Cafe Mia

Cafe Mia (Flash site) is a cafe with an interesting concept: it changes its color scheme "on daily basis and on weekend every half-an-hour." Figure out what color makes you look most attractive, and bring your date.

In addition to the usual cafe food and drink fare, Cafe Mia offers hot cocktails and free Scandanavian chips, which I've never tried but sound lovely on cold Berlin days. Also free Wifi!

Pappelallee 58

Nocti Vagus

"Nicht sehen heisst anders sehen." Berlin's "dark" restaurant and club, where the entire meal is served in total darkness. Menu (readable) and more at Nocti Vagus

We received a comment from a reader in 2006:

I went to the dark restaurant the other night, and it was an excellent experience, but unfortunately not for the actual food. In terms of food it was one of the worst restaurants I've ever been to, of any cost, and this was in fact maybe the most expensive I've ever paid for (a friend and I paid a total of 80 euros for the 3 course meal and one drink each). I had the vegetarian meal, and my friend had the seafood, and we both had the same experience. The salad and soup was fine, but the main course and dessert was terrible. It seemed a lot of the food wasn't fresh (e.g. crumbed fish-finger nuggets in salad, canned fruit), and my main course consisted of a lot of tough, spongey material (I think oyster mushrooms and wheat-based meat substitute, which tasted like it had been cooked in animal fat), soaked in a cheesy sauce, and some fairly plain cheesy potato fritters. My dessert seemed to be quite tasteless canned fruit (served in the syrup). It seems the reviews from a few years ago rate the whole thing highly, but I saw one recent one that reported the same experience we had - "you guide the fork to your mouth in the dark to bite down on chunks of fat, and most of the rest of the meat consists of cords". However, it was great fun, and I would still recommend it, one just has to be prepared to hate the food.

Saarbrücker Str. 36-38 (not sure if this is actually Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg)

Maothai

Maothai is a much talked about restaurant in the Berlin gastro scene. And not without good reason. There is no doubt that it's the best Thai spot in the city. Everything about it is just perfect: the food, the service, the atmosphere, the prices. The tables are beautifully laid out with crisp white tablecloths, the cutlery and glasses are highly polished. The decor is not overdone, it's clean and calm. Service is ultra friendly and the prices are very reasonable - you're looking at between 12 and 17 Euros for a main dish. There's no guide to Berlin which doesn't mention this restaurant, so I think it should be included here too. If you like Thai food, Maothai is a must visit. You won't be disappointed.

Maothai - Wörtherstr. 30, Prenzlauer Berg, Tel. 4419261

Babel

Kastanienallee 33 Mitte / Prenzlauerberg

This is a schwarma and falafel place. A doner place? No. There is a difference! (I think it might be that doner is turkish and schwarma is Lebanese). Anyway schwarma tastes a lot better. And while it would be ridiculous to try to list all the good places like this in Berlin, a few of them stand out and this is one of them. Typical schwarma falafel fare, but well prepared and very friendly.

Visited Babel with friends again in 2005, and it's still going strong, the best schwarma around, and massive portions for cheap. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Bambi Bar

Kollwitzstr 97 Prenzlauerberg

This is a great bar. The bartenders are the owners, and they like you to feel at home. Very good Pina Coladas.

It also happens to be within a WiFi hotspot, if that interests you.

Mauer Park

Prenzlauerberg, near the Eberswalder Strasse U-Bahn. So named because the Wall ran through here. This place is a trip on summer nights - DJs, people hanging out, shooting hoops, drinking beer, selling drugs. Summer days, people sunbathe, play soccer, drink, and just hang out in a pretty unique way.

On Winter nights it's cold and long, and inevitably between where you are and where you want to be.

Gorki Park

Weinbergsweg 25, Mitte (at the Rosenthalerplatz U-bahn)

I'll call this a restaurant, because the beer is just plain old Radeberger but the food is really special. The Borscht is vegetarian and fantastic. The Pelmini, little dumplings, are good too. And if they have wildgulaschsuppe that day, don't miss that either. Good people watching, cute Russian waitresses. Slide projector shows images of Russia on the wall. Non-smokers beware.

Updated November 2005. I was just back in Berlin for the first time since 2002, and Gorki Park's even nicer now. It's expanded into the neighboring space, and now feels a lot less cramped. It's been attractively redecorated, and isn't quite as Slavic as it once felt; it's now just a very pleasant cafe with stylish 60's furniture.

Razzia in Budapest

Oderbergerstr 38, Prenzlauerberg
This is one of my favorite bars in Berlin. Super friendly, great atmosphere, DJs on the weekends (but I've never seen anyone dance, except myself), no covers. Good cocktails, and there's a special drink every night for cheaper.

Click here to go to Zitty's entry for this bar with events.

Im Nu

Cafe Im Nu on Helmholtzplatz isn't anything terribly special, but they seem to have all the essentials for a nice cafe down: good location on a nice Platz, some space for outdoor seating, pleasant lighting inside, reasonable prices, and a cheap Sunday brunch. (Service can be just as slow as at any other cafe in Berlin.) I guess other places on Helmholtzplatz have those things, too, but we keep going back to Im Nu.

Marietta

Stargarderstr 12, near the Schönhauser Alle S- and U-bahn.

Despite the very cool retro furniture and decor that usually signals high prices, Marietta is actually a very friendly and reasonably intexpensive place. Latte Macchiato for about €2, and a fine croissant, fruit, and jams breakfast for about €2.50. Self-serve, so go up to the bar to order. Good music every time I've been there, and DJs on some nights. Where do I get some of those 50's floor lamps in perfect condition, though?

Gorgiel ("The Red Bar")

Zionskirchstrasse 63. We can never remember the real name of this place, Gorgiel, so we just call it Red Bar. This place must only get going after 2am (the latest I’ve been there), because it’s often almost empty. Which is weird given the cheap and good drinks and friendly staff. Plus, the inside is cleverly divided into several spaces for small groups. And everything is red.

Oderbergerstrasse

Oderbergerstrasse, a left turn at the north end of Kastanienalle, just might escape the wholesale renovation of Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg that happened all around it. It’s a spectacular street, wide and with tall, gorgeous, and often crumbling old apartment buildings. Now that the restoration boom is clearly over, maybe they’ll leave some of these places intact. Some of the bars along here, like Nemo and Raizza in Budapest, can be too cool for school, but you’ll also find a decent Vietnamese place and several Indian restaurants. On summer nights the kids hang out all night.