Back in Europe’s hippest city. A bit earlier this year, so we’re not yet overrun with kids on vacay from Spain, Italy, France, and GB. Plenty of local ‘kids’ here anyway. And so many mustaches! 
Follow me here for our culinary adventures this summer 
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I was genuinely surprised to find that I hadn’t posted about this Thai place we discovered last summer already. But it’s not too late! 
“Thai on Sundays” has been a bit of a tradition for us for many years now, although until two summers ago, this meant scooting across town and spending a leisurely afternoon at Thaiwiese - an anarchic, homegrown weekly gathering of numerous members of the local Thai community that started out as a picnic well over a decade ago, and that - in good German fashion - has finally been regulated to death. I will miss ‘my’ soup lady forever, her broth transporting me back to cheap soup kitchens in Bangkok 
But such is life. Nothing lasts forever. Früher war alles besser.
Tossakan prides itself for delivering ‘authentic Neo-Thai food.’ It’s a dream for anyone who loves that burning chili, and a nightmare for those who can’t handle the heat 
But srsly, the options for spicy dishes are: spicy, very spicy, and Thai spicy. We ordered the latter last year & almost died, and we have a pretttttty high tolerance for heat.
Last night, we thought we were being smart by ordering ‘just’ spicy – but to no avail. While the
fantastic tod mun pla (fish cakes) were on the milder side, the vinegar/cuke/chili mix caught up on us.
The fried pork belly with crisp garlic and a wonderfully green, spicy seafood dipping sauce was unctuous, rich & tender.
The most unusual and interesting dish we had, however, and one I’ve never seen in Thailand or Thai restaurants anywhere else was miang kham: 4 pepper leaf wraps with ginger, peanuts, lime, chili, coconut and tamarind sauce. It was beautifully presented in 4 shot glasses, and felt like a nice, comforting pillow
after the abuse our taste buds had suffered from the nua nam tok (beef salad), which was particularly fiery – our moist scalps and eyebrows providing tangible proof of the amount of chilis used… not that you could see any in the dish, save for the seeds. Oh, so many chili seeds! 
Thank goodness for two orders of sticky rice, and ample amounts of Bavarian beer. Despite our fears, the night and morning were pleasant
The place openend another branch in Xberg last year that specializes in gieuw tiew, and I am super-excited to check it out this year… might it be as good as my soup lady’s?
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I always enjoy this summer series. Happy eating
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Thank you so much 
We look forward to our summers here all year
Looking forward to following this. Husband and I will probably be in Berlin for 5 or 6 days in late July. A first visit and doing the museums etc (disappointed that Pergamon is closed) and trying to get a sense of the place. Im leaning to staying on the West side in a green area which I prefer over concrete highrises, but am torn since it seems like the best food may be in places like x-berg (we live in downtown Brooklyn so it would probably not feel too challenging) but I do like peace and quiet, bird song etc. As well as beer gardens, good mideast and asian cooking, but not loud bar scenes.
I know you have probably addressed this before, but have you found any really tasty food in the Museum Island area?
any other thoughts for a first time visitor?
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You’d actually be surprised how green many of the neighborhoods are, not just in the west. There are parks almost everywhere, and Berlin doesn’t haven any real high-rises anywhere, save for a couple eyesores on Potsdamer Platz aka “architecture.”
There’s good food to be had everywhere - e.g. Charlottenburg/grad is currently experiencing a bit of a culinary renaissance (we had very good & cheap Iranian food at a casual bistro last year), and public transportation will get you literally anywhere in the city center within 30 min.
The Museumsinsel is in Mitte, with many options right there (though it’s also big with tourists as you can imagine).
Maybe check out my previous reports over the last couple of years and see if anything floats yer boat?
Asian is a pretty wide net to cast, and we do have plenty of Middle Eastern (Turkish, Syrian, Levante, Israeli, Greek, Lebanese, etc.) to choose from.
For bird song & beers: a gorgeous beer garden is at Cafe am Neuen See, right in the middle of Tiergarten - basically our Central Park. We also love Prater (Prenzlauer Berg) and Schönbrunn in Volkspark Friedrichshain - pretty decent Italian food to be had at that one.
Please don’t hesitate to ask any further questions
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Dinner last night at a French brasserie we’d been meaning to try last summer & never got around to it.
An airy, modern space with very interesting art (a threesome on the wall facing the entrance was particularly intriguing, but I didn’t snap a pic since there were peeps sitting right beneath it) and stunning chandeliers.
The menu is small, but eclectic. We opted to share a few small plates, as none of us were interested in the usual app, main, dessert thang.
