WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/wahl-in-amerika/wahl-in-amerika-barack-obama-als-amerikanischer-praesident-wiedergewaehlt-11951516.html

HAPPINESS ABOUNDS. DIE VERNUNFT HAT GESIEGT.

bar nou? no. no more….

bar nou, one of my favorite berlin cocktail bars, apparently just lost the majority of their staff due to reasons unknown to me…. which is why my man michael & his friendly colleagues are no longer working there.

guess we’ll hafta stick to stagger lee & reingold from now on. oh, well.

bunte tierwelt in mitte / ein hase saß im tiefen touri-tal…

… und fragte sich, ob es tatsächlich möglich ist, auf der oranienburger strasse gut zu essen – dort, wo der großteil des gastronomischen angebots in der ungünstigen kombination schlecht & teuer daherkommt, was bei touristen natürlich prima klappt, die kommen ja sowieso nie wieder.

wer in berlin wohnt, vermeidet die oranienburger normalerweise. nur in notfällen (z. b.  bei besuch) läuft man ingottesnamen von der friedrichstrasse zum hackeschen und wieder zurück und wundert sich, wie all diese völlig austauschbaren buden nur so brummen, während man sich im slalom die mirchi-amrit-kellner vom leibe hält…

an der ecke krausnickstrasse, ausgerechnet gegenüber dem indischen restaurant, das hauptsächlich mit billig-pizza (!) wirbt, verspricht eine große tafel auf dem bürgersteig deutsche tapas. 

am eingang des im souterrain gelegenen restaurants hängt die speisekarte: eine lose-blätter-sammlung mit allerlei verlockenden leckereien, die mich überzeugte, einige tage später wiederzukehren. ich habe dies nicht eine sekunde bereut.

es gibt hausgemachte limonaden (fichtennadel z. B.), tegernseer helles vom fass und eine kleine weinauswahl.

die karte ist übersichtlich, es gibt salat und suppe, einige beilagen und eben „tapas“. kleine, feine (aber dabei keineswegs mickrige) portionen, die alle unter 7 € liegen, sich gut teilen lassen & vor allem wirklich großartig schmecken. man möchte das klischee „mit liebe gemacht“ bemühen – nicht zuletzt auch wegen des sehr engagierten und freundlichen services.

der backfisch vom steinbeißer auf rahmgurken und kürbiskernen ist perfekt: außen knusprig, innen saftig – die rahmgurken mit einem hauch kürbiskernöl verfeinert.

bandnudeln mit geräuchertem pilzrahm hatten tatsächlich eine rauchnote im sößchen,

die rehkeule mit balsamico-kirschen und pfifferlingen war zart & medium-rare,

das blutwursttörtchen mit sauerkraut ist zum hineinsetzen gut, insbesondere kombiniert mit einem wunderbaren kartoffelpü.

es macht spaß, sich durch die karte zu kosten, wir fingen zu zweit mit 4 tellern an & teilten uns dann noch einen fünften – das sagenhafte blutwursttörtchen.

draußen lässt sich hübsch das treiben der touristenhorden beobachten, drinnen im souterrain ist es auch nett, die musikauswahl kann zuweilen erheitern.

zum schwarzen hasen             krausnickstr. 1        10115 berlin

bunte tierwelt in mitte: die schicke miez im kiez

das katz orange bietet laut eigener website saisonale küche mit internationalen einflüssen aus regionalen zutaten & humaner tierhaltung. das ist kein besonders neues konzept, auch die optik des durch die bank jungen, hippen service-personals ist einem aus anderen restaurants in mitte durchaus geläufig.

es gibt gute biere vom faß, eine kreative, wenn auch nicht in jedem fall überzeugende cocktail- und weinkarte sowie – man lese und staune – auf wunsch zur begleitung der georderten alkoholika karaffenweise Leitungswasser… ohne, dass auch nur mit einer wimper gezuckt wird.

