TonyM

I'll be going to Munich & Berlin in the fall, mid September and would love suggestions for some places to grab a bite for lunch and nice places for a dinner. I love going "native" as much as possible.

I don't mind taking trains or walking a bit but nothing outside of the city where it's a schlep back late at night from the countryside.

RufusTFirefly

For German meals:
Eisbein and beers at Brauhaus Georgbrau, Spreeufer 4, along the river just across the Rathausstr. bridge. Of course, they have a lot of excellent menu choices other than Eisbein, but it was the big hit of our 4 meals.

Baeren Schenke--right where Oranienburgerstr. meets Friedrichstr. Neighborhood "pub." Friendly service, comfort food, good beer.

Also: Cavallino Rosso, Hannoversche Str. 2 tel 030 - 27 90 83 14--a very good Italian restaurant, also not far from Oranienburgerstrasse.

TonyM

Awesome! Of course I'm also looking forward to the BEER!

cherrybomb

In Berlin I liked:

Markthalle, 34 Pücklerstrasse
website: http://www.weltrestaurant-markthalle.de
dinner for 2 with wine and beer was @ 34Euro--2 glasses wine, 2 beers, 2 entrees that came with salads and 2 vodka shots (the vodka was free)

Schneeweiss; Simplonstrasse 16
dinner for 2 with 2 liters of wine (don't ask) was 60 euro--it was 2 apps and 2 entrees and the wine

cherrybomb

for expensive, I liked
Horvath: Paul-Lincke-Ufer 44A
http://www.restaurant-horvath.de/
105 Euro for amuse (obvs. "free&quot, 2 entree, 2 starters, bottle of wine

not expensive:
Pane e Vino: Erkelenzdamm 61
30 Euro for liter of wine, 2 starters, 2 entrees. really tiny and out of the way--owner only speaks German and Italian. nice garden on the park.

A visit to www.halford-berlin.de for drinks is quite interesting.

Golgatha, the biergarten in Viktoria Park is nice during the day/sunset hour. Has food and is cheap.

NanBug

In Berlin, we loved the Brauhaus Lemke (at 143 Dircksenstrasse) close to Haeckescher Markt.

Wonderful, warm atmosphere, great traditional (yet modern, if that makes sense) food, happy waiters, and incredible hand-crafted beer.

www.brauhaus-lemke.com/index.php?area=1

Gute Reise!

TonyM

Hey - thanks everyone!

I'm starting to list these in my travel book so I won't loose them!

<i>Keep em coming!</i>

traveller1959

Here write the native:

We natives never eat Eisbein. Eisbein is an old-fashioned, fatty, hyper-cholestorol dish which is specially prepared for tourists.

If you really want to go &quot;native as much as possible&quot; then in M&uuml;nchen eat the Lenbach:

www.lenbach.de

In Berlin, believe it or not, eat in the restaurant &quot;Mark Brandenburg&quot; in the Hilton on the Gendarmenmarkt. This restaurant features authentic German cuisine using ingredients from local farms (like pike-perch from the river Havel):

http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hote...in/dining.do#1

For lunch, an affordable splurge would be this restaurant:

www.fischersfritzberlin.com

For 18 (!) Euros you can enjoy a lunch which has been awarded two Michelin stars (be sure to dress properly)!!

You will get good German beer EVERYWHERE, but, please, also try German wines. I especially recommend Riesling.

RufusTFirefly and Cherrybomb:

I consider it as an insult if you recommend Italian restaurants in Germany, especially if the poster want to go as native as possible.

TonyM

Thanks sooo much <i><b>Traveller1959!</b></i> Your recommendations are being put at the top of the list!

cherrybomb

I didn't read &quot;native&quot; as anything other than slang for &quot;going wild&quot; at worst, and &quot;not-touristy&quot; at best, or some combo between the two.

For Italian food to be considered an insult, there seems to be a ton of places serving it and people paying money for it.

