Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Eating in Berlin Part 1
My first Brunch since I came to Europe last year.
It just costed 7.99 Euro in Cafe Alex at Sony Center. I wish I could find similar place in luzern too! It is the tyical 'American' style brunch buffet. Not exactly special but it was nice for someone who had waken up at 4am to catch the train and the flight.
Dinner was at a place called Mao Thai. Yes, it is a Thai restuarant. I think it is one of the best Thai restuarants in Berlin. It was a full house when we arrived at nine something, but luckily we got our table while we were having our first Singha beer. We had 3 appetizers : Fish Cake, Mango Salat and one other dish that I forgot the name. Main dishes included a fish, curry chicken and squid. I would say the appetizers were much better than the main dishes. We spent less than 100 Euro, not cheap, but certainly much cheaper than in Thai Garden, Luzern.
Currywurst is the so-called Berliner dish. I didn't want to have it, but that place is the only food shop that you can find around the Judish Musuem. Deep fried sausage with curry powder and ketchup, plus a load of fries and a can of pop for 4 Euro, what can you expect.
After visiting the Holocaust Monument Museum, it was already time for lunch. I decided to head to Friedrichstrasse for lunch before seeingthe Deutsches Historisches Museum. In stead of having a quick lunch of currywurst, I followed a sign to a vietnamese restuarant. I miss Que Hong and Ben Thanh in London too much, so decided to head for a Pho. It is a nicely decorated restuarant with lots of asian stuff. I don't care, most nice pho places are run down anyway.
I ordered the beef noodle and a vietnamese coffee, I wanted a iced one, but they didn't provide. I don't understand, they just need to dip the coffee into a glass of ice. The first time it came, the coffee actually didn't dip out from the filter, so they exchanged one for me. The coffee was just as diluted as the normal coffee, not to say they didn't put enough condensed milk. It took a while before the pho came. I was even more depressed. It just came with some chilli and small slice of lime, where was the leaves and bean spouts? The beef was just some well done sliced beef. To me, it is more like a chinese beef rice noodle soup, not a pho. All for 15 Euro.
While I was still frustrated with the lunch, we headed to somewhere near Gendarmenmarkt for dinner. Finally, we settled in a steak house nearby. Even though my friend M has insisted many time that he hates Fastfood, I think Maredo is kind of fastfood too! Nonetheless, food was not too bad.
My last meal during this trip in Berlin was the lunch at Kadewe. I read from a guide book that its foodcourt is marvellous. After spending almost 20 minutes walking around the big food court, I ordered a butterfisch and a beer at one of the restuarant for around 15 Euro. They have all kind of seafoods, fishes and even lobsters. The fish was great, with a mussel sauce and came with salad and bread. Next time I should try the oyster bar and the grill. I ended my lunch with a coffee at Dallmayr.
It just costed 7.99 Euro in Cafe Alex at Sony Center. I wish I could find similar place in luzern too! It is the tyical 'American' style brunch buffet. Not exactly special but it was nice for someone who had waken up at 4am to catch the train and the flight.
Dinner was at a place called Mao Thai. Yes, it is a Thai restuarant. I think it is one of the best Thai restuarants in Berlin. It was a full house when we arrived at nine something, but luckily we got our table while we were having our first Singha beer. We had 3 appetizers : Fish Cake, Mango Salat and one other dish that I forgot the name. Main dishes included a fish, curry chicken and squid. I would say the appetizers were much better than the main dishes. We spent less than 100 Euro, not cheap, but certainly much cheaper than in Thai Garden, Luzern.
Currywurst is the so-called Berliner dish. I didn't want to have it, but that place is the only food shop that you can find around the Judish Musuem. Deep fried sausage with curry powder and ketchup, plus a load of fries and a can of pop for 4 Euro, what can you expect.
After visiting the Holocaust Monument Museum, it was already time for lunch. I decided to head to Friedrichstrasse for lunch before seeingthe Deutsches Historisches Museum. In stead of having a quick lunch of currywurst, I followed a sign to a vietnamese restuarant. I miss Que Hong and Ben Thanh in London too much, so decided to head for a Pho. It is a nicely decorated restuarant with lots of asian stuff. I don't care, most nice pho places are run down anyway.
I ordered the beef noodle and a vietnamese coffee, I wanted a iced one, but they didn't provide. I don't understand, they just need to dip the coffee into a glass of ice. The first time it came, the coffee actually didn't dip out from the filter, so they exchanged one for me. The coffee was just as diluted as the normal coffee, not to say they didn't put enough condensed milk. It took a while before the pho came. I was even more depressed. It just came with some chilli and small slice of lime, where was the leaves and bean spouts? The beef was just some well done sliced beef. To me, it is more like a chinese beef rice noodle soup, not a pho. All for 15 Euro.
While I was still frustrated with the lunch, we headed to somewhere near Gendarmenmarkt for dinner. Finally, we settled in a steak house nearby. Even though my friend M has insisted many time that he hates Fastfood, I think Maredo is kind of fastfood too! Nonetheless, food was not too bad.
My last meal during this trip in Berlin was the lunch at Kadewe. I read from a guide book that its foodcourt is marvellous. After spending almost 20 minutes walking around the big food court, I ordered a butterfisch and a beer at one of the restuarant for around 15 Euro. They have all kind of seafoods, fishes and even lobsters. The fish was great, with a mussel sauce and came with salad and bread. Next time I should try the oyster bar and the grill. I ended my lunch with a coffee at Dallmayr.
