Oh, Kumpel und Keule closed already? Well, that was a short stint - and at such popular locations (hipster darling Markthalle 9 and their brick & mortar on Skalitzer right on Görli. We went there once for a burger and it was a’ight My favorite remains at the OG Bird near Mauerpark, tho we didn’t get a chance to say ‘hi’ to the owner this summer
We had some face-meltingly hot Thai at Tossakan, which was down the road from our pad.
I wonder where else you went that had you come back feeling mediocre about the food. I only ever do overnights in HH and pretty much go only to eat at Restaurant Nil.
I honestly don’t think you can make such a broad statement about an entire nationality’s preferences. I see plenty of Germans suck down mass-produced shit food bc it’s cheap.
I do think there is a pronounced difference in dining culture (yet), bc chains & drive-thrus aren’t as prevalent nor have they been ingrained in the “culinary” (I use the term broadly in this context) landscape for decades.
The idea of eating in your car or having everything to go is still a fairly alien one.
So , one can generalize about one aspect of German dining but not another LOL. It’s suppose it’s all relative, and it falls into a matter of opinion, just like everything else on this site. Haha.
Dining out is cheaper in Germany, for many reasons. I mentioned the lack of the US’s outsized tipping culture - that’s 20% right there one saves at each meal
Relating it to some perceived superiority in taste inherent to being born or living somewhere? Nah.
The standalone restaurant on Skalitzerstraße closed, but the Markthalle location of Kumpel und Keule (which is mostly a full-service butcher) remains a gem in an otherwise fairly touristy and precious location.
Our other Berlin meals? A lunch at Amrit Schöneberg, which was at least a reasonable deal, with friendly and efficient service. (I am picky about Indian food, though.) A lunch at Da Jia Le, which I had been to in 2019, and was all right – good beer selection, but yu xiang qie zi was overly saucy and sweet. Dinner at Goji, a Cantonese place in Schöneberg that does respectable dim sum (again, friendly service). Croissants and other pastries at Le Bretagne were decent, though they didn’t speak French or English. Baklava from Pasam was disappointing. The bottom third was soggy with syrup, and it was expensive. The flavour was all right but the texture was off-putting.
We ate well in Hamburg; I’ll make a separate post on that soon.
OMG Amrit. That’s like Disney Indian food, with their various branches taking over in several nabes . Sorry you went, as there is absolutely no good Indian food in Berlin - though I did have a killerdosa at a street food market this summer.
I’m surprised you didn’t like Pasam. It’s a must-stop for us (well, mostly my PIC) every summer, often multiple times. Maybe Damaskus bakery would’ve been more to your liking - Syrian pastries that tend to be a little drier (but also heavier on the rosewater).
I rarely go for any Chinese food while in Berlin, as it is one of the more reliably good cuisines available to me at home, but when I do it’s usually on Kantstr for dim sum or Cantonese.
Funny you’d say that. Did you expect them to? Nowadays I’m actually pleasantly surprised if the waitstaff has a working knowledge of German - with anglophones seemingly taking over everywhere.
I knew what I was getting into with Amrit. We came in on a Friday morning train from Hamburg (no time for breakfast, I just managed coffee), had to get our bags from Hbf to our apartment in Schöenberg, and then cross the city again to maximize time at a place that wasn’t open Saturday or Sunday. Amrit was right on the way, was open early enough, got us fed in a reasonable atmosphere without queueing or eating out of hand in the chilly outdoors. I’ve had a lot worse Indian food!
I was surprised at Pasam. I would have guessed the tray was made the day before, though I don’t think it was.
My experience of French-themed establishments in Lisbon is that they often speak at least rudimentary French, and they spoke good French and English at Ti Breizh in Hamburg. I mentioned it only because they messed up my order one day, and I had to untangle it using my essentially nonexistent German.
I think more Americans and Canadians are willing to pay for a product that is crap., that they know is crap.
I think more Americans and more Canadians won’t speak up when food is awful. I know I don’t because I don’t want anyone to spit in my food. I’d rather keep quiet and never go back, maybe warn my friends.
Most Continental Europeans (immigrants or expats) I know in Canada will speak up when something is crap, in a way that a raised in Canada Canadian probably won’t.
I had one of the worst flus of my life a few days after I spoke up to say I ordered the chicken crêpes, not the sugar crêpes. The server was disgruntled. In my 30s and 40s, I spoke up a several times , if there was as a problem, and I was met with attitude from the server or manager around 80 percent of the time . The only place I can remember where they thanked me for my constructive comments was at Nota Bene in Toronto.
I don’t speak up anymore. If I’m a regular, I’ll let the owner or manager know about issues later.
My favorite remains at the OG Bird near Mauerpark, tho we didn’t get a chance to say ‘hi’ to the owner this summer 
. Sorry you went, as there is absolutely no good Indian food in Berlin - though I did have a killer 
