As a former Berlin resident and frequent visitor, I’ve eaten my fair share of traditional German dishes like currywurst (sliced sausage smothered in a curried ketchup sauce), pork schnitzel, and potato pancakes.
But the city’s restaurant scene also boasts a vast array of international eats, from Turkish to trendy Asian fusion. Farm-to-table dining experiences with a global flair are increasingly popular, and while most menus are heavy on the meat, there are more and more vegan and vegetarian restaurant options — including one with a Michelin star.
My favorites list includes chic eateries and gourmet Michelin restaurants, but my personal go-to spots embody the more eccentric spirit of the city. Where else but in Berlin can you find a great burger in an old public toilet, excellent barbecue inside recycled shipping containers, and upscale vegetarian in a former nightclub?
Read on for my top 10 picks for the tastiest spots to try in Berlin.
In the Neukölln district, Coda has shaken up the concept of dessert and snagged two Michelin stars for its innovative spin on the usual final course. Chef René Frank’s five- or seven-course tasting menus feature unconventional savory-sweet interpretations of dessert with imaginative drink pairings. That can mean a gooey raclette-cheese-stuffed waffle with a dollop of dehydrated kimchi yogurt, paired with a pear cocktail. Or a grilled apple with a shallot-grape marmalade served atop an oat biscuit, accompanied by a 10-year-old Portuguese muscatel.
The menu changes with the seasons, though thankfully, I can always get my favorite treat: the signature caviar popsicle, a stick of vanilla and Jerusalem artichoke ice cream rolled in nuts and French caviar — trust me, it’s delicious.
Given the restaurant’s popularity and small size, with just 28 seats, reservations should be made in advance.
I come to Kreuzberg’s Ora for the food as much as the setting — a beautifully preserved 1860 pharmacy counter lined with original wood-and-glass apothecary shelves and antique medicine bottles. The daily three- to four-course menu uses seasonal, sustainable ingredients in inventive dishes like a veal tonnato with regionally sourced meat, and monkfish with sea urchin, lilac sprouts, and monk’s beard (a kind of sea vegetable).
The restaurant’s ambitious wine list is full of surprises, like a minerally white from the Spanish island of Tenerife and an orange wine from the Mosel — these and other wines are available by the glass, with tons more by the bottle.
If I’m not in the mood for a full meal, I grab a seat at the long wood bar for a glass of wine and better-than-average bar snacks, like raw oysters and the divine house-baked bread.
In true Berlin fashion, finding the Mitte dinner spot Cookies Cream is half the fun; you’ll walk down a series of alleyways, past trash containers, until you stumble upon a lighted doorway. Then you’ll ring the buzzer, announce your reservation, and voilà, you’re in! It’s all very club-like — not surprising since it’s inside a former nightclub — with industrial-chic design (concrete ceilings and exposed brick) and an electronic-music soundtrack.
Even a meat-eater like me was wowed by this high-end vegetarian and vegan restaurant, which has held a Michelin star since 2018. The tasting menu ranges from five to seven courses, and wine pairings (many biodynamic or natural) are available at an extra charge. What’s surprising is that there are no tofu or rice dishes on the menu; instead, the courses are centered around fresh and seasonal ingredients, like a summer melon soup with cauliflower and mint, or the barbecue carrots with cashew cheese.
Set inside 38 stacked shipping containers alongside Gleisdreieckpark in the Kreuzberg district, BRLO Brwhouse is a totally different kind of gastropub. There are excellent craft beers brewed on-site and smoked ribs and grilled burgers (with meat sourced from free-range farms), but there’s also a strong focus on vegetables prepared in surprising ways, like baked cauliflower glazed with BRLO’s pale ale, or fried chicory dressed in a smoked-tomato pesto.
The industrial-style interior with metal walls and long wood tables is undoubtedly cool, but I prefer to hang out in the sprawling park-front beer garden, open spring to early fall. Stake your claim at a picnic bench, then head to one of the self-service lines to order. The outdoor menu is more limited than what’s offered indoors, but don’t miss the phenomenal mac and cheese. It’s also a kid-friendly beer garden, with a large sandbox play area.
It’s not often I need to dress up in Berlin, but I break out my best for Grace Restaurant, a swanky spot tucked inside the five-star Hotel Zoo in Charlottenburg. The dining room has a seductive feel with plush, green-velvet chairs, black leather booths, and glittering chandeliers enclosed in cages — and the people-watching isn’t bad either.
