Capital of the kebab, the natural-wine bar, and the long Sunday brunch.
Berlin eats on its own clock, on its own budget, and increasingly on its own menu. The doener kebab was invented here in 1972 by Kadir Nurman at Bahnhof Zoo and is still the city's defining street food, with Mustafas, Rueyam and a thousand corner counters keeping the queue moving past midnight. Currywurst, the post-war Imbiss invention from 1949 by Herta Heuwer, still anchors the working-class lunchtime. The dining room behind the streetside has shifted hard since 2010: Billy Wagner's Nobelhart und Schmutzig holds a Michelin star on radical-local sourcing, Tim Raue cooks his two-star Asian-French at Checkpoint Charlie, and the Neukoelln natural-wine rooms (Otto, Jaja, Lode und Stijn) have made the borough one of Europe's densest wine-bar grids. The everyday city is steady. A Mustafas kebab costs around five euros, a Sironi sourdough loaf runs six, a glass of natural wine at Otto pours from seven.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Berlin, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in Berlin.
Berlin's doener is the city's defining street food: roasted lamb or veal shaved from a vertical spit, tucked into pita with cabbage, tomato, onion, white sauce, chili and a touch of harissa.
Where: Mustafas Gemuese Kebap, Rueyam Gemuese Kebap, Imren Grill
Currywurst is the post-war Berlin Imbiss invention: a sliced bratwurst doused in spiced ketchup, dusted with curry powder, served with a paper plate, a wooden fork and a side of pommes.
Where: Curry 36, Konnopke's Imbiss, Curry 61
Buletten are Berlin's hand-shaped meat patties: minced beef or pork-and-beef bound with onion, soaked bread, egg and parsley, pan-fried until deeply browned on the outside and juicy within.
Where: Rogacki, Konnopke's Imbiss, Lutter und Wegner
Koenigsberger Klopse are East-Prussian veal-and-anchovy meatballs poached in a caper-cream sauce; the dish travelled to Berlin with refugees in 1945 and stays on every Berlin tavern carte.
Where: Max und Moritz, Lutter und Wegner, Henne
Berliner Pfannkuchen are the city's defining doughnut: deep-fried yeasted-dough rounds, filled with plum or rosehip jam, dusted with powdered sugar, sold at every bakery before Silvester.
Where: Zeit fuer Brot, Brotgarten
Eisbein is the Berlin pork-knuckle classic: a cured-and-boiled hind leg served with sauerkraut, pease pudding and boiled potatoes. The dish defines the city's heavy-winter tavern grammar.
Where: Max und Moritz, Henne, Lutter und Wegner
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Berlin.
Billy Wagner and Micha Schaefer's Nobelhart und Schmutzig in Berlin's Kreuzberg cooks a 10-course tasting from ingredients sourced inside Brandenburg's 200-kilometre ring.
Signature: Brandenburg carrot, Spreewald pike-perch
Marco Mueller's Rutz in Berlin Mitte holds three Michelin stars on a Brandenburg-led tasting menu, with a wine-bar floor downstairs that serves walk-ups from 18:30.
Signature: Brandenburg lamb, Trout with horseradish
Tim Raue's two-Michelin-star room near Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin Kreuzberg cooks a chef-led Asian-French tasting; the Peking duck is the city's defining luxury plate.
Signature: Wasabi langoustine, Peking duck
Lode van Zuijlen and Stijn Remi's Lode und Stijn in Berlin Kreuzberg cooks a Dutch-rooted five-course tasting; the wine list runs natural, the room runs 24 covers.
Signature: Whole roast lamb, Smoked eel
Sebastian Frank's two-star Horvath on Berlin's Paul-Lincke-Ufer cooks a vegetable-led Austrian tasting; the canal-side terrace runs the summer.
Signature: Carinthian dumplings, Goat tartare
Bjoern Swanson's Faelt in Berlin Kreuzberg holds a Michelin star on a Nordic-rooted seven-course tasting; the room runs 14 covers and one nightly seating.
Signature: Pickled mackerel, Hay-smoked lamb
Once squat and counter-culture, now the densest food borough in the city: Markthalle Neun on Tuesdays, Turkish bakeries on Kottbusser Damm, Burgermeister under the U-Bahn.
Best for: Turkish, Markets, Street food, Late night
The natural-wine and new-orthodoxy borough: Otto, Jaja, Lode und Stijn anchor a half-kilometre grid of small rooms, dive bars and Lebanese counters between Hermannplatz and Sonnenallee.
Best for: Natural wine, Neo-bistros, Levantine, Late night
Old East and tourist Berlin: Rutz on Chausseestrasse, Cookies Cream behind a back-alley door, Nobelhart und Schmutzig at Checkpoint Charlie, and the cafes around Hackescher Markt.
Best for: Fine dining, Cafes, Bistros
Family-friendly former East with Sunday brunch lines on Kollwitzplatz, the Kollwitzmarkt on Saturdays, and a long run of cafes and bakeries on Knaackstrasse.
Best for: Brunch, Bakeries, Cafes, Markets
Boxhagener Platz market on Saturdays, Burgermeister and currywurst counters under the S-Bahn arches, and the Vietnamese counters along Frankfurter Allee.
Best for: Street food, Vietnamese, Late night, Markets
Old West Berlin: Tim Raue's KaDeWe gastronomy floor, Cordobar around the corner, hotel bars at the Waldorf Astoria, and the old-money restaurants of Savignyplatz.
Best for: Fine dining, Hotel bars, Wine bars
Peak food season: May to June (Spargel season, Werder strawberries, the year's best terrace weather), plus September to October (game, mushrooms, Bite Club closing nights). January and February are the slowest months: many small rooms close after New Year.
Local dining hours: Lunch 12:00 to 14:30, dinner 18:30 to 22:30. Most kitchens stop seating by 22:00 but bars and Imbiss counters run far later. Sunday brunch is the long meal of the week and books out by Thursday.
Tipping: Service is not included; round up by 5 to 10 percent for table service and tell the server the total before they ring it on the card terminal. At Imbiss counters a euro or two is welcome but not expected.
Peak food season in Berlin is May to June (Spargel season, Werder strawberries, the year's best terrace weather), plus September to October (game, mushrooms, Bite Club closing nights). January and February are the slowest months: many small rooms close after New Year.
Local dining hours: Lunch 12:00 to 14:30, dinner 18:30 to 22:30. Most kitchens stop seating by 22:00 but bars and Imbiss counters run far later. Sunday brunch is the long meal of the week and books out by Thursday.
Service is not included; round up by 5 to 10 percent for table service and tell the server the total before they ring it on the card terminal. At Imbiss counters a euro or two is welcome but not expected.
If you only have one meal, eat Doener Kebab. It is the dish most associated with Berlin.