Dinners in Berlin Please?

[Hypnotic23]

I'll be spending a week long business trip in Berlin and would love some suggestions.

Last years visit this site was great in sharing all the street food to try.

For this trip I would love some suggestions for:

-Steak & Wine

-Sushi/Seafood

-Italian

-and nice German Food restaurants with a wine list

Thank you in advance,

Stuart

[Hypnotic23]

I'll be staying at the Estrel Hotel in Berlin, I know its far away from the city and closer to the Polish border but will cab it.

Last year we tried this sushi/japanese spot and was very disappointed:

VOX/Sushi
Restaurant Vox-Grand Hyatt Hotel-Berlin
Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 2,
10785 Berlin
Telefon: [phone]

Would love some feedback on my intial post.

Thanks,

Stuart

[linguafood]

steak & wine - entrecôte in mitte
sushi - mr. hai in wilmersdorf @olivaer platz (go for the lunch special between 12 and 4 pm)
italian... so many. noodles & figli in kreuzberg, trattoria paparazzi in prenzlauerberg...
nice german food: renger-patzsch in schöneberg

feel free to peruse my (albeit mostly german language) berlin blog for more suggestions:

http://bitchinberlin.wordpress.com/

[Hypnotic23]

Thank you, can you provide these suggestions address please?

I appreciate it,

Stuart

[linguafood]

they're all easily googled, but sure:

entrecôte - schützenstr. 5
mr. hai kabuki - olivaer platz 10
noodles & figli - skalitzer str. 94b
trattoria paparazzi - husemannstr. 35
renger-patzsch - wartburgstr. 54

guten hunger!

[Hypnotic23]

LinguaFood-

Do you suggest these 2 spots to eat too?

Restaurants:

http://www.marjellchen-berlin.de/


http://www.engelbecken.de/

[linguafood]

you know, i've never been to either, and don't know the wine selection at engelbecken, but it definitely fits your quest for German food. i've heard good stuff about it, from people that i trust. from where you are staying, of course, that's quite a hike.

Marjellchen's gotten good reviews on chow as well. From personal experience, i can only speak for renger-patzsch, which is probably 'nearest' to you.

[Hypnotic23]

thats very nice of you, so from all these suggestions you gave me, you took into thought where my hotel is in Berlin.

If so I'm going by all your suggestions for this trip and I thank you very much.

Stuart :>)

[linguafood]

You will have to use public transportation to get to any of these, given the location of your hotel -- some trips are shorter, some longer (but none should be over 30 min... everything in the center can be reached within 30 minutes), but hey -- you get to see the city, and there isn't a hell of a lot to choose from where you are.

Enjoy the food!

[Hypnotic23]

I agree, last year most of the spots we dined at were in the area of the Sony Center. By the way, my boss loves fine wine and upscale steakhouses, is entrecôte one of the best for us to try?

Thanks,

Stuart

[linguafood]

Supposedly, your best bet for steak is at grill royal near friedrichstr., the service can be crappy, tho.

It's a 'hipper' place than entrecôte, so I don't know what's important to you. It certainly has a larger selection of steaks (including wagyu). Not sure about the wine list.

[Hypnotic23]

I want to stay in Berlin and no more then 30 minutes from our hotel Estrel.

A nice steakhouse, thats classy, dress nice, I dont mind a hip crowd, we just want a pleasant environment, good food and wines?

Knowing this which should we go to for our Steak evening?

Again-thank you for all your help,

Stuart :>)

[linguafood]

either one, tho from what you're saying, maybe grill royal is your better bet.

[Hypnotic23]

Well, I leave in 3 weeks for a 5 day trip to Berlin, reservations are all booked just in need for a couple more:

Thurs-Entrecote
Friday-Grill Royal
Sat.-Trattori Papparazzi Pizzeria

Thank you linguafood

Now my new question, since everywhere I look is a Turkish Kebob spot, are there any good restaurants for Turkish Kabobs worth trying close to me? Again I'm staying at the Estrel Hotel-Berlin and will take the most a 25 minute cab ride.

My back up spots to try are:

Mr. Hai Kabuki Sushi and Renger-Patzsch...

I'll await replies,

Stuart :>)

[linguafood]

the best döner (which i think you mean by kebab) is to be had at imren on boppstr. in neukölln -- the IMBISS, NOT the sit-down place; for some reason, despite the massively large number of turkish immigrants, really good turkish sit-down food is hard to come by in berlin. or maybe they're just keeping it from us germans '-)

it should not be too far from your hotel.

kabuki is further away from you, and keep in mind that it is a lunch deal (9.50 for miso soup, three plates, and aycd tea between 12 and 4 pm). it gets _really_ expensive at dinner time.

renger-patzsch is always good for regional german grub.

can't wait to hear about your experiences!!

[Hypnotic23]

What does this word mean or is this the name of the place?

the IMBISS

[Hypnotic23]

linguafood,

knowing I have 2 extra nights for more dinners and you know the area I'm staying in. I like all type of foods, is there a must go to spot you can simply suggest?

