He wanted his Döner “without a doubt”. Yeah, very determined to have a Döner.
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The Berlin trip was a very last minute thing, checking what the Covid rules were. The missus & I had both been separately and she had holiday she needed to use up. I didn’t do a load of research on kebabs so didn’t really know where to go.
Like a lot of people during lockdown, I watched a lot of YouTube. I started watching this guy from Berlin. It’s a food channel , but more general food experiments or cultural specific German foods, rather than focusing on Berlin. He did though review his favourite doner kebabs in Berlin, all very different. As soon as he mentioned Imren made their own bread and meat, I was sold. I can pretty much guarantee that no one in London is doing that.
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Our Berlin trip was pretty last minute but being a big fan of sauerbraten, I found somewhere near our hotel by The East Side Gallery that served it.
Max und Moritz, all wood and going since 1902, seemed ideal. On the way we passed the Markthalle. Not entirely sure it was exactly a beer hall, but it looked very convivial. The missus declared it a happen upon and a plan b, in case M und M was full.
Turns out M und M were full but we booked for the next evening. I am so glad they were full. We went back to Markthalle and I spied pork knuckle on the menu ( I am a big fan but more of that in another post). Once we walked in about 10 of the 12 or so tables were occupied, everyone was eating the fried chicken. So despite what I wanted , we read the room and got the chicken
So glad we did. Juicy chicken, very crisp skin ( the missus ate the skin for the very first time she can remember). Potato salad and coleslaw of course and very good pilsner. Also bonus points for tolerating my poor German and never making me have to break into English.
Zur kleinen Markthalle
+49 30 6142356
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It’s a little confusing that there are a few restaurants/food destinations in Xberg with ‘Markthalle’ in their name-- there is Weltrestaurant Markthalle, which recently changed its name to Marktlokal; then there’s the place you went to, which is just across from Henne Altberliner Wirtshaus (see my post from a couple weeks ago), the OG chicken place (and a personal favorite I visit at least 2-3 times while in town. And then there is Markthalle 9, which hosts the very hipster street food Thursday.
I’ve not yet been to M&M. What did you think of it?
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I liked it a lot. Will try and post later, ,probably tomorrow. I didn’t know that this chicken was a thing. Until I stumbled on this place and then saw your post.
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We have 3 kinds:
Turkish
Fake Berlin style
Halifax
I don’t know if the fake Berlin style is the same as the Berlin style because believe it or not, despite around 17 visits to Germany I’ve never had a proper Doner.
Otto’s Doner
I have had the Turkish ones which I like, but not since maybe 2020.
There’s a new place 3 blocks from my apt I will check out. This place https://doner-chi.ca/
I also want to check out an upscale Turkish market that does grilled Kofte sandwiches on weekends.
Halifax Donair is a different animal, invented by a Greek, with a sweet sauce, that I bet most Germans and Turks would not like. I like it. [Halifax, Nova Scotia] [Cape Breton] [Lunenberg] [Nova Scotia] [Maritimes] Recommendations
I’ll have the Turkish plz.
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Max und Moritz
So this place, was one of few bits of research I did before heading to Berlin. It seemed to have been around for ages and specialised in German classics. Doesn’t mean it was any good of course.
Loafs of wood paneling, a hearty welcome and even heartier food, it was everything we hoped for.
The missus went for a Pilsner to drink. I went for their specially brewed unfiltered beer, Kreuzberger Molle. Delicious and unlike most other beers I tried in Berlin
The missus went for Westfälische Mettenden, Westphalian sausages with pickled green bean salad and boiled potatoes I tried a bit. Slight smoke on the sausages and a great texture. The pickled green beans were great for cutting through the richness.
I went for the Berliner Eisbein, slightly salted pork knuckle; of course I did. It was massive bit absolutely delicious and beautifully fatty in the middle. It also came with sauerkraut but more interestingly a pea puree. This was made with split peas and almost identical to pease pudding. This is traditionally from the NE of England and served with boiled ham. It shows the commonality in cuisines , in northern Europe.
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More excellent, authentic, spicy AF som tam, moo ping, king dumplings at the Thai park for Sunday brunch in the sun. Too hot for my favorite soup lady, but there’s always next time & the unreliable Berlin ‘summer’ weather 
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Papaya salad! In Thailand I always ordered the mixed Som Tom (with shredded green mango). I like it more sour than just the papaya.
Yesterday I got sunburnt. Had not anticipated 27C. Turned out I had a small tube of sun cream in my bag the whole damn time!
It’s been raining all day here so far. I tried to go for a walk around the village and then got caught in a big downpour. Now I am waiting for my stuff to dry 
There used to be a lady who made green mango salad with roast duck. I don’t think I’ve seen her since they restructured and officialized/Germanized the whole thing. It used to be a semi-legal affair with far more variety, including lots of fried insects. Now it’s mostly pad thai, fried things, and curries.
There used to be 10 different som tam stands, but there’s still a very good selection of laab available (as you saw in my other post about the park). Nothing stays the same.
Wem sagen Sie das? (for non-German speakers: whom are you telling that to?)
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Dinner at Tsomi, a relatively new Georgian resto on Kollwitzplatz, the bougiest, most touristy area in our hood.
We split the eggplant rolls with walnut sauce, the “assorti” plate with stuffed grape leaves, very good pickled cukes, very good shredded chicken salad, boring (to me, the other two loved it) fried polenta, some eggplant salad that was also very good, and a lovely walnut paste.
The main events were khachapuris, although the skewers of grilled meats brought to the neighboring tables created some serial food envy for me.
Our buddy got the lamb khachapuri, we got the traditional egg & cheese open-faced khachapuri.
The wine recommendation was just ok. We like orange wines but this had an odd, piney flavor reminiscent of retsina. The second bottle, another Rkatsiteli, was slightly better, but also not great.
Nice to try a new place, tho.
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Looks good
I’d like to try their grilled meats & a few of the other apps we didn’t get to sample.
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You’re inspiring me to drive north of TO to get some Georgian take-out on Sunday. I’ve been making Georgian foods at home the past 2 years. I don’t think I’ve had a real Georgian feast since I had one with Buttertart at Old Tbilisi Garden in Greenwich Village 8ish years ago.
Edit : Oh- actually, now I am remembering I did have one nice Georgian meal with a frenemy at Genatsvalenorth of Toronto in the summer of 2015. Time is flying. We only ordered 4 or 5 dishes, including a cold chicken salad, khinkali, and a type of khachapuri.
Our favorite French bistro in Berlin, Les Valseuses. They’ve been around for a decade now, and still as good as ever
Duck rillettes, escargots (not pictured), pink shrimp with two sauces, steak frites.
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More spectacular Thai food at the park: shrimp pad thai, dumplings, som tam, laab ped, pork noodle soup, laab moo, laab nuah. Not pictures are two curries, moo ping, and mango with sticky coconut rice.
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Have you tried Diekmann? It was one of our favorite places in Berlin.
I have not. Those prices actually look reasonable for a ‘fancy’ dinner, but we’ve given up on fine dining a long time ago. So many great meals to be had in the mid and lower range in the city.