was das kätzchen wirklich gut kann: hervorragend gut kochen. das liegt sicher auch daran, dass hier 2 ehemalige köche von tim raue am werk sind. der service ist darüber hinaus unglaublich freundlich und professionell.  meine absoluten favoriten, für die sich ein besuch jederzeit lohnt, befinden sich auf der regulären abendkarte:

fangen wir mit einer schnöden „beilage“ an: die pommes. jawoll, ich habs gesagt. hier wird die mutter aller pommes zubereitet – großartige, dicke batzen kartoffeliger wonne, die in gänseschmalz (bio, versteht sich!) frittiert werden und an knusprigkeit außen sowie fluffigkeit innen an nichts übertroffen werden, was jemals unter der bezeichnung „pommes“ meine lippen passiert hat.

die ausgesprochen üppig bemessene portion, die als beilage locker für 3 personen reicht, bekommt man für geschmeidige 6 €; dazu kann man eine auswahl hausgemachter saucen bestellen – hier fährt man mit der traditionellen rot/weiß combo sehr gut, der avocado-apfel-joghurt war nicht ganz so mein ding.

ein tatar vom freilandrind (16 €) ist ebenfalls so großzügig portioniert, dass es locker als hauptspeise durchgehen könnte – selbst als geteilte vorspeise sind die gut angemachten 200g unglaublich sättigend, auch der salat vom brandenburger feld läßt sich gut zu zweit als auftakt teilen.

der absolute renner allerdings ist das ab 2 personen bestellbare, 12 stunden lang geschmorte duroc schwein mit allerlei beilagen (saisonale salate, zitronen-knoblauch-joghurt, schmorfond, süss-saure zwiebeln, „carlo’s gemüse“ und maisbrot. tonnenweise brot.).

der braten kommt mit 2 gabeln auf den tisch, die mühelos das wunderbar zarte, saftige & aromatische fleisch zerteilen. bißchen schmorfond drüber, das zitronen-joghurt paßt prima zum gemüse, pommes dazu & ein feines maxlrainer helles vom faß – tja, und dann wird so richtig reingehauen. satt & wohlig verläßt man die katz und freut sich schon auf das nächste mal.

intermission

my laptop died. until i get my files back, there will be the occasional silly link to keep youz content without actually producing any content. get it? ha. ha.

http://boingboing.net/2012/07/10/behold-the-doucheburger.html

but soon, you’ll hear about at least two of my new favorite restos in my favorite city. i promise.

bourdain strikes again!

http://eater.com/archives/2012/06/27/heres-an-exclusive-look-at-anthony-bourdains-get-jiro.php

awesomeness where you least expect it….

psssst — don’t tell anyone! but it would seem that part of eberswalder is becoming a new destination for some very good & very affordable food.

besides the already fairly popular italian eatery cotto e crudo and a relatively new korean place, a couple of folks from the team that brought you themroc on torstrasse  have opened up a french bistro that will keep you coming back for more.

the small resto with perhaps 40 seats total and an indiscriminate storefront features an open kitchen, where two cooks work their daily magic cranking out some damn fine dishes at incredibly reasonable prices. take one of the daily specials on a recent evening, for example, all of which are written on the blackboard: an appetizer of fantastic veal tartar with wild herb salad and a luscious piece of eggplant rang up at 7.20 euro. the regular menu features a small selection of appetizers & mains, all of which are well under 20 euro, and most everything ordered that evening was very good to great. don’t know if there’s a wine list, as we were quite happy with ordering several carafes of the house white and >gasp< tap water!

the service, a friendly but slightly overwhelmed young lady, can be a bit slow, so make sure you are in the mood for a very French, very leisurely, very delicious & delightful evening.

and pretty please – do continue to pimp out the hungry hipster haven aka torstrasse to all your friends, pan-european & northamerican visitors from out of town, and let this be our dirty little secret. merci beaucoup.

les valseuses

eberswalder str. 28

laziness

yes, it’s been rather quiet around here — not many bites, or bits, or even tidbits. but sometimes, there’s just too much fun-i-mean-important-projects-of-course going on offline, and not enough time to be diligent.