Thanks,

Stuart

[linguafood]

oops, sorry. imbiss is the german word for snack bar, or in this case, a kebab shop. imren has two locations on boppstr., and i'd vote for the take-away place. they bake their own flatbread, and the döner is unusually spiced, with hints of cinnamon. nothing else like it in berlin, i think.

as for the other two nights, depends on how much money you want to spend. i like pata negra, which is a modern spanish resto in mitte with a molecular theme. not crazy expensive, but also not cheap. go for some of the multi-course options, they're a better deal than ordering à la carte.

or you can try your luck at getting a rez @henne, the chicken place in kreuzberg. mmmmmmm fried chicken '-D

[Hypnotic23]

Your the best with all your feedback and knowledge for your country, hats off to you! :>)

Is this the spot your talking about for fried chicken, is it within 20-30 minutes from my hotel Estrel?

http://www.henne-berlin.de

Thank you again,

Stuart

[linguafood]

yep, henne it is. anything that isn't west of charlottenburg should be farther away than 30 minutes from your hotel. as a rule of thumb, most destinations within the city center can be reached within 30 minutes. ok, maybe sometimes 40 min. guess it just has to be worth it, then.

and don't think you have to cab everywhere. the public transport system (ubahn/subway & s-bahn/elevated trains) is amazing and pretty easy to navigate, compared to paris or nyc.

[Hypnotic23]

LinguaFood-

I leave in 2 weeks for this business trip, fun and happy eating!

Final question, 90% of the reviews on trattoria paparazzi on the web say its terrible. Please tell me what you like there so much, should we get the pizza or a pasta dish? Reading various reviews the one dish everyone likes is the spinach risotti?

Share your thoughts,

Stuart

[linguafood]

i don't know where you got the bad reviews. some people find the service to be overly cheesy, i personally couldn't care less about that.

for apps, i can recommend the tuna carpaccio with fried capers in lemon oil, or the vitello tonnato, or the antipasti plate.

never had the pizza, always go for the pasta. i find the malfatti (spinach ricotta "pasta") to be a bit intense, so generally choose any of the other pasta dishes. had fantastic strozzapetri with beans and pancetta recently. i don't think you can go wrong with the pasta, even tho their meat and fish always looks tempting...

[kaesemeister]

A few additional thoughts....perhaps Sale e Tabbachi, Der goldene Hahn, Pappa e Ciccia for italian. Berlin is not a great city for sushi in my opinion.

[linguafood]

I've only gone to Goldener Hahn twice = the first & last time. I found it to be loud, overpriced, and bad quality food.

Mr. Hai is pretty awesome, as far as sushi is concerned. Not your traditional kinda place, but always good.

[Hypnotic23]

LinguaFood-

First off, thank you so much since your recommendations have been incredible. I'm typing from Berlin right now and so far have tried 2 of the spots:

ENTRECOTE, was simply unbelievable, nice setting and incredible food, they slice this bagette bread first for your table, then we started with some shrimp & scallop skewers which were very taste. My business partner and I split the Chateau Briyian, excuse my spelling, it came with these wonderful peas and potatoe fritte. On top of this we had wonderful wines, for dessert the chocolate lava cake was wonderful.

Now tonight we just returned rom ROYAL GRILL, way more elegant but I actually enjoyed Entrecote more. Royal Grills jalapeno bread they bring out was nice and crusty with so much flavor. Of course we had more wine here too. We started out with the seafood sampler and it had everything from oysters, to giant prawns, lobster, crab, tuna ceviche, octopus and more. For my main course I had a filet mignon from Ireland, very nice along with a side of brussel sprouts in bacon and potatoes. For dessert I had the baked apples with ice-cream, a wonderful meal...

More to come...

Thank you,

Stuart

[linguafood]

I'm very glad to hear that! Enjoy your coming culinary experiences and continue to share. And if you don't / didn't like something, I want to hear about that as well. Don't be shy!

Cheers & guten Appetit.

[Hypnotic23]

Just finished dinner at=

trattoria paparazzi - husemannstr. 35

this was the first italian restaurant to open in east berlin during the communist era, we really enjoyed this spot and ordered so much food. Of course we started with some nice italian wine, then into the anti pasta appetizer, tuna carmichio, and some facasha bread, excuse spelling. Then for our main course we were hoping for the lamb but they sold out, instead we had 2 dishes we split, the stuffed chicken with buffalo cheese and a wonderful rissoto rice and a penne pasta with meat, wonderful. Then we shared 4 combo desserts, very nice time, thank you

[Hypnotic23]

O.K. its a year later and I'm sure others will have new suggestions for me to try too, heading to Berlin in a few months:

"LinguaFood" I always apreciate your wonderful picks too.

Again, we're after places within a 20 minute cab ride from the Hotel Estrell in Berlin.

Would love suggestions for Italian food, steak dishes, to simply great food spots for a nice company dinner.

My 2 favorite spots after visiting the last 3 years are:

trattoria paparazzi - husemannstr. 35

and

entrecôte - schützenstr. 5

Royal Grill was over rated

Thank you,

Stuart

[linguafood]

Well, you'll have the same problem given your limit of '20 min. cab ride' from the hotel -- it really DOES limit your selection of restaurants, and perhaps you might consider venturing out a bit further, or being more generous with your time constraint.

