Prater Gaststätte & Garten, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

On further inspection, we’d really hit the jackpot here – Prater Garten has been in existence since 1837 and is incredibly popular, ranking well on trip advisor and busy all summer long.

We walked into the long almost chalet style building and were surprised to see that the inside was pretty old-fashioned and very traditional. At 6 pm it was already filling up as we took a seat at the bar and ordered a couple of beers. You know I always need to take a look at the menu when I visit anywhere new and we soon realised this was where we wanted to be for dinner. The menu echoed the modern styling we’d seen outside but the dishes themselves were hearty, traditional German fair.

Dave opted for Gansbraten: crispy roast goose with creamed spinach and red cabbage, potato dumplings, a baked apple and lingonberry sauce. I had Kasseler Ham: with malt beer sauce, mash and sauerkraut. Before I even start to talk about how good the ham and the goose were, I have to stop and congratulate these guys on their mash. Oh wow, that mash was good. Some of the best mash of my life (and there’s been a lot!). The ham was cut into a thick slice with a gorgeous almost caramelised toffee crust along the top. It was smoked and melt in the mouth delicious. The goose was a leg and part of a breast – complete with crispy skin. We gnawed every last bit of meat off the leg bone between us.

For pud, we shared an Apfelstrudel, we had to really didn’t we? For the blog. It was a hearty slice, taken from a big homemade strudel (oh how I’d love to see the whole thing) and was sat in a bowl of delicious vanilla cream. We gobbled it up quick smart before finishing our beers and starting the well-needed walk home.