Tag Archives: restaurants

The Scene – 5 Best Summer Openings

The end of summer often marks the hour of truth for the thinkers and doers who opened new establishments this year. Success, or just another person’s dream crushed by the sometimes harsh Berlin reality? Though Berlin still has lots of space for culinary treats, not everyone manages to hit the nerve. We journeyed though Berlin’s raw, sexy and hip districts to find those who we believe will stay for good.

Fechtner Delikatessen

Opening a restaurant near Rosenthaler Platz isn’t exactly the most innovative idea of the year, but it admittedly still works well. Especially if you’re going with the times and open a lunch spot for health-conscious foodies looking for a quick snack. Fechtner’s emphasis lies on fresh and regional ingredients, both healthy and of highest quality. Expect great salads, sandwiches and self-made smoothies.

893 Ryotei

On busy Kantrstraße there’s a building that looks like a vacant, run-down supermarket with a mirror front panel. But don’t be fooled, beneath the dreary outside lies a culinary shrine for gourmets! Inside lies 893 Ryotei, the latest restaurant by food guru and chef The Duc Ngo, who already brought us Cocolo Ramen and legendary Kuchi. Sitting around a vast open kitchen you’ll find some of the finest fish creations in West Berlin, all the while being amused by the people outside who check their looks in the mirror panel, believing the place was deserted.

Coda Dessert Bar

You can expect greatness when a renowned restaurant designer and a leading pâtissier work on a new concept, and at Coda you get no less than brilliance. Newly opened in Neukölln it offers the perfect symbiosis between dessert and beverages. Many of the drinks are self-made and innovative – you won’t find them anywhere else in the world. They’re paired with world-class desserts and create a unique food experience starting at 15€. Absolutely new concept, unseen in Berlin. Check it out!

Panama

A beautiful two-story restaurant in a Schöneberg backyard paying hommage to Janosch’s children’s book “Oh, wie schön ist Panama” (“Oh, how beautiful Panama is”). It’s the story of a bear and a tiger who go on an adventure to look for an exotic place called Panama. When they finally find a beautiful and exotic cabin by the river, they believe they found Panama – not realizing it in fact is the very home they had left behind. The restaurant’s interior feels exotic but familiar – everything it contains was crafted in Germany. Chef Sophia Rudolph also pays hommage to Janosch, using local ingredients to create exotic tongue-pleasing flavours. 10 points from us!

Shiori

Shiori is a very well-kept Japanese secret in the heart of Mitte. There’s only 10 seats in total, creating a very intimate and private atmosphere that invites you to get in touch with other guests. The food is as brilliant as the minimalistic design – the perfect combination. Be advised: Reservation in advance is mandatory!

On Tour with Visit Berlin and Taiwanese media and tour operators

Visit Berlin does an amazing job of exporting Berlin as a premier tourism destination all around the world. Berlinagenten partners with Visit Berlin when it comes to showing both journalists and travel industry professionals, the very best that Berlin’s gourmet scene has to offer with our famous Gastro Rallye’s.

Visit Berlin, in association with the Taiwanese office of the DB Bahn were hosting 10 of Taiwan’s top media and tourist industry professionals. The group had been travelling around Germany for a week by train. Now it was a chance to see Berlin! Berlinagenten curated a programme that showcased Berlin’s amazing culinary scene at the city’s finest restaurants.

On board for the tour was Visit Berlin’s Joyce Olivia Bernitt, who organises the programmes for incoming tour operators and Claudia Sult from the Visit Berlin Press Office.

After being picked up by a luxury bus, we started our tour at Volt, where head Chef Matthias Gleiß interprets traditional Berlin dishes and German classics into a gourmet’s delight. Next, it was onto new French hotspot Restaurant Richard for our main course before we had dessert at the trendy Sage restaurant. By the end of the night, eight out of our ten guests had fully embraced the Berlin spirit and were last seen heading into Tresor Night Club, despite having an early morning flight home! Our mission was complete!

Photos: Lollie Barr & Steven Hsu

The Scene meets Eins 44

Something is stirring in deepest, darkest Neukölln. Better known for its kebab houses than an innovative food scene, things are certain to change with the launch of the brand new restaurant Eins 44 Kantine.

Tucked away in an art deco courtyard, you would never know this place existed. Yet after Berlinagenten tested out the menu, it’s guaranteed Berliners will be heading west and hitting the backstreets of Neukölln in the hope of seeking it out. Restaurant manager Jonathan Kartenberg and head chef Sebastian Radtke, were formerly at another one of favourite restaurants, Mani. The cuisine grounds itself in French basics, yet the exciting young team have updated it and then infused it with international flavours to create something brand new.

For a new restaurant, we were impressed by the ambiance that makes this place feel like a familiar cozy neighbourhood eatery, but all the while being highly stylised. The two story building was originally a distillery, so there is a spacious modern, post industrial feel. Its original tiled walls, ceiling and impressive bar, acquired vintage lamps, wooden tables and chairs that date back 30 years combine together to create a very lived-in, cool atmosphere. Being Berlin, naturally smokers are accommodated in the form of smokers’ room, which features a massive wooden table on a turbine engine. 