Some great German food can be had at Hartmanns Restaurant in Kreuzberg near Südstern, for Italian, try Noi Quattro (also near Südstern) or Noodles & Figli on Skalitzer Str. These are all in the 'eastern' part of Kreuzberg, so nearest to your hotel location.

As for steak, you can either go back to Entrecôte, or try Filetstück, but they are further away in Prenzlauer Berg.

Also, you should try Dos Palillos, which -- despite its name -- is an Asian-influenced, experimental new place everyone's raving about. I've yet a chance to try it, but it was featured in the NYT recently. Their deal: 45 Euro for 12 courses or 60 Euro for 16 courses can hardly be beat.
Guten Hunger!

[Hypnotic23]

Thank you very much

[Hypnotic23]

Which do you feel is better between these two?

http://www.noiquattro.de/index_nq14.php

or

http://www.noodles-figli.de/blog/

[linguafood]

They're basically in two different leagues: NoiQuattro is pricier, and to be honest, I was never *that* blown away by their food; Noodles has much more of a Berlin feel to it -- young owners, casual atmosphere, adventurous cuisine: really good food at VERY reasonable prices.

I noticed that they still don't have an English website or menu, but of course you may know German well enough to check out the food. The menu for today looks pretty exciting.

In case you visit, maybe you can mention my recommendation, and perhaps they'll recall I do menu translations '-)

Enjoy!

[Hypnotic23]

What do you know about this new spot "SHABUKI" that just opened next to Mr. Hai Kabuki Sushi Bar Restaurant?

Would love your feedback on Shabuki & Kabuki Sushi?

Thanks,

Stuart

[Hypnotic23]

Is this spot still open, the website is down?

Pata Negra (Spanish Food & Tapas Bar)
Address: Rosenstr. 18-19, Berlin, 10178
Tel: [phone]

[linguafood]

Ha, funny you would ask about shabuki - I was recently at their opening party. I can't say much about the price structure, since everything was free that night, but I'd definitely check it out. It's a beautiful place, btw. Kabuki sushi is right next door and my "go-to" sushi joint. Nuff said. Go and stuff yourself '-D

Pata Negra, unfortunately, has closed. Now there's an upscale Mexican place I can't say anything about.

PS: Here's my write-up on the shabuki opening (don't know how good your German is, tho) http://bitchinberlin.wordpress.com/20...

[Hypnotic23]

I like your review of the place, though I remember you saying it is far from our Hotel Estrel.

Are there any good restaurants in the Sony Center or around there too?

By the way, is that place you raved about last year still around, a mexican & an australian who opened a spot together, forgot the name?

[linguafood]

Octogon is on Leipziger Platz, near Sony Center, so is Midtown Grill - the latter kinda being your run of the mill steakhouse... nothing special.

You can always check out some of the high end hotel restos on Potsdamer Platz.

Maria Bonita is still around. They've expanded and now operate 3 locations, two of which (Maria Peligro & Santa Maria) are closer to your hotel than the original one. Sadly enough, Maria Peligro was a letdown (also see my blog), but I haven't been to Santa Maria on Oranienstr. My friend from Colorado loves the place, fwiw.

[Hypnotic23]

Linguafood-

Hello, I leave for my Berlin trip in 3 weeks. One more question for you, my business partners are staying at Kongress Hotel in Potsdam. While I'm in that area do you know of some good spots from Steak to Italian to German food or anything else thats really good for a dinner?

Thanks,

Stuart

[linguafood]

Yo. Potsdam's not my hunting grounds, so any and all suggestion I can give you are pretty much second hand. That said, I've heard good stuff about them from friends.

Italian - Casa Martini www.casa-martini.de
German - Juliette www.restaurant-juliette.de

I'd forego the steak - nothing there, really.

[Hypnotic23]

Thank you Entrecote is still my favorite spot to eat for all dishes including steak, that was a good pick by yourself Lingua

[trilliumg]

Hi Stuart,

My husband and I had a lovely Italian meal at Pino in Potsdam over the summer. Service was friendly and after seeing how much we liked the food, the waiter gave us little bits of other dishes on the side so that we could try them.

http://www.pino-potsdam.de/

[Hypnotic23]

Thank you Trillumg, this does look like a nice spot, just we already made reservations for this evening in Potsdam at Casa Martini, the owner seems like a very nice man in emailing me the english menu too. I hope its good :>) Cheers

[Ziontrain]

On the Sushi/seafood side (well this is neither, to be exact but has elements of both) I'd say that Dos Palillos is well worth the visit. Its not far from Hckescher Markt, on the ground floor of the Casa Camper Hotel. Probably owned by same people as the hotel - there are only two Casa Camper Hotels and both have this restaurant attached.

They describe it as a fusion of Spanish tapas and asian cusine.
http://www.dospalillos.com/home.php?r...
It's not cheap, but excellent food and outstanding service. It's a fixed menu in two sizes, I think 7 and 11 courses. They have great wines and sakes to match.