Out of thousands of good places in Berlin, here are a few of my favourites. You may notice a slight lean towards Kreuzberg/Neukölln — well, it’s because I mostly hang out here.
Table of contents:
Laptop-friendly
The BARN
Pretty iconic Berlin chain of indie coffee shops featuring self-roasted coffees, decent tea, friendly folks, and complete laptop-friendliness. There are multiple locations all around the city. The one at Friedelstr is the cosiest in my opinion.
St Oberholz
Conveniently located in Mitte, St Oberholz is quite iconic, too. According to a legend, first code for SoundCloud was written there. They also have a coworking space upstairs for a symbolic fee. Chairs there aren't comfortable, though.
Visit Coffee
Hidden away in the bustling Kottbusser Tor area, it's cosy inside, serving breakfast, coffees and teas.
La Maison
Enjoy a morning coffee & the best croissants in the world (according to me) & authentic French vibe at La Maison either early in the morning or closer to the sunset. In the evening they also make stellar Campari / Aperol Spritz’es. They're very chilled about people spending hours there. No laptop policy only on Fri, Sat, Sun.
Jules Geisberg
A rare exception of me liking something in the West. Located in a calm, cosy neighbourhood, friendly subordinates of Mr Geisberg are ready to serve you teas (no chai latte or matcha, though), coffees, & gently microwaved paninis inside or outside. They even do not mind you carrying out mind-bending key smashing on your portable computing device.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Populus Coffee
Very good coffee, decent tea, and the best banana bread I’ve tried. Perfect spot to grab something for a walk along the Landwehrkanal. No laptops. Card payment.
Sushi Gang
Have sushi for dinner at Sushi Gang. Better to book on their website. The best sushi I’ve had in my life. Cash only, regrettably, but this place is one of a few I make an exception for in my cashless life.
Mädchenitaliener
Have a truffle pasta at Mädchenitaliener. Nice vibe, great food, cozy place in Mitte.
like.thai vegan
Try vegan Thai food at like.thai vegan. Nice “street”-like interior. Even my avidly meat-eating friends love this place. Everything’s vegan. Mega tasty.
Mrs Robinson’s | Katz Orange
If you’re craving something fancier, you can try Katz Orange or Mrs Robinson’s. The latter is a fine dining table d'hôte venue.
FRIEDA
You can also try the a-la-carte “sister” place of Mrs Robinson’s — Frieda. They serve very simple food sourced locally. Everything is very simple, fresh, and tasty. They serve both breakfast & lunch food.
Markthalle IX
Hipster food & farmer’s market. Find the Fish Klub stall for amazing oysters & shrimps, adequately priced. You can find good wine and pasta and crepes here too.
Cafe Mugrabi
Very good hummus, sabich, and terrace if it’s warm. You can have brunch here as well as lunch.
La Côte
Great French cuisine. Amazing alc-free negroni. Tasty oysters. Book in advance.
Sasaya
Crazy good authentic sushi and matcha cake with an open kitchen. Reasonable prices.
Capvin
Capvin for truffle pizza. Sourdough napoli, of course. All other pizzas are also amazing.
Gazzo | ZOLA
It's two different places but not far from one another. Both feature sourdough Napoli-style pizza. At Gazzo, they serve a good ice cream with salt & olive oil. Yes, olive oil. Yes, it’s great. Grapefruit tonic as a beverage. ZOLA has more seating and a good terrace.
Frank Cafe
Cozy place with a nice terrace and lots of plants.
Mamecha
Matcha crêpe cake to die for. Matcha latte is good, too, although some people told me it's too sweet. Card payment from €10.
Brunching
I've developed a certain level of disgust to brunching in Berlin. To put it concisely, the usual experience looks as follows: you queue up for one hour to get a table, you wait for 30 minutes to order a €15 avocado toast and €7 coffee that you flush down your frustration with, then you leave and you're hungry again in one hour.
I strongly prefer going to non-hipster places if I want to eat out before the noon. But, I'm listing a few popular places if you want to have the full Berlin experience.
Silo Coffee
Amazing toast with mushrooms, poached eggs, and truffles. This place is as popular as Berghain, so you better come ~10 min before it opens to avoid ~1hr waiting time.
Annelies
Get their scrambled eggs with kimchi. Pancakes for sharing. Also wildly popular. If a brunch place is good in Berlin, they usually don’t take reservations, so better be early. FCFS.
And a few places I go to myself:
Sumak
Menemen & Turkish tea. Cash only.
Alte Turnhalle
Bistrot. Pay €17 (may be more now; drinks charged extra) and eat all you can. And all is surprisingly delicious for an establishment of such a type. You can cheat and come at 11 and make your breakfast slowly transition into lunch. They have no limitations on that. The place is vast so usually there's a table.
Drinks
Wax On
Good cocktails. Good natural wine. Great smelling place with a fireplace. Cozy.
Nathanja & Heinrich
Best gin basil smash & moscow mule in town. Also a good variety of negronis (mezcal, sbagliato, etc).
Kink Bar
Motif Wein / Mosto Wines / The Rad
Cosy bars specialised in natural wines.
https://goo.gl/maps/25sCpZknCD9iLNXF6 (cash only)
Facciola
Good wine, good vibes on a side street of Kreuzberg hidden under leafy trees that keep it cool. They also some tapas. Usually enough to fill up your stomach so it can fit in more wine. Burrata, vegetarian lasagna, focaccia, etc.
Vin Aqua Vin
Classic good wines. It’s generally very nice to chill on Weserstraße with a drink on a summer night. Lots of cool bars on this street. Good to start at VAV and relocate to Wax On, Kaduka, TIER, or Nathanja & Heinrich afterwards. All of them are within 100m from one another.
Sohnemann Bar
Sports & mindfulness
If you’re into climbing, check out Der Kegel — outdoor bouldering & rope climbing venue. Amazing to go either in the morning (empty) or at the sunset and have a beer at Cassiopeia behind it afterwards.
https://goo.gl/maps/2wGeSMoSZBjxEZFn9 (no reservation required)
Becycle for a cycling class. Book in advance through their app.
Original Feelings for yoga. Book in advance.
OHIA for really good meditations. Check out one with Felix on Saturdays. It’s a very simple 45 min meditation guided by his deep and smooth voice.
Walking
Tempelhofer Feld. Ex airfield in the city center.
Walk along the Landwehrkanal from La Maison towards Admiralbrücke, for example. Read a book or have a beer there on the grass or embankment.
Tiergarten. From Haus der Kulturen der Welt towards Cafe am Neuen See, for example.
Museums & art
Neue Nationalgalerie is my favorite. The space is amazing by itself, designed by Mies van der Rohe. 20th century art.
Hamburger Bahnhof Galerie — contemporary art in what used to be Berlin's largest railway station in mid 19th century.
Futurium
Stasi Prison
Nightlife
I’ve heard from friends it’s what Berlin is famous for?
Sisyphos is amazing. You don’t have to wear an all-black outfit despite the favorite myth. Just be chilled, any outfit would do. They have a few floors, both outdoor and indoor.
Cinemas
Rule of thumb — anything from Yorck Kino is good, if you're too allergic to Avengers 367 in a mega 11D hyper super duper IMAX with 40,000 seats.
In the summer, there are also amazing outdoor cinemas scattered around the city: Freiluftkino Kreuzberg, Hasenheide, etc.
My favourite non-Yorck Kinos are IL KINO and Sputnik. Both are very cosy, with super small halls for up to ~16 people. You can get wine and snacks at either of them.
Viel Spaß, mein Freund!
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