Berlin: Burgermeister and Lokale

I (RostS) spent my birthday in Berlin.  I had to go for work, and I wasn't expecting much out of Berlin, so I had mixed feelings about the trip.  But I loved it! The weather was beautiful and I got to spend lots of time outside and I loved the laid-back vibe of the city and the awesome galleries/boutiques/street art you find everywhere.

I was busy with work so I didn't get to do much eating out but I did have two great (and very different) meals: at Burgermeister and Lokale.

Burgermeister

I went to Burgermeister after seeing the East Side Gallery along the Spree.  Burgermeister is just across the river from the East Side Gallery under the UBahn tracks.  The restaurant is actually a converted old public restroom--I was a little wary but they did a fantastic job with it!  Everything is very simple--just a grill, a fridge stocked with German sodas and beers, a few tables, and some soda crates converted into chairs/tables.

I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and fries with mango-curry sauce.  Definitely one of the best burgers I have had in a long time! All of the individual ingredients were really good and it was just on the right side of juicy to be able to eat without too much of a mess.  The fries weren't quite as impressive but the mango curry sauce was really good and made me feel less guilty about not having currywurst (a Berlin specialty which I had no desire to try, having already disliked a few versions I've had in London.

Lokale

The next night I had dinner at Lokale, a restaurant in the Mitte neighborhood where I was staying.  Lokale is a much more traditional restaurant experience than Burgermeister, but I loved the food there too.  I was a little nervous that the menu was only in German (much better at French/Spanish/Italian food translations than German), but my waitress was such a sweetheart and translated everything for me very patiently.

I started out with some delicious fresh baked bread and spiced butter:

I got pork belly with sauerkraut, mushrooms, pea puree and strawberry puree for a starter.  This was pretty good--the pork belly was a little tough and I didn't love the sauerkraut.  But the mushrooms were amazing--definitely my favorite part of the dish.

And for my main I had homemade pasta with goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and spring onions.  This was amazing--the pasta was some of the best homemade pasta I have ever had.  Really springy and carb-y (for lack of a better word)--really filling but so satisfying. The veg was great too!

For dessert I had fresh baked blueberry muffins with strawberry sorbet--but I forgot to take a picture (sorry, new blogger mistakes!).  I was obviously extremely full at this point but somehow managed to finish it off.

So I would definitely recommend both of these restaurants--and Berlin is now on my list of weekend trips to take!