to tie you over till the next post (soon, baby, soon!), here’s a hilarious post about parody menus that were handed out at the recent park slope “googamooga” food festival failure.

http://laughingsquid.com/hilarious-parody-menus-with-pretentious-sounding-offerings-handed-out-at-the-great-googamooga/

guilty as charged?

http://mashable.com/2012/03/27/eat-it-dont-tweet-it-music-video/

BEST OF BERLIN 2011/2012 – PART III

CLICK HERE FOR PART I & II

 Greek – Thai

GREEK

oh, my swarthy sweetheart, misunderstood mistress of covetous carnivores… after many childhood summers spent all over greece, where i experienced the true variety and awesomeness of greek food, i am very happy that – within the last couple of decades – germany (and, to an extent, berlin) has been blessed with plenty of tavernas, ouzerias and estiatorios whose culinary comestibles go well beyond massive mountains of meat à la  gyros, souvlaki & rubbery cheese-stuffed keftedes, piled over fries (!) with the obligatory blob of tzatziki, and which represent a broader range of traditional mezedes, seafood & regional specialties.

ousies / grunewaldstr. 16 / sch’berg

far from being an insider tip, this place has been a mainstay for reliably good mezes in schöneberg for a long time.

berkis / winterfeldtstr. 45 / sch’berg

as you can tell from my very own blog post back in 2009, i was rather enthusiastic. i’ve since been back a number of times each summer, and i have to say that the quality has gone down.  which is to say from fantastically awesome (way better than ousies, and cheaper at that) to probably as good as ousies / not as good on bad days, with still slightly cheaper prices than ousies. the gyros pita is still on the awesome side, though i order it w/out the fries. same neighborhood, but smaller & very popular.  just try to get a table outside in the summer. you’ll be waiting a while…

 

GOURMET

the fairly decent number of high-class foodie temples in berlin can be found on any other old blog/website. i personally can’t think of a single one that couldn’t be located anywhere else in the world. if you must, just go already and spend your hard-earned cashola on fancy fress-fests with exhausting concepts & ‘flavor profiles’ served to you over hours in minuscule portions until, after course #18 (petits fours and truffles on the house), you’re finally too full to do much of anything, let alone fuck. but hey, enjoy – what do i care :-P 

 

ITALIAN

like every hot-blooded german or shall i say most human beings, i have a love affair with italian food. if it weren’t so goddamn unhealthy, i’d eat pasta every other day. its versatility and deliciousness has no equal, at least not in my heart (or my stomach).

noi quattro / südstern 14 / xberg

it took owner and chef andreas staack a while to figure out what exactly he wanted this place to be – for a while, the place was even divided into an ‘haute cuisine” and a “regular” dining room, with neither ever being quite busy enough to justify that separation. i’d been there once even before that division took place, 5 or 6 years ago, and had found that the food, while sounding interesting and innovative, was rather lacking in flavor. it took a good 5 years and one revelatory dish of an incredible osso bucco raviolo with gremolata and sautéed chanterelles at the annual kreuzberg kocht event last year to completely change my mind. this is fantastic modern italian food – their house-baked breads and their take on vitello tonnato alone makes me want to go back again and again. bonus: a fairly large terrace with a nice view of südstern.

donath / schwedter str. 13 / p’berg

a neighborhood fave, this place is run by a horde of italian punks who cook incredibly delicious, down-home pasta dishes. you won’t find any fancy-shmancy ‘creations’, and if i hadn’t lived next door to the place, i likely would have never found out about it. nor would i make the trek from another neighborhood.  but if you happen to be in the area and are able to snag a table, it’s reliably great & won’t break the bank.

spaghetti western / torstr. 179 / mitte

despite its cheesy name & the location on berlin’s hipster food mile, the pasta served here is quite lovely. the menu is a comprehensive collection of traditional and non-traditional spaghetti dishes, including some fresh pasta options as well. the adjacent wine bar is, to my knowledge, owned by the same folks, and has a good selection of italian wines. order a bottle and you get a nice plate of delectables to munch on – a slice of pizza, some olives, a little slaw. great view of the hipster crowd parading by.