The international menu has an Asian bent, with a variety of sashimi and crudo, and mains like salmon tataki, miso black cod, and Wagyu steak topped with black truffles. The signature tacos — a bite-sized trio of tuna, lobster, beef tartare, or avocado that you can mix and match — are a crowd-pleaser.
Currywurst — pork sausage that’s boiled, fried, sliced, and slathered in ketchup, spices, and curry powder — is Berlin’s most famous fast food, and I think the best wurst in town is at Konnopke’s Imbiss, located beneath the U-Bahn tracks in Prenzlauer Berg. You can’t miss this mustard-yellow kiosk or the ever-present line of eager diners; after all, the business has been perfecting its currywurst recipe since 1930.
The menu is short and simple: There’s currywurst (and a vegan version), a few other types of sausages, fries and potato salad, and, of course, beer. Order from the window and enjoy your meal at one of the outdoor tables (most Berliners eat it standing) as the trains rumble above your head. It’s an iconic experience not to be missed.
Rooftop restaurants are few and far between in the capital, so it’s no wonder that NENI Berlin — with its sweeping views of the Berlin Zoo, Tiergarten park, and the Emperor Wilhelm Memorial Church from 10 stories up — is one of the most popular. Inside the glass-walled, greenhouse-style dining room that’s filled with hanging plants, you can dine on modern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, with Asian influences tossed into the mix.
Most dishes are ideal for sharing, like the mezze trio of hummus, babaganoush, and roasted cauliflower, or the beef-and-lamb kebab skewer with eggplant and cherry tomatoes. There are lots of creative vegetarian-vegan options, too; I recommend the king oyster mushroom shawarma, glazed with miso-harissa sauce and wrapped in pillowy grilled flatbread.
When the weather is fine, the best tables are out on the breezy wraparound terrace. Keep the party going by visiting the adjacent rooftop Monkey Bar, one of Berlin’s trendiest spots, with panoramic views of the city and the zoo.
When I have a craving for classic German comfort food, I head to Joseph Roth Diele, an old-school bistro on Potsdamer Strasse in the funky Tiergarten district. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric spot, with checkered tablecloths, an old piano, and wood-paneled walls adorned with photographs and drawings of its namesake Joseph Roth, an Austrian-Jewish novelist and journalist who lived next door in the 1920s.
It serves simple, stick-to-your ribs fare: goulash, potato salad, spätzle (a type of pasta), and especially good schnitzel. Dishes are also extremely affordable, especially the lunch specials, which are priced at around 6.50 euro.
It’s a neighborhood favorite, with a mainly local German crowd, though at lunch you’ll see a smattering of fashionably dressed internationals who gravitate here from the nearby art galleries. This restaurant is closed on weekends.
No matter which outpost of the Berlin-born Burgermeister chain you visit, you can be assured of an outstanding burger, though the fries can be hit-or-miss. But the original location in a century-old converted public toilet beneath the elevated U-Bahn platform at Schlesisches Tor certainly wins for being the most unique.
Expect a queue pretty much anytime, even in the wee hours — this location stays open until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to serve the hard-partying crowds that spill out from the bars around Kreuzberg’s Skalitzer Strasse.
Moist, juicy burgers come on a fluffy brioche bun, and are just the right size to be easily portable — the limited seating at the original location is only outdoors, and not fun in Berlin winters. Lines are usually shorter, plus you can eat inside, at the other locations around town — I like the Eberswalder outpost in Prenzlauer Berg, which has both indoor and outdoor seating.
I remember being wowed by my first dinner at the two-Michelin-star Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer, more than a decade ago. On a recent visit, I was happy to see that the dining room, tucked inside the historic five-star Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin, with views of the Brandenburg Gate and exemplary service, hadn’t changed.
The kitchen still turns out gourmet modern European cuisine, firmly rooted in the classic French style, and presented only as a tasting menu (from six to eight courses). But now helmed by the young Swiss chef Reto Brändli, who joined in May 2022 and arrived with two Michelin stars under his belt.
Dishes are exquisitely crafted and beautifully presented; the fish courses, in particular, are standouts, including a delicate, lightly seared salmon accompanied by a salad of cucumber and radishes. The wine pairings (mainly German) are excellent and include limited-edition bottles as well as surprises like a crisp, sparkling cider. This is among the most special of Berlin’s dining experiences, and definitely worth the splurge for a special treat.
View Insider’s comprehensive guide to visiting Berlin.
Read next