As I’m sure you now know if you read my blog, Dave and I recently visited (and loved) Berlin.
Whenever I go away, I like to research places to avoid disappointment. Dave however, is a fan of exploring and seeing where you end up. To a degree, I can see his point but sometimes you need to plan to make sure you don’t end up bickering and eating microwaved crap somewhere dodgy because you’ve left it too late and nowhere is open. We’ve all done that haven’t we?!
So – on day one, having done my research, we went to Imbiss 204, on the recommendation of a great blog – Berlin Food Stories. This place really is a hidden gem, serving very authentic home-style German food and we LOVED IT!
On entering, we were surprised at just how tiny it was. It also looks like a greasy spoon which just makes it all the better! We went at 6 pm to ensure we got a table. This is because Imbiss 204 only seats 14 people (more in the summer with outdoor seating). Fortunately, there was just one other person there. We selected a couple of beers from the fridge in the corner and sat down to read the chalkboard on the wall. This was the menu – hard to read in stilted German but we recognised a couple of traditional dishes and ordered those.
The portions were huge! We were absolutely stuffed and almost defeated – sadly we didn’t quite manage to clear our plates. We ate Königsberger Klopse, Bratkartoffeln with string beans. This is basically pork and beef meatballs in a rich gravy, and potatoes cooked with bacon, butter and herbs. The meatballs were huge and so perfectly seasoned. I ate more than half of those potatoes too. Whoops!
Our other dish was a ginormous portion of pork schnitzel and lingonberry jam with honey and mustard potatoes and cucumber pickles. I’ve eaten some terrible schnitzel in my life – usually overcooked and bland – so this was a total delight. Full of flavour and soft. No burnt bits in sight! The lingonberry jam was great, it took us a while to realise what it was!
*We paid for our meal and all opinions are my own*
Its great to travel to places and sample local cuisine or at least foods that are native to the country.
Love the look of this authentic German food, glad you enjoyed it:)
I will admit that we are hopeless at the finding surprise treasures part of travelling. We would never have thought to go in there especially as it was practically empty. Will definitely remember this next time we go travelling and will be brave!
Yes we had to be brave as it was quite daunting to go in when it was so quiet! I almost walked out again, but glad we didn't! 🙂
Yes it is, we're planning Marrakech this year, can't wait to try some authentic Moroccan food!
Thanks Camilla, we certainly did 🙂