Mm-mmm.
I love traditional Berlin pub names. They always begin with zu, like you’re taking a mental leap to somewhere: zum Nussbaum (to the nut tree), zur Glühlampe (to the lightbulb), zur fetten Ecke (to the … fat corner). Their names make it sound like you’re being transported to a very special place, just by stepping over the threshold into a smokey, candle-lit grotto. Getting … Continue reading The Secret Beer Garden: Zur Laube
Pierogi please. I would like to pretend that this post about hearty pierogi and restorative beetroot soup is tied in with autumn sneaking in. But it’s not – I don’t give a damn what season it is, I always fiend after them. Have you ever had them before? Yes? Thank God. No?! I’m sorry. After a trip to Poland, how can you not come back addicted to them? … Continue reading Yes Yes: Polish Food in Berlin
Bad pun about a board game cafe? Never. It’s a… translation.
“Spiel” is the German word for game. “Wiese” is the German word for meadow. And “Spielwiese” is my word for inexhaustible fun. Spielwiese is also the name of a board game cafe in Friedrichshain.
This place has been a favourite of mine since 2012 – that’s commitment by Berlin’s standards. Spielwiese has kept me and many others under its spell with a promise of good times that is kept every time. I like it for the cosy and slightly nostalgic atmosphere, but after a quick google I found out it’s the second biggest board game cafe in the world with ca. 1,400 games (we have to concede victory to France).
How it works: you turn up, say hi to the bearded owner (I think), who looks like a Professor of Board Games. He’ll give you a card. The first half hour is free, and then after that it’s 1 euro per hour, and you pay when you’re ready to leave. There are bottled beers, cider, caffeinated drinks and snacks (the waffles call to me every time). These are to keep you fed and watered while you lay siege to your frenemies. If you want to completely fiend out on board games you can also rent them overnight. Continue reading “Play the Field: Berlin’s Best Board Game Cafe”
Leave your shoes and sorrows at the door.
There is only one place more relaxing than my own bed. And it’s one of Berlin’s best-kept secrets. Or, it used to be, until a couple of years ago when I became a regular and dragged carefully selected confidants along with me.
I’m not too worried about this place becoming the tea-lover’s Berghain*, though. It’s tucked away in an artsy courtyard, labelled “Kunsthof“. True to its name, the cobblestoned inner city glade makes a pretty picture: go at dusk to get the full benefit of the tree covered in fairy lights. Continue reading “T is for Tajik Tearoom”
Maths isn’t my forte. Drinking coffee in nice cafés is.
Don’t ever big up a brunch place in Berlin. It’s as if they know you’re coming, and to prepare for your modest party of two they’ll hire hipsters & co. to strategically spread themselves across the five only tiny tables. This was my experience at Roamers, which deserves both its hype and its following. But that said I may have thanked God for gentrification in Neukölln – Two And Two was just around the corner. Continue reading “Two and Two = 10/10 Cafe in Berlin”
Paupers become book billionaires thanks to Tasso’s magic number.
Are you a student? A read-a-holic? A polymath – of course you are. Now read this sentence; you’ll never be the same again:
There is a cafe which sells books for one euro each. Continue reading “Yours for a euro”
House of Small Wonder is a little miracle in the big city.
When people visit and we’ve done the Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, etc. and we’re trudging along Friedrichstrasse, there is one question that I dread above all other questions: know anywhere good to eat near here?
NO. No (I would think, sweating a storm and biting my lip), I did not know anywhere good to eat, unless you were happy wandering aimlessly until giving in to a döner, currywurst or burrito. Otherwise I’d persuade you to let me drag your rumbling tummy twenty minutes on the train to somewhere where there might be better, locally credible options. That was the fearful situation a few months ago. Then the miracle happened. Continue reading “A Small Wonder”
Thank you, late-night café and ice cream parlour.
It’s 11pm on a Monday night. I just handed over 90 cents for a scoop of tiramisu ice cream. Now I’m clutching the cone as I type. I think the word is content. Continue reading “Night-saver”
And I don’t mean in a let’s-get-back-to-our-coffee-roasting-roots kind of way.
Incidentally, Ako does do good coffee. And sweetly decorated notebooks. And soft padded stationery cases. And is a mini art gallery. And co-shares the space with a record shop and two cats. And does the best interpretation of the elusive British scone that I’ve tasted in Berlin – infused with Earl Grey or plain and always served like this: Continue reading “Simple is sweet”
Let me introduce you to chocolate.
Mine.
Hot chocolate should be so good that you’d squeeze yourself, chunky winter layers and all, onto a tiny bench for it. Hence why the above photo features someone’s legs in the background. In fact, Nibs Cacao is so tiny that I barely had enough space to swing a camera around. If you live in Berlin, then the narrow chocolatiers will remind you of your bathroom. If you don’t live in Berlin, line up a couple of medium-sized wardrobes side by side, then add a chest of drawers to make an L-shape – that’s Nibs.
If you’re lazy *AHEM* freelance like me, then go at the most unpopular time you can, unless you enjoy doing battle with fellow chocoholics – there will be a queue. Once inside, admire the wide selection of flavoured hot chocolates they have. And then forget all of them, apart from the one at the very top of the menu board: the Spanish hot chocolate. Why? For the same reason that this kind of chocolate is served with a spoon – it’s so thick, so oozing with real chocolate, that you’re supposed to eat it rather than drink it. To ease you into this idea of eating your drink, they also serve the Spanish version with freshly fried churros. Never had it? Picture doughnuts, only better – fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and sprinkled with sugar. “Can it get more heavenly than that?!” screams your inner greedy person. Oh yes it can: the churros and the chocolate are made fresh – the Spanish hot chocolate always has a quick turnover. Continue reading “Nibbles at Nibs”
Blah Blah Berlin 