Berlin's traditional raw pork tartare: finely minced raw pork shoulder seasoned with onion, salt, pepper and caraway, spread on a fresh Schrippe bread roll and topped with raw onion rings.
Hackepeter (or Mett in northern Germany) has been a Berlin and German staple since the 19th century, when meat was preserved by salt-curing and the freshest, leanest cuts were eaten raw. The dish is famously breakfast or morning-snack food in Berlin: butcher shops (Fleischereien) sell Hackepeter by the gram from a glass counter, often pre-shaped into a small hedgehog (Igel) with onion rings forming the spines. The structural rule is freshness: Hackepeter must be eaten the same day it is ground. The cliché serving format is a Brötchen mit Hackepeter with raw onion.
3 editor picks for Hackepeter (Mett) in Berlin, ranked by editorial score. All Berlin signature dishes · Hackepeter (Mett) across every city.
Max und Moritz ★ 4.2
kreuzberg · Oranienstrasse 162, 10969 Berlin
Max und Moritz on Berlin's Oranienstrasse has cooked Prussian tavern classics since 1902 in the original ceramic-tiled dining room; the Klopse and rouladen.
Lutter und Wegner ★ 4.2
mitte · Charlottenstrasse 56, 10117 Berlin
Lutter und Wegner on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt has cooked the city's traditional Wiener Schnitzel since 1811; the wood-panelled room runs the long lunch.
Zur Letzten Instanz ★ 4.1
mitte · Waisenstrasse 14-16, 10179 Berlin
Zur Letzten Instanz in Berlin's Nikolaiviertel has cooked Eisbein and Sauerbraten in the same 1621 tavern room since Berlin itself was young.