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Travel: Eating Internationally in Berlin

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viet2

By the time we made it to Berlin, we were a little tired of traditional Bavarian-style food. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every meal, but my tastebuds were ready for something different. And because Berlin is home to many different ethnic groups, our plan was to try as many different quick and cheap places as we could, especially Turkish food and doner kebabs. Although we weren’t staying in Kreuzburg, the center of Turkish eats in Berlin but still probably a little too gritty (and cool?) for us, we were staying in the nearby fun, student-filled neighborhood of Friedrichshain, which was full of cheap ethnic places and fun bars.

falafel

Our first night we walked to a falafel place called Nil recommended by our apartment owner. It was a little different than what we’re used to, as it was Sudanese-style falafel called tamiya. My delicious plate o’ balls came with mashed beans, an eggplant spread, peanut sauce, yogurt, and pieces of a thick pita-like bread. It was so.good. and got us excited for more food discoveries!

viet1

Before our tour the next day, we went to our only actual sitdown meal in Berlin for lunch (every place else had either a couple tables inside or picnic tables outside, where you could drink your own beer). Monsieur Vuong’s is a casual but nice restaurant in the Mitte serving healthy-ish takes on Vietnamese dishes. After starting with the seafood- and veggie-filled spring rolls (pictured at top), we both had the special of the day – roast duck red curry with rice noodles. It was so comforting and fresh tasting at the same time – really one of the better Asian-style dishes I’ve ever had. The drinks are fun here, too. I started with an iced ginger green tea and fortified with a rich Vietnamese coffee before heading off to walk in the cool and rainy weather the rest of the afternoon.

doner

After reading so much about the Turkish restaurants in the Kreuzburg neighborhood, and well as several recommendations for Imren Grill as some of the best doner in the city, we took a detour there on our way home for our first Berlin-style kebab experience. The flavorful gyro-like meat did not disappoint! Excuse the blurry picture – I was so hungry by that point, I just wanted to get the food in mah belly (this was a pattern in Berlin)!

kofte

We spent part of the next afternoon wandering around an art fair/street food market on the Hackescher Markt square. We picked up some kofte durum, which is a wrap full of Turkish-style meatballs and plenty of toppings and what passes for “hot” sauce in Germany.

chik

For our final meal in Germany (not counting quick sandwiches for breakfast while waiting to board the plane, that is), we walked to another doner kebab place in our neighborhood, Doner Dach. The spit meat here was chicken-based, and whatever kind of seasonings and sauces they used quickly made this a standout among our Berlin meals.

The crummy iPhone photos (I upgraded from a 4 to a 5s soon after, which takes much better photos!) really don’t do any of this food justice. It was tasty, with varied flavors, filling, and CHEAP. With the exception of Monsieur Vuong’s, every meal we ate in Berlin cost us less than 10 euro total to feed both of us. We in general didn’t have the time or energy to do  much in Berlin, food and otherwise, so hopefully we will get back again some day!

Aaaand that’s a wrap on our Germany vacation. It only took me until 6 weeks before our next trip – back to Charleston at the end of February!


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