We split their very good sourdough from a local baker – so good we got another order of it,
anchovies and capers,
eggplant ‘caviar’ (really just glorified but good baba ghanoush),
perfectly tender, sautéed pulpo with ‘nduja & salsa verde of which we ordered another plate – the sauces were nice to sop up with that fantastic bread,
a whole artichoke with hollandaise and chervil vinaigrette (lovely),
roasted pepper with labneh and bagna cauda (also very good),
sautéed asparagus with sorrel and koji-beurre blanc (good inspo for my future asparagus meals!),
and the small tartare (about 2.5oz and plenty at that point – very rich & filling).
In fact, I felt absolutely stuffed after sharing these things even tho it wasn’t a lot of food. I blame the amazing bread 
We also shared a lovely Riesling that was the perfect complement to the meal, and very reasonably priced at 42€.
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Lovely banh mi from the nearby Sunday street food market. Pic doesn’t do it justice. Super-friendly dude at the stand, too, and the baguette had a green tint I asked him about. They make different baguettes and sometimes add turmeric, or beets, and in this case spirulina. Whoda tunk!
Gotta check out his brick & mortar place sometime soon, which is just a skip and a hop from our pad
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Gosh, judging from the dearth of my entries this summer you’d think we’ve not been dining out, like, at ALL!
Au contraire — it’s just that we’ve been returning to last summer’s favorites a lot.
Yesterday, however, we finally tried a new-to-us Indian joint in the hood, Chutnify. Temps were on the brisk side, and those spices & flavors always do a nice job of warming up our bones.
It’s a fairly small, cozy yet bright modern dining room with super-friendly staff & a nice selection of appetizers, curries, dosas, and thalis, as well as a small section of house cocktails.
We opted for Pilsner Urquell on draft instead — beer being our preferred drink with most Asian food stuffs, but I made sure to order small ones for myself as the combination can make me feel overly bloated.
While a bunch of apps sounded tempting (the okra fries in particular!), we were worried it’d be too much food, and we were right. The tandoori chicken dosa I ordered was flavorful, crispy & light and ginormous, and my PIC’s telangana lamb thali was equally generous in portion-size.
Champs that we are, we managed to finish it all Spice level could’ve been higher for us (both dishes were marked with 2 chili peppers), but if we go back we can always tell them to kick it up a notch.
We might also be able to delve into the dessert menu, which had this tempting treat on offer:
PISTACHIO KULFI FALOODA: Pistachio ice cream in a glass with rose syrup, vermicelli,
pistachios and basil seeds. Bc pistachio
Berlin is far from a mekka for Indian food, with most places drowning meat chunks in ghee-saturated, heavy sauces, so this was a really nice discovery for us.
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Bit of a mediocre food evening last night. First, we went to a favorite beer garden nearby that serves pretty good pizza, pasta & decent caponata, but our plan wasn’t to get an entire meal there — just something to snack on with our beers, so I grabbed a pretzel for my PIC & a Caesar salad for myself.
Eh. Mine’s miles better 
Then our options were a newish Sichuan place, our favorite Thai, or a dumpling place I’d been meaning to check out, which is pretty much right next door to the Thai. Totes blanked on stopping at the Sichuan resto to have a look at their menu en route to the other two places 
, and the Thai place was packed: our decision was made, Lecker Song it was.
Along with our beers, a plate of my beloved kroepoek was brought out, and a little dish with spicy dipping oil. What I would give for Chinese restos in the US to serve kroepoek instead of those boring fried noodz. Whyyyyy?
We split pan-fried vegan dumplings with zucchini, glassnoodles, wood ears, and carrots
which we found to be on the bland side.
We had to get the XLB, of course, but I thought it was weird they didn’t automatically bring out black vinegar — we had to ask for a bottle, and I proceeded to pour almost the entire content in my dipping dish. 
The XLB were ok. I’m accustomed to have soup spoons to rest them on while nibbling off the top. No soup spoons. They were tasty, but nothing like XLB we’ve had elsewhere. Not soupy enough, skin should be more delicate, etc. etc.
The winner in a sea of mediocrity were these shao mai: porky, juicy & very flavorful.
That said, the food served the purpose of sating us, and the beer garden is truly beautiful. Just don’t get the Caesar
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This is mostly for @JenKalb
Full disclosure: I am not super-familiar with Charlottenburg, as our main areas of operation overall have been in other hoods (Xberg, Pberg, Mitte) — last time we stayed in a pad there was in '03 
I took a quick look at the area you’re staying in, as I believe I figured out where you are, since you mentioned two Georgian places nearby (Gamarjoba and Sara & Gogi?). If it is near Wilmersdorfer Strasse, you MUST visit Rogacki for a fully Berlin experience. It is a very old food hall with lots of smoked and pickled and fresh fish, including a cantina where one can get fried fish with potato salad (and yes, also pork knuckle and kraut) for dirt cheap. It’s popular across classes and age groups — even Bourdain went for his terribly disappointing Berlin episode.