Calm down--I replied to the question: <i>&quot;would love suggestions for some places to grab a bite for lunch and nice places for a dinner&quot; </i> in kind with &quot;places I liked&quot; and took the time to type in the addresses, look up the websites, and include prices. It was nice of you to take a big old dump all over that.

Jeez, a lot of people seem to have bugs up their asses around here lately.

TonyM

Some people are very proud of their heritage....

I'm grateful that I've gotten so many wonderful suggestions!

Michael

The Markthalle in Berlin is also good for a one plate lunch with beer. See my report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35084225

Elsewhere I wrote:

As I overheard a young French woman speak to a friend upon arriving in CDG: Food is cheap in Berlin. We had decent Indian food with wine and other refreshments for about 100+&euro; for 11 persons, had a Doner Kebab (Gyros for the Americans) for 2.25&euro; at the Jannowitzbr&uuml;cke station which was more than enough for lunch (decent fast food is available at most U &amp; S-Bahn stations), had a businessman's plate that was bien cuisin&eacute; at the better restaurant in the main train station (upstairs SW corner) for 12&euro;, and had a plain but good plate for 4.50&euro; at Pinelli's in the hallway of the Sch&ouml;neberg S-Bahn Ring line station. That latter restaurant serves no alcohol during the day but has wine in the evening and functions as a jazz club.

JudyC

Bookmarking, sorry to say usually I found German food a bit too heavy, but here seems some interesting suggestions.

noe847

We had a lovely dinner at Aigner, also on the Gendarmenmarkt - traditional food, fresh ingredients and well prepared.

We also liked Sophienecke, more a &quot;pub food&quot; experience - hearty German fare and some good herring dishes.

noe847

Oops, forgot to say that my post above was for Berlin.

noe847

Here is a link to a previous thread about Munich restaurants which as a lot of great recommendations, and also a few cites to previous Munich restaurant threads.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35123515

RufusTFirefly

Gee, traveller, you are such a superior person.

Eisbein, like many pork cuts, has a lot of fat on it, but the meat itself has very little fat. I don't eat the fat, just the delicious, succulent meat beneath it. If no Germans eat it any more, then I feel very sorry for them.

I love German food, but I don't want German restaurant food every meal, every day on my trip. Same with any particular type of food. And Berlin has many wonderful restaurants representing many cultures. Why it would be an &quot;insult&quot; to recommend a nice Italian restaurant, I cannot imagine, unless you have some sort of a mental problem.

TonyM is free to accept or ignore any suggestions anyone posts here. He's not the only one who will be reading this thread, and other people might want to try an Italian or other ethnic restaurant on their visit to Berlin.

Cowboy1968

As a German, I would say it is total nonsense to assume that &quot;natives&quot; eat at &quot;native&quot; restaurants most of the time.
One of Berlin's advantages is (IMO as a 10yr resident of that city) that you find a huge variety of eateries, restaurants, or pubs run by natives from many countries.
The most &quot;native&quot; fast food in Berlin would be (besides the Currywurst) the D&ouml;ner (or Falafel) - try any eatery in the district of Kreuzberg.
Eisbein is indeed more a touristy dish nowadays. You find restaurants around KaDeWe department stores which have fake Eisbein plates for (mostly Japanese) tour groups.

Munich/Bavaria is a different ball game. Its &quot;cuisine&quot; differs a lot from what you will get in Berlin. Actually Berlin's &quot;native cuisine&quot; is not much to talk about in comparison with traditional Bavarian dishes. A good place to sample Bavarian specialties for little money is the Hofbr&auml;ukeller in Munich (NOT the Hofbr&auml;uHAUS), on Wiener Platz in the district of Haidhausen.

RufusTFirefly

Too bad about Eisbein being out of style. My Grandmother made wonderful Eisbein with &quot;squished&quot; peas. And, of course, Grandpa's home made beer and root beer!