We were certainly impressed by the food. To get our mouths watering, we started out with a gift from the kitchen, a dainty yet delicious mini Pork Belly Burger. First course, we decided on a delicious light crusted Golden Trout with granny smith apple and radish salad, along with a tender Beef Carpaccio with asparagus, grapefruit and a hint of coriander. For the main course, it was a speciality French pork done two ways, with a delightful cauliflower puree, and we also shared a perfectly grilled piece of prime entrecôte with potatoes and beans. Heaven arrived in the form of a 70% percent chocolate brownie cake with rosemary pineapple, mint and strawberry coulis for dessert.

Now for the very good news, despite the quality and the ambience, Eins 44 is very reasonably priced. A three course meal costs 33 euros, four courses is 42 euros and five courses just 51 euros. Or you can buy individual courses. It is complimented with a fine French and German wine list.

Eins 44 is definitely buzzing on our new Berlin restaurant radar! We honestly can’t wait to return.

HOW BERLINAGENTEN INVENTED THE GASTRO-RALLYE

Food can make or a break a visit to a new city. But how do you find the rare gems, the temples of gastronomy, the restaurants of the moment that crackle with an electric atmosphere? Well, you could always look online. However, chances are you’ll find a restaurant with good reviews but on arrival you find the waitress getting drunk on her own tears of boredom in an empty restaurant because the critiques were from 2011 before that regrettable food poisoning epidemic.

Or you spend hours traipsing around aimlessly looking into restaurant windows trying to decide on where to go, then by the time you make your decision you can’t get a table. Even worse, you consult your guide book and find yourself in a restaurant full of tourists wearing bum bags and baggy track pants complaining loudly that the food is better back home.

It was 10 years ago that Henrik started Berlinagenten after coming up with a very unique idea – the Gastro-Rallye. The idea being guests get to sample between three and four of Berlin’s finest restaurants in a one night. At each hand picked restaurant, you not only get to experience a different course but you also get pick on a different scene, a different vibe with the guarantee of fabulous food and atmosphere.

What makes it so special is your personal guide. We pride ourselves on hiring well-informed guides with big personalities. You will walk off each course between restaurants as your guide gives you an insight into the local area, as well as fabulous insider tips that will make your stay all the more special.

Due to Berlinagenten‘s contract with Visit Berlin, more than 1500 journalists have been on a Gastro-Rallye and we are constantly covered in print and on TV. Our clients include jet setters from New York’s upper East side, Hollywood types, corporates, bonding family groups, loved up couples, and everyone else in between. So it is no wonder that Berlinagenten has exported the concept to other destinations outside Germany.

Check out the Berlinagenten Tour Shop for more information.

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Berlinagenten on tour – Wella Japan rocks Berlin

Wella Japan have been bringing their clients to their headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany for years before taking them to London for a spot of trend hunting. But this year, they had got word that if you want to go cool hunting then it’s Berlin you should be visiting. Naturally it was Berlinagenten, they contacted to find out what is hot and happening in the city.

Berlinagenten started working on the project in August last year. It involved putting together a programme for 50 people. Four guides took the groups all over the city taking them to the coolest neighbhourhoods, bars, restaurants, shops and arts spaces. We organised behind the scenes visits to creative companies to inspire our clients imaginations, e.g. ic!berlin, Marcellvonberlin, Platoon, Lumas and Tausche. Each group was given a mission to capture on digital cameras, the most creative elements of the neighbourhood they were visiting.

After a few hours rest and some serious pimping up, our Japanese guests looked like superstars as we took them to Soho House for a banquet dinner. Each group presented their photographs and interpretations of what makes Berlin the coolest city in the world right now, to the rest of the touring party. Berlinagenten has converted another 50 people into Berlinophiles!

To find out more about Berlinagenten’s incentive and conference programme, click here.

BERLIN FOR THE OVER 30’S

Berlin is renowned for its nightlife and that doesn’t just mean for the young. If you’re over 30, here’s the perfect itinerary for a wild Berlin night out. 

Start with a dinner at the former Bötzow brewery, home of La Soupe Populaire. This post-industrial restaurant is tucked away behind raw concrete, rusty pipes and iron doors but the food is amazing and and the menu is created by no less than celebrity chef Tim Raue himself. After dinner, check out the newest venue on the partying strip of Torstrasse – The Bonbon bar, which attracts a mature, stylish and international crowd. Apart from the beautiful art deco interior, don’t miss a visit to the fabulous loo.

After 1 am it´s time to move on to the next level and order the legendary medicine bottle filled with vodka at the hip Trust Bar. Once you have passed the picky door policy, step into a world that reflects the golden era of the 90’s, when the clubs were trashy-chic, retro, inspiring, wild, and very sexy! If you don´t trust your capacity to drink vodka like a Berliner at 5am, it´s time for real clubbing.

Change out of your killer heels and dress Berlin super cool grunge before you arrive to the superlative techno temple Berghain. Be prepared to wait in the queue. They may let you in, or they may not, it’s that kind of place. A Berlinagenten By Night is the best way to have access to coolest bars and clubs in the city. Then you can really live it, smell it, touch it and taste the City like a true local.