists all round the year: the food markets. After years of developing my tastes and learning about where and when to find the best organic foods, I have the pleasure to share with you best Berlin food markets.

Farmers markets

Every day - except Sundays, somewhere in Berlin is a farmers markets day. It can be in Winterfeldplatz, or Wittenbergplatz - where products from Brandenburg are mostly available - on Karl-August Platz, Nestorstrasse or Boxhagener Platz, Mexikoplatz or Pierroserstrasse. The conservatives may be more selective with the list, complaining that in the last years, those markets are becoming a bit "corrupted", the local products being replaced by food trucks or even clothes stands, but if you keep searching, you will always find some quality healthy fresh veggies and fruits and even organic meat sold at a good price for a quality above the average supermarket offer.

Food trucks

The food trucks bring to your home flavors and tastes you never had the chance to try before. They are usually every two days, except the weekend. The food is prepared under your eyes and in most cases, the products are exclusively served on the truck, without a fix location. At Fehrbelliner Platz, for instance - the market takes place every Tuesday and Thursday - I had my first bit of Cuban food. In Kreuzberg, in the big yard Kulturbrauerei, there are also craft beers and delicious home made Japanese treats. This market is also open on Saturdays and Sundays.

Maybachufer

In the world of foodie experts and gourmets, Maybachufer is a respectable institution, open on the street with the same name every Friday morning until late in the afternoon. Local Berliners and tourists come from far away to get their weekly supplies of vegetables, fresh dill or parsley or some mint leaves or special spices or to have an Oriental snack outdoors at the end of an exhausting swimming through people and vendors. It also has some non-food stands, like cheap tailoring materials or home made jewelry, 

Asian markets

Every weekend and legal holidays, when it doesn't rain or snow, Preussenpark in Charlottenburg turns into a little Bangkok. The food is brought in plastic containers and prepared on the spot, either there are salads or barbecues. If you want to do some of the food at home, visit the Dong Xuan center for more supplies and for some bits of Vietnamese food too. Especially recommended during the cold months when the 'Thai park' may be empty.

Turkish markets

Almost every borough of Berlin has its own Turkish super-market, but if you really want to feel the real local vibe, go to Moabit or Neukölln, where vendors are screaming out loud the latest offers of the day and the prices are also lower. In addition to cheese and vegetables and sweet products from Turkey, one can also grab a bit of baklava for your sweet tooth or some delicious ackma bread, round dough filled with cottage cheese and decorated with white or black sesame seeds.

Markthalle IX

With a street food event every Thursday and a lot of food-related festivals all round the year - the food festival was a couple of weeks ago and a big cheese event is scheduled in two weeks from now - Markthalle IX is a busy and hip destination on the foodie map of Berlin. The setting may look a bit chaotic and sometimes it is hard to find a free place on the big benches near the food stalls, but you can just take your favourite food and taste it outside. My newest addictive discovery is the New Zealand pies counter, serving warm pies with various delicious fillings, like champignons. Looks tasty, isn't it?

Marheineke Markthalle

Covering a smaller space, but with better organised stands, with the biggest vegan store in Europe, Maheineke Markthalle in Prenzlauer Berg tempts me to return over and over again for its matcha supreme served at the Goodies or for the salty caramel crepes from the French buffet downstairs. 

In Moabit, Arminius Markthalle is a relatively newest but equally tasty destination, especially if you love Fish&Chips.

Rogacki

In Wilmersdorf, the 1928-founded Rogacki is a serious foodie institution among the locals, for its big variety of fish and meat, but also for the ready meals served every day. You can easily match your dish with one of the many wines, mostly local. If you are interested to have a glimpse into the German food culture this is the best establishment to start with. 

Food courts at KaDeWe

Like Harrods, the famous luxury store KaDeWe has its own food court, but you better stop comparing the two of them, as the German counterpart might be in considerable disadvantage. You can find a lot of products that are usually sold in normal super markets at at least half the price, but also some Canadian and American products for the homesicks, or freshly made Thai or fish-based meals. If you want something much better in terms of quality and diversity, head to the first bus until Galeries Lafayette. Their fine selection of French cheese and the crunchy macaroons are worth a try.

Exploring Ostkreuz

As I often travel around Berlin, it happens to pass very often near Ostkreuz Berlin neighbourhood by train speed, but I never dedicated enough time to explore it properly. The many colourful walls or the glittering sea that you can see from the train were tempting enough to make me spend one full day walking its streets and taking as many pictures as possible of the most interesting corners. But before doing this, I had to find my way through the relatively complicated maze of the Ostkreuz train station...

Once out under the late autumn sunny sky, I made the tour of the big park on Matkowskystrasse, discretely observing the ping-pong competition enfolding, trying not to disturb the youngsters laying on the pavement with their bottles and loud music on the side. Open air party? Anyone is invited today.

To keep the spirit up, the colourful walls bring life to the many dilapidated entrances. It is weekend and people hurried up out of the house, enjoying the rich food opportunities lined on Lenbachstrasse, from icecream parlors to small restaurants or the home-made food from Zebrano Velicious.  

