A food guide to Berlin, from fine dining to kebabs

30.09.2023 - 08:07 / nationalgeographic.com / Art

Berlin’s food scene is flourishing as never before. Over the past decade or so, partly thanks to relatively inexpensive rents and the city’s reputation for fostering creativity, local culinary entrepreneurs have been given platforms to experiment and grow, and chefs and restaurateurs have been drawn here from all over the world. Danish-born, Icelandic-trained chef Victoria Eliasdóttir is currently culinary director at vegetable-focused Dóttir; Vancouverite Dylan Watson-Brawn, chef and co-founder of Michelin-starred Ernst and its minimalist ‘little brother’, Julius, was named the top chef in Germany by Gault-Millau in 2022.

From supper clubs and street food to natural wines and Levantine fare, Berlin has embraced international trends and immigrant cuisines. Newly Michelin-starred restaurants sit alongside innovative takeaway stalls, making the city’s food scene diverse and constantly evolving. For visitors, the sheer volume of options can be overwhelming. To plan a weekend in Berlin that features lots of good food, you need to know where to look — not least because you’ll often find memorable meals in unexpected places. 

In the former East German borough of Mitte, for example, there are cute cafes tucked away in courtyards, and across the city, restaurants can be found in surprising spaces. Contemporary German venue Lovis is housed within the red-brick walls of a former women’s prison; brunch spot 21gramm is located in a beautifully restored former chapel. And you can sit on the pleasant, leafy terrace at garden-to-table Café Botanico and enjoy fresh, light, Italian-influenced dishes with a view of its otherwise completely hidden permaculture garden.

Vegans are famously well-catered for in Berlin, in fact plant-based dining has led the charge for innovation in the city, from the flavourful doughnuts sold at plant-based chain Brammibal’s Donuts, founded in Berlin in 2015, to the four-course menu at Michelin-Green-starred Frea. And thanks to a recent boom in third-wave coffee shops and roasteries, bean hounds have lots of options, too: head to Distrikt Coffee, in Mitte, or Kreuzberg’s Kaffee 9 for some of the best speciality brews in the city. 

And a visit to the capital isn’t complete without sampling its two legendary fast-food staples: currywurst (fried pork sausage, served with a tomato-based sauce, curry powder and fries) and doner kebab, the sandwich version of which originated with Turkish immigrants to Berlin in the 1970s. This is a city that’s long attracted tourists with its storied past and thriving arts and music scenes, but until recently it’s never really been a magnet for food-focused travellers. But now, Berlin is the perfect place for gourmands seeking a vibrant, multicultural, creative