The Thai park is also relatively close to you, but as I mentioned earlier (I think), German bureaucracy has destroyed what was once a lively market / community picnic by regulating it to death. We haven’t even bothered scooting over there, tho we may once the weather is warmer again, just to see what the scoop is. Likely a disappointing trip.
I went to Marjellchen several years ago the first night we arrived in Berlin. Ordering veal kidneys was maybe not the best choice for jet-lag, but even in better shape I should stir you away from that dish. My mom made veal kidneys that were excellent, whereas these had a distinct, very off-putting odor of piss.
That said, they’re a Berlin institution, and I am sure the other traditional German dishes are wonderful.
The 6th floor at KaDeWe is a must visit if only to gawk at the incredible array of foods, but you can also have lunch there.
I also really love Mr. Hai Kabuki sushi on Olivaer Platz. They have a fab lunch deal for 14 € that includes a miso soup, tea, and 3 plates from the conveyor belt or the extensive menu.
If you really love Georgian food, you are in luck as it seems to be the newest trend here — Georgian places are all over town, including in Mitte (i.e. very near the Museumsinsel). Kin Za is lovely and open for lunch.
Depending on which days you are in Mitte/Museumsinsel, there’s a small market on Hackescher Markt where one can grab a currywurst, gözleme, Korean fried chicken, cheeseburgers, and other sundry items from a few food trucks. I would stay away from any restaurants directly at Hackescher cuz it’s a massive tourist area.
Also nice, but a bit of shlep (ok, maybe 15 min from the Museumsinsel) is Monsiuer Vuong, a hip and good Vietnamese place that’s been around forever.
A little closer is The Noodle Town on Grosse Hamburger Strasse with hand-pulled noodles (another newish trend I heartily embrace), which is also open for lunch.
Lastly, I am not familiar with the Adana in Charlottenburg, but for true Turkish food you should hop on the U7 (which is near you), take it to Hermannplatz, then walk up a few steps to Kottbusser Damm & have the Mardin pistachio special adana kebap at restaurant Mardin (see my review below).
Kreuzberg is the place to go for Turkish food.
Lemme know if there’s other stuff you are interested in
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super, thanks! I had seen stuff about changes in the Thai market, really sorry about that id hoped it had been restored. Yes Rogacki, thanks on that one and all these other reccs, including the kidney warnings for Marjellchen! The Adana Grillhaus on Ku’damm seems to be associated with others Adana Grillhaus- didnt you recommend one of these at some point? - in all events thanks for pointing me to a central location in the Turkish neighborhood to aim for, I was hoping for that as a place to swing over to at lunchtime! Its all very helpful!
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I did recommend Adana Grillhaus in Xberg, and if the Charlottenburg place is part of their empire, then the food ideally should be just as good as at their main branches
The lamb ribs are amazeballz.
Dinner last night with a Canuck couple at one of my favorite Turkish places in town, Mardin. They are the only restaurant serving midye & their specialty: chopped (not ground) Adana kebab with pistachios. I’ve been salivating all year in anticipation of both, and — to use the tired old phrase — it did not disappoint.
We shared an order of 10 midye,
a “small” appetizer plate (like, don’t ever even think about ordering one for yourself, cuz you won’t be able to finish nor eat anything beyond that)
and two orders of the kebabs, which was the perfect amount of food.
I was looking forward to having a nice big glass of Helles with my food until I remembered that it’s one of many places that don’t serve alcohol, so I had two freshly made mugs of ayran instead.
It was a little difficult having a conversation, unfortunately, as there were a couple of large Turkish families with several babies / infants that were screaming nonstop throughout our meal, with nobody bothering to step outside and try to calm them. I guess that what goes for #atmosphere there
We’re going back at least once more before we leave. They sell the midye for takeout all day long, so a lunch of them might also be an option
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Everything looks fantastic especially the meze !
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Make sure to go with more than 2 folks. It’s so much food!
Natascha, in case you’re interested in Italian cuisine, I recommend Al Dente on Greifswalderstrasse. We thoroughly enjoyed the last time we were in Berlin.
Thank you so much, I think you’ve mentioned the place before when we had a pad literally on Greifswalder in '22, but never made it there.
We “only” have about 3 weeks left now, and there is more Turkish & GOOD Vietnamese & Thai to be had. Shamefully, we take far too little advantage of the Italian restaurants here bc pasta is one of few things I cook at our vacation pad on the regular bc we have so many great ingredients at our fingertips - e.g. this is what I made tonight
but I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you for the reminder 
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Pas de probleme!
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Lunch today was at a highly popular, relatively new smashburger & fries ‘chain’ (they currently have 4 locations in Berlin and are branching out nationally).
Each time we’ve scooted by the place there was a line, but today we lucked out. You order on a touch screen and wait until they call your number.
We got a double super smash brother burger and an order of fries that could’ve fed a small army. The burger was very good. I’d totally smash that again. Needless to say we didn’t finish the fries. All burgers are also available in vegetarian or vegan versions.
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