If you raise your eyes, you can see some interesting decorations on the highest buildings, and if you are looking for some cultural entertainment, there is even a theatre Vebereck. Tourists discover the area together with the locals, using the relatively cheap accommodation available here. As the area is connected through S-Bahn to the main city attractions, you don't necessarily need to pay for a central location. You can use the money for more interesting things, like trying the foodie attractions on Neue Bahnhofstrasse: from a falafel kiosk to a Vietnamese pho or vegan cakes, you can have a tour of the world in a couple of dishes. Burger Ring offers even a hummus burger, if you are interested in some fusions.

Keeping in mind all these destinations for later in the day, I continue my wandering around Ostkreuz, and in my effort to make connections between different areas, I am crossing the Boxhagenerstrasse, the fancy Friedrichshain avenue not only for food, but also for alternative stores and fashion. After all, I am not completely new in the area, it seems. For now, I am walking direction Lichtenberg, crossing the bridge over the train station lines where, as usual in Berlin, intensive work is going on for repairing or extending the train lines. The beautiful sky compensates the view of the ugly construction site, but I am trying to go as soon as possible on the other side of the huge bridge crossing a, as for now, no-man's land. 

Ten minutes later, there is a different landscape waiting at the other end of the bridge. First, you have a lot of green and clear waters, as I am landing now in the Rummelsberg part of Berlin. Second, there is a new born view of Berlin, that you can often encounter when visiting former communist areas: the new Berlin architecture, of black and white buildings with Perspex balconies, rows of identical squared buildings. 

You can still find remnants of another era, like a former swimming complex abandoned now, or a party boat, but the landscape is changing little by little into a very modern, and I suppose expensive too, residential area.

If you are bold enough, you can rent a kayak for your own tour around the lake to observe closer the new realities. As for me, I am using my time for touring the park, together with the other families with children, with or without bikes, that choose to spend their weekend outdoors. The Rummelsburgersee is a beautiful and calming background, and you can feel the new vibes everywhere. Ostkreuz, as many other places in Berlin, will change a lot in the next 2-3 years.

I continue to notice the messages of new beginnings for this area, further on on Hauptstrasse, a street crossed by fast yellow trams. The other neighbour close by is Köpenick, which I visited several times since moving here and which I've found interesting for the mixture of old culture and picturesque nature. Once on Nöldnerstrasse, one feels back in time, a couple of decades back our current 2016, in the middle of old buildings, embellished only by creative street art.

One of the building I've seen often from the windows of the train, and was always intriguing for my inner architect lover, is situated at the end of Nöldnerstrasse. A social building, created by the optical illusions of the covering panels. Viewed from the train speed the effect is more spectacular, but even from closer it creates an interesting perspective, although the choice of colours is not necessarily my favourite.

Besides the feeling of new and change that you can feel in the air, Karlhorstrasse breath differently, with its laced-like decorations of the facades. The impression continues on Turmschmidtstrasse, where you can also see some Art Nouveau designed signposts. The bookstore Paul+Paula looks like a cozy place to spend some time during the winter, followed or before some snacks at Brot und Küchen (Bread and cakes) on Pfarrstrasse. 

There is another reason why I decided to cover extensively the Ostkreuz neighbourhood today: its special kind of street art I've read about and spotted during my train rides too. There are no specific directions helping you to find it, and after a lot of walking during which I was almost sure that I might skip this part of the program, I was lucky enough to discover one of most colourful streets of the city. 

The attractive and creative art - half-way between dream and utopia -, as elaborated as any piece of art you can find in a museum, is colouring the ugly walls and weed-invaded streets of Tasdorferstrasse, Wiesenweg or Wartenbergstrasse. Most streets are either abandoned or hosting car repair stores, not a good idea to visit it at night, but if you want to see the spectacular street art, you should visit only by day. 

In some cases, the art is so elaborated, that I wish I can keep in my mind as many features of the style as possible, for being able to recognize him - or her - later on. I can resonate with the irony and the magnifying glass through which some of the contemporary realities are perceived.

The day was pretty exhausting, with many different things to see and discover, and a lot of non-stop walking and search for the best photographic angle. For my well-deserved lunch, I have a stop at the newly open Harapeco on Neue Bahnhofstrasse for some Japanese original food - forget the sushi, please, this is for first-time tourists! I am happy to test their noodle okonomiyaki, a specialty originally from the Hiroshima area, a savory pancake grilled, with various ingredients you can choose yourself and soaked in a special sauce. In Japanese, okonomi means how you like it, and yaki - grill. In a free interpretation, a grill of your favourite ingredients. The prices are middle, but they really deserve it: it tastes delish, and the sauce gives a particular taste that you can hardly identify with anything else you had before. The matcha latte accompanying my meal was also well done, with the special taste of green tea maintained despite the milk addition, which is not always the case in the local variants of this beloved drink.

When time has come to leave Ostkreuz, ready for a new adventure finding my line at the train station, I am happy that I made it through this area, step-by-step, just in time before tremendous urban changes are about to take place in the area. I wish I can make a tour in the next years, but I hope at least some of the foodie places will remain unchanged or at least, will get even better. 

