Berlin

Last month I was given the opportunity to go to Berlin with university to see the Berlin Film Festival. Of course, it was too good an opportunity to turn it down despite the mountains and mountains of work I have piling up. There is no better excuse than going away to try lots of different foods and to eat out for every single meal so I decided to document the food I ate throughout my 5 days there.

Day one:
After a long day of travelling we arrived at the hotel with just enough time to get changed and chuck our suitcases in our rooms before going out to get something to eat. This restaurant was near to our hotel in the district of Prenzlauer berg and was called Louisiana Kid. This was one of the most average meals I had during my stay but the nachos were definitely a highlight for me. Nonetheless, I was so exhausted from travelling that all I cared about was getting food in my belly before getting a good night's rest.

Louisiana Kid

Alte Schönhauser Straße 2

Nearest station: Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz

Day two:

Following a long day walking round the very cold Zoologischer Garten, we headed over to Kreuzberg to visit a restaurant recommended to us by both my friend and her Uncle. The restaurant was a small pizzeria called Il Casolare and it was truly amazing. It was by far my favourite meal I had in Berlin. I ordered the Texana Pizza which came topped with proscuitto, pepperoncini, beans and garlic. It was light and had a little bit of a kick to it and was the perfect size for one as well. I can't recommend this place enough but make sure you get down early as it is always packed!

Il Casolare

Grimmstraße 30

Nearest stations: Kottbusser Tor or Schönleinstraße

Day three:

After nursing hangovers all day and feeling generally dead (those Berliners know how to party) we decided to try out an Indian restaurant recommended by our hotel in an attempt to feel a little bit more human. I ordered the chicken tikka masala which was nice but certainly didn't taste like any tikka masala I have ever had in England. The highlight for me had to be the garlic naan though! Although this definitely wasn't as good as Indian food I've had back home, Mama India sorted out everyone's hangovers and set me up perfectly for a night in with Prosecco and ice cream.

Mama India

Schönhauser Allee 10

Nearest stations: Senefelderplatz or Rosa-Luxemberg-Platz

Day four:

The fourth day saw me finally get around to trying what is probably Germany's most famous cuisine - the humble Currywurst. Before getting to Berlin I had assumed a currywurst was some sort of curry flavoured sausage, however it turns out it is a chopped up sausage with ketchup and curry powder sprinkled on the top - who'd have thought it! It tasted a lot nicer than I expected but I don't think I will be making them myself in any hurry. Still, at least I can say I tried it!

Currywurst Express

inside the Ostbahnhof station

That evening our lecturers organised us a group meal for everyone to get together at a restaurant in Kreuzberg called Cafe V. My lecturer has been going here for years and after googling it and seeing it was a vegetarian restaurant I was a bit sceptical, however the food here was absolutely delicious! We had a set menu which included starter platters, a main, dessert and wine all for 20€ which was amazingly good value. The starter platters included spring rolls, goats cheese and courgette rolls, humous, tzatziki, salad, roasted vegetables, breaded artichokes and a few more bits that I forgot to make a note of (sorry). For the main course, there was a choice of three dishes - I went for the spinach and goats cheese pizza which was absolutely delicious. Not quite as nice as my pizza from Il Casolare but it was packed with flavour and I really enjoyed it. The dessert platters included fresh fruit and ice cream and was a perfect end to the meal. Unfortunately whilst we were in the restaurant, two of our party were victims of having money stolen from their bags whilst their backs were turned. I suppose tourists are always targets for these sorts of things so I would just advise keeping a close eye on your belongings, just in case!

Cafe V

Lausitzer Platz 12

Nearest station: Görlitzer Bahnhof

Day five:

As the days went by we realised we had brought way too many Euros so we decided to up our game and eat out for lunch as well as dinner. Day five saw us having lunch at Alexanderplatz in a pasta restaurant called Vapiano. This is a chain restaurant which, after doing a little bit of research, I have discovered we have in England too (although there's none outside of London just yet). Vapiano was a really great concept - you are given a card as you enter the restaurant which you use to total up the food you order. There are about 10 chefs cooking in an open kitchen and you form a queue in front of one, tell them what you want and they make it right in front of you. This means you can choose what sort of pasta you'd like, whether or not you want garlic or any spice - you can literally have your dish cooked however you like. I went for the linguine carbonara which was delicious. After they've cooked your dish, you place the little card on top of the till and it adds your dish to it. Then, once you've finished you take your card to the till on your way out and pay. It worked really well and their desserts were very tempting too. I couldn't resist the strawberry panna cotta and it was amazing. Really liked the fresh concept of Vapiano - I really hope it finds its way to Sheffield soon!

Vapiano

Alexanderplatz

Nearest station: Alexanderplatz

After watching Diary of a Teenage Girl as part of the film festival at Potsdamer Platz, we headed over to Zoologischer Platz where Robert Pattinson was meant to be appearing for the premiere of his film, Life. Before Pattinson's big appearance we had time to grab some dinner from a traditional German pub - the Alt Berliner Biersalon which was established in 1914. I thought I'd give the pork schnitzel a try in an attempt to eat something traditional before our flight home in the morning. It wasn't anything to shout about but I'm pleased I had a go at eating something German. On the plus side, we did get to see R Patz at the premiere!

Alt Berliner Biersalon

Kurfürstendamm 225/226

Nearest station: Kurfürstendamm