quote:

You might even want to bring back some mustards or canned weiners

Mustard maybe. But WIML carries his own weiner wherever he goes.

THIII

Actually, I usually bring senf back from Deutschland. Wurst is a different story.

*BUMP*

Does anybody have any recommendations for places to eat in Berlin or Munich? Every suggestion from basic German lunches to nice wine friendly restaurants welcomed.

TIA.

If it is still there, I would highly recommend Altes Hackerhaus in Munich for dinner. Fantastic Bavarian food. It has been almost 10 years since I have eaten there; thus, hopefully it is still as good as I remember. I cannot comment on their wine selection.

Bump

I’m going to Berlin in October for a weekend. WIML – Did you enjoy your trip, any good restaurants I should hit? Site seeing I can’t miss?

We are staying at the Berlin Westin (not very sexy, but we gotta use those points).

Thanks!

GlennK,

I presume you're staying at The Grand Westin, correct? If so, that's about as good of a location as you can get. It's not even 1 block off Unter den Linden in the heart of the Mitte of Berlin. Easy walking to 80% of the sights you'd be likely to see. The rest are easily accessible via the U or S bahn which are also within maybe a 1-2 block walk of your hotel. Good spot to park while you're there.

Tip: if you're flying into Tepelhof it's a reasonable taxi ride to your hotel. Maybe 20 euro depending on current exchange rates. Worth it IMO.

Around you're hotel you can spend one full day fairly easily walking to sights the length of Unter den Linden. You can easily catch the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie (kind of silly IMO), the Television Tower, Berlin Cathedral, Gendarmenmarkt for shopping or any one of Berlin's national museums. The day we went the museums most were closed (go figure) so we opted for the private Jewish museum. Very nice.

Then one day you can catch the U bahn to Charlottenburg Palace, take a tour of the palace and walk the palace grounds. You can also take the S bahn out to Pottsdam and see Frederick the Great's Sans Souci Palace. Just grab a taxi between the train station and the palace. There's usually one waiting outside for the return trip. The view is nice out there in the country side.

If I had to pick just a few I'd do a walking tour of Unter den Linden ending with the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. I'd also likely at at least one (if not both) of the Palaces.

TIP: One thing for you to note when going to Berlin is that many major attractions are closed on Monday.

Our first night dinner was at Ganymed. This restaurant is “French” cuisine but in my opinion it leans itself more towards “French Country with a slight German influence”. It is directly across the river from the Hotel Melia on the Shiffbauerdaum (along the north side of the river). Dress is business casual in my opinion. Anything between a sport coat and slacks to just slacks and a button down shirt works in my opinion. The food was very good and fairly reasonably priced. The wine is International with not any depth per se. It is however serviceable. You should be able to find something to accompany your meal at what I recall to be reasonable prices. Spencer had a traditional cassoulet which was very good and true to form. I had the advertised ginger-carrot soup and it was very good. Everything we had was very good and the service was very well done. I’d definitely recommend trying this place for a more casual, less expensive meal if you're looking for one while there.

Dinner the second night was at Roof Garden Restaurant on top of the Reichstag. Frommers cautions against the quality of the food but touts the view. I have to say the food was actually quite good. It may not have been up to the prices commanded but it was still quite good. The view definitely helps compensate for anything lacking in the food. The wine list is totally German in composition (as to be expected on top of the seat of government) and offers quite a few tantalizing choices. The truffle soup I had was to die for and the entire meal was quite enjoyable. With pre-dinner drinks, food including dessert and wine the entire meal ran close to $100 UDS a head so I wasn’t set aghast. After eating be sure and set the camera shutter to slow and walk the entire rooftop of the Reichstag snapping photos of Berlin at night. NOTE: the elevator is on the west side of the building and you must clear security including x-rays and hand scans so allow plenty of time.

Dinner the fourth night (the third night wasn't even worth mentioning) was at Aigner. The food was billed as Austrian and it was very good. The wine list and service are excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it.

I'd say Aigner is a must hit, Ganymed a viable option for a casual inexpensive dinner and the Roof Garden Restaurant can be passed if it weren't for the view.

We couldn't squeeze it in but on a very short list for my next trip is Marguax. Everything I've heard is excellent so I'd definitely check into it.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Awesome report. Thanks for the help!

No problem. I'm here til Sunday.

WIML,

Are you still looking for Munich tips? If so let me know. For what it's worth, Dallmayr is right next to Marienplatz but tends to be overpriced. If you can make it up to the northern part of the city, Mövenpick-Weinland is a good option. They have a decent selection of German wines (among many others).

Thanks shavez. Unfortunately, this trip was last year. I'll bear this in mind for the next trip. Turns out our schedule in Munchen was too tight to make it to any wine stores but Movepick-Weinland was definitely on the list.