Berlin’s gastronomic landscape has thousands of restaurants to offer, which unfortunately often makes the choice not so easy! The capital’s excellent cuisine has even recently earned it an award as City of the Year 2024 – Food & Travel. We have searched for really unusual restaurants for you, which stand out either for their concept, their excellent food, their interior design, or a mixture of all these things. Enjoy!
Restaurant Tim Raue
Photo: @restauranttimraue (Instagram)
With two Michelin stars in the heart of Berlin-Kreuzberg, the restaurant is one of the most prestigious addresses in German gastronomy. It is included in the renowned list of the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” and has received numerous awards. German celebrity chef Tim Raue founded the restaurant in September 2010. The cuisine delights with an impressive combination of Japanese precision, Thai aromatics, and Chinese culinary philosophy.
Kanaan: Culinary dialogue for peace and diversity
Photo: Shutterstock
This Israeli-Palestinian restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg has a motto: “Make hummus, not war.” Israeli entrepreneur Oz Ben David and Palestinian chef Jalil Dabit have joined forces to create a place that stands for shared values—beyond political differences. The menu features vegetarian and vegan specialties, including homemade hummus variations, falafel made according to a family recipe, colorful mezze platters, and seasonal highlights. It’s also worth a visit for brunch: shakshuka, omelets with tomato and bell pepper sauce, pancakes with pistachio cream, and much more can be enjoyed here in a relaxed atmosphere.
📍Location: Schliemannstraße 15 | Prenzlauer Berg
Coccodrillo: between glamour and sex appeal
Image: Private
Coccodrillo has literally been on everyone’s lips for years. Without reinventing the wheel, the restaurant offers pasta and pizza as well as meat and fish dishes and antipasti. Authentic Italian soul food is prepared with finesse and high-quality ingredients sourced from friendly producers in Italy. Some ingredients, such as the delicious bread from Kreuzberg’s Brodstätte, come from Germany. The interior impresses with its 1960s Italian flair, bright red, vintage posters, and a mixture of glamour and sex appeal. Neon tubes whisper messages, leopard statues embody pure passion. A visual experience between soft porn and space opera.
📍Location: Veteranenstraße 9 | Mitte
RIVO: Mediterranean cuisine on a par with the Spree
Image: RIVO
RIVO in Kreuzberg offers a unique combination of Mediterranean cuisine with an oriental flair and a breathtaking view of the Spree. The restaurant is located in a historic building and offers a modern ambience both inside and on the terrace. With creative dishes such as burrata with watermelon and an extensive wine list, RIVO is ideal for special occasions. It is easily accessible from the Schlesisches Tor and Warschauer Straße subway stations.
📍Location: May-Ayim-Ufer 9 | Kreuzberg
Lokal: German cuisine can also be exciting
Image: Lokal
This charming restaurant in Mitte is much more than just an ordinary restaurant, even if its simple name suggests otherwise. The restaurant lives up to its name with regional products that set a new standard for German cuisine. The menu offers an excellent mix of down-to-earth and innovative dishes, from zander to a vegetarian pasta creation with Jerusalem artichoke and elderberries. A special highlight: while dining, guests can admire the artwork of Berlin-based artists Andreas Tobias and Gary Hoopengardner, both of whom are co-founders of Lokal. A culinary experience combined with local art.
📍Location: Linienstraße 160 | Mitte
Markthalle Neun: the culinary multitool among Berlin’s restaurants
Image: Mo Photography Berlin | Shutterstock
Are you planning to go out with a group and find that too many tastes clash and you can’t find a suitable restaurant? Then the cozy Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg is just right for you. Here, for once, too many cooks don’t spoil the broth! The interior of the old hall consists mainly of small restaurants and market stalls offering their respective dishes. They are connected by small alleys and several seating areas where you can eat in comfort. Once everyone has found something they like, you can still eat together thanks to the practical concept, making it a perfect win-win situation!
📍Location: Pücklerstraße 34 | Kreuzberg
To the Bone: Meat products directly from Italy
Image: Shutterstock
The To The Bone restaurant on Torstraße celebrates Italian meat culture with an appreciation for traditional butchery, according to its own description. The high-quality products come from small farmers in Italy and from the restaurant’s long-time friend Dario Cecchini. His cattle and pigs graze in the Pyrenees nature reserve at an altitude of 1,800 meters. Inspired by northern Italian tradition and open to innovation, chef Amodio Iezza gives each dish a special touch with unusual combinations. Sustainability and new standards are always kept in mind. The ambience is adorned with impressive works by contemporary artists such as Gerhard Richter and Daido Moriyama.
📍Location: Torstraße 96 | Mitte
Wen Cheng: the best noodles in Berlin
Image: Wen Cheng
Big fat hand-pulled noodles are taking over Berlin – at least according to the slogan of Chinese unicorn Wen Cheng, which now has three restaurants in Berlin serving outstanding food. As the slogan suggests, the noodles here are still pulled by hand and taste incredibly good! The menu is deliberately slim: you can choose between two main courses in different variations, each based on the big fat hand-pulled noodles .There is alsoa selection of four side dishes, which are also super simple but extremely delicious. At the same time, you don’t have to dig too deep into your pockets for the outstanding quality: the noodles start at around €15, and the side dishes at €4.50. The only drawback is that it’s usually very crowded here, and you have to wait a little before you can enjoy your food. There are no reservations either, as it’s too busy for that!
📍Location: Schönhauser Allee 65 | Prenzlauer Berg; Schönhauser Allee 10 | Mitte; Simon-Dach-Straße 22 | Friedrichshain
21Gramm: relax and unwind
Image: 21Gramm
In Neukölln, you’ll find a very special restaurant-café in a place where you wouldn’t necessarily expect it. At the bottom of a cemetery, 21 Gramm serves excellent brunch dishes and drinks in the incredibly beautiful setting of a former cemetery chapel. Here you can expect all the classics of a late breakfast, from scrambled eggs and pancakes to breakfast potatoes and beans. Incidentally, the name alludes to the theory of an American doctor from the early 20th century, according to which the soul weighs exactly 21 grams. For this alone, it deserves a place among the most unusual restaurants in Berlin.
📍Location: Hermannstraße 179 | Neukölln
893 Ryōtei: the mysterious Japanese restaurant
Image: Vogue Germany
893 Ryōtei is a true phantom among Berlin’s restaurants, thanks in particular to its skill at disguise. The restaurant’s façade looks like a dilapidated train station building, but at second glance it reveals its true identity as one of Berlin’s hottest addresses. Behind the opaque windows covered in graffiti, 893 offers traditional Japanese cuisine with a modern twist in a dimly lit atmosphere. In addition to meat and fish creations, the focus is also on exciting cocktails. However, a visit here should be well planned, as the restaurant’s mysterious charm attracts huge crowds.
📍Location: Kantstraße 135/136 | Charlottenburg