MIDDLE EASTERN

i do get my cravings for some nice middle eastern food out in the boondocks. berlin has an abundance of options for those addicted to hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, and the like in pretty much any neighborhood.

yarok / torstr. 193 / mitte

this little syrian gem near tucholskystr offers wonderful appetizer platters with all the usual suspects, but done excellently: grilled vegetables, lamb marinated in pomegranate molasses, zesty chicken & fabulous hummus. the housemade, fruity hot sauce is to die for – it delivers quite a zing with hints of orange zest, ginger, cloves and peppers. the ayran is served with fresh mint. lovely.

MEXICAN

there was a time, not so long ago, when mexican food in berlin (and germany) meant badly executed tex-mex… heavy on the burrito, beans & rice side, but not in a good way. three amigos have saved many a north american’s culinary sanity by opening up a trio of mexican joints that offer a fairly accurate taste of cal-mex and baja cuisine. the original, maria bonita, is still my numero uno, hermano.

 

PIZZA & FOCCACIA

a good pizza is hard to find, and the opinions on what makes the perfect slice are about as diverse as the range of possible toppings. i prefer a crispy & chewy, neapolitan-style crust with a good ratio of sauce, cheese and 2-3 toppings at most. quality ingredients go a long way, as these two pizza parlors will prove on any given day. because i’m also not a fascist about pizza, one of my choices is actually a focacceria. whatever. close ’nuff for this gal.

due forni / schönhauser allee 12 / p’berg

lots of haters out there who have a million & one reasons not to eat here – aloof or, depending on your tolerance level, rude service (almost exclusively native “punk” Italian) comes to mind, the fact that the nice beergarden is always packed to the rafters when the weather’s nice, that the restaurant was blacklisted for hygiene issues a few years ago, etc. etc. personally, i have never had a bad experience, so it remains my go-to spot when i’m in the hood – it’s great for larger groups & the pizza is the best to be had on “pregnant hill”.

dolce / various locations / sch’berg & xberg

fantastic slices of outstanding foccacia. most locations have a fairly high turnover, so many focaccie come straight out of the oven. seriously good eats.

 

RAMEN

while i’ve yet to discover really good phô in berlin, i can satisfy my cravings for noodle soup at this tiny place in the gallery district. the guy behind the counter used to run a traveling soup kitchen out of schwarzenraben & has spent several years in hokkaido. the ramen is GOOD – just the right thing to warm you up when the berlin “summer” does its thang.

cocolo / gipsstr. 3 / mitte

SUSHI

before the korean wave came the vietnamese wave came the sushi wave. there isn’t a single area in the city center that doesn’t have at least 5 sushi joints offering 50% off deals all day on everything. surely, a true sign of confidence and quality. if you actually care about your fish & don’t do cheap-ass sushi, head over to either of these fine establishments. depending on your personal preference, you’ve  the choice of going the more traditional route in a very classic japanese ambience in the east, or enjoying the creativity of the very friendly kaiten sushi dudes (who are all vietnamese, btw) on olivaer platz in the west.

mr. hai kabuki sushi / olivaer platz 10 / w’dorf

thick slices of sashimi, creative nigiri (salmon brulée with a housemade, addictive sauce of ginger, kewpie mayo, sesame oil & soy sauce), maki, te-maki, assorted specials like seared scallops or seared tuna threaded with green asparagus, deep-fried white tuna with a sweet, sticky dipping sauce and, last but not least, a very good miso soup make this place a weekly lunch spot for me. from 12 to 4 pm, a lunch special gets you bottomless tea, miso soup & 3 plates of your choice for 9.50 euro. dinners, on the other hand, can get expensive.

sasaya / lychener str. 50 / p’berg

for the sushi purist – a japanese-run place that’s far away enough from kollwitzplatz serving very good quality fish with a number of nice, traditional (warm) japanese choices beyond sushi. reservations are fairly essential, lunch can get very busy. pricier than mr. hai.

 

THAI

winterfeldtmarkt

go to there.