Foodie Moabit

Last year, I've worked for half a year in an area that I hardly visited before: Moabit, although it is just 15 minutes away by bus from the fancy Ku'damm. An area which is changing a lot, with a fantastic mixture of good and affordable food parlours and always a very good and welcoming service.

You do not have to go too far away to find the main foodie attractions, you just have to stroll alongside Turmstrasse and everything is one plate away. One of the first places I fell in love with was Mom's kitchen, where I first ordered a hummus and pita, plus lemonade - because only the Middle Easterners can do the right one. The hummus was unusually sour-sweet and perfumed, with pomegranate, not too salty, but a good treat for the hot summer days. When asked about the special hummus recipe, I was told that this is how it is prepared in Syria, the country of origin of the owners.

Another day, at the same Mom's kitchen, I ordered a plate with goat cheese - one of my top favourite - and a mixture of greens, soaked in olive oil. Maybe it was not that healthy but once in a while, it is good to try something new.

A couple of restaurants away, on the same street, there is a Pakistani half-restaurant, half-canteen, ZamZam, where I tried some veggie delicious samosas, accompanied by yogourth and fresh tomatoes. The mashed potatoes-corn-peas combination was a good match, and the meal was more than satisfactory.

Moabit is also the place of many open markets, many Turkish and Middle Eastern ones where vendors are screaming lound the offers of the hour, but also of a big Asian store, with cheap and fresh products, you cannot find in any parts of Berlin - not even in Neukölln which is becoming little by little too fancy and expensive too. A BioCompany store opened on the same main street warns that Moabit has the potential of a hipster place too, but maybe not the next 2 seasons. When I was looking for some more foodie options - as it was not enough what I was having around my workplace, I was heading to the Arminius Markthalle, for my fish and chips fix. Probably the most authentic in town according to, with an assortment of tasty sauces.

Some Chinese fast foods and small restaurants are also available, bringing more geographical and culinary diversity to the area. My lunch fix once in a while was the veggie rice box at Fam.Dang where you can watch from the other side of the window how the rice is made. Last but not least, you have a steak house - I was told the meals are delicious and well done - and a soup parlour, with every day of the week its soup. Since December, Fam. Dang is neighbouring a colourful donoughts' shop, with various creative frostings.

The delicious Turkish sweets were calling my name, and once in a while I indulged in some small bits of baklava or kanafeh - my favourite sweet in the world that I can eat non stop...till I drop. Every morning, I used to take my special goat cheese ackma pastry - a round bread dough filled with goat cheese and covered by black sesame seeds - from a small shop near my office where people used to welcome me with a friendly smile every time. I even tried once to ask how the dough is made, but they prefer to maintain discretion over the recipe. 

In case I wanted some more Western-style sweets, the Waffly store was my choice also because the service never disappointed me - very fast, as requested to cover my hunger needs for my short office breaks. Looking as an American pin-up store with red leather couches, it offers for around 3 Euro many choices of sweet sauces and fillings for the homemade waffles. One of the best I had in Berlin, and I tried quite a lot in the last months.

My time in Moabit seems very far away now, after all the things happening into my life after the baby was born, but when I look back, my memories of the good working time do always have a good taste and Oriental fragrance. 

Vietnamese delicious lunch at Royals&Rice Berlin

In the last year or so, I become very interested in the Vietnamese cuisine, starting with their special rolls and their oh, so special, coffee. Actually, this coffee can happily compete for my favours with my beloved strong Turkish coffee. Berlin has many Vietnamese restaurants, sometimes one near the other, but finding those special ones takes time and a bit of luck. Today, I started a bit of exploration of the area around Rosenthalerplatz, but instead of keeping straight with my list, I ended up nearby, at a place where I was convinced to stay by the interesting menu.

The entrance to the summer garden of Royals&Rice is through an interior yard you go to through Torstrasse. The outdoor is the perfect choice when the weather allows, with its curtains of vegetation. The indoors area looks acceptable, with minimal design and a lot of space. Some long wooden tables allow more than 40 seats at the same time. Regularly, here are taking place live concerts or some art events. Right now, there is an photography exhibition going on.

Today, I was in the mood to try as many new things as possible. I started with a ginger and cucumber lemonade, more cucumber than anything else, to be served very cold. When it got too warm, the pleasant sprinkling cucumber taste ceased to be pleasant. The summer rolls were special, with many vegetables and coriander, plus some curry rice. An explosion of freshness and natural spices, balanced by the nutty sauce. 

Next on the list: vegetarian udon curry. The noodles were just perfectly matching the rich fresh vegetables and the curry broth. I tried to match every time the udon - eating them with the traditional noisy slurp - with some vegetable and, except the carrots, the pairing went well.

When  saw they have matcha creme brulee, I knew I need to walk more after the meal, but I cannot leave without tasting it. The berry combination was a bad choice, as the berries are corrupting the natural matcha taste. The cream was too much sugary, again killing the natural matcha tea I love so much. The idea was good, the result under expectations, unfortunately.

The prices are moderate and the customer service is friendly.

Overall, it is a 3.5-star restaurant, with chances to reach 4.5-star level easily.