Image by Ciarán Fahey

For a quiet place to get lost in your own thoughts and imagination, there can be few quieter than the utterly charming Visual Café in Pankow.

Shuffling feet and the intermittent growl of the coffee machine are all you’re likely to hear. No music affronts the senses as there’d be very little point – most of the customers are students, staff or friends of the neighbouring Visual Hands school for the deaf and hearing-impaired. Indeed the Visual Café is actually run by the school and those involved with its laudable programme of courses, events and activities. But back to the café – it’s simply delightful.

Communication is by sign language but there’s no need to be fluent. The ridiculously-friendly staff make it easy to feel at home. I was able to communicate without difficultly.

Before you know it, you’ve whiled away an hour or three over a very reasonably-priced coffee (€1), latte (€2.20), beer (€2) or coke (€1.50). For something more substantial (and a good deal healthier), the day’s range of tempting homemade hearty soups are written on the board, and also excellent value.

The real charm of this hidden gem however, is the peace and quiet in a very tasteful and comforting environment. Contemporary wooden furniture is accompanied by classic couches which are decidedly hard to escape from. Not that you’ll want to.

Word of warning – opening times are haphazard, and you may be disappointed to find them closed on occasion, but they were very much open when I dropped in last week.

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Visual Café | Coffee & tea, Relaxing | Coffee € 1.00
Schulzestraße 1 | Outer – North&East | +493044328500
14:00 – 20:00 daily (usually)

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

The heavenly smells wafting from Schwarze Pumpe will draw you in from the cold even before you’ve realised whether you’re hungry or not. In fact, you may wander in for just one Hefeweißbier (€2.90) and find yourself ordering a delicious Chili Con Carne (€4.50) too, as I did.

This cosy little pub/café/Kneipe has long been a favourite with locals, offering heart-warming (limbs too) German fare at its most tempting since it opened in 1993. Daily specials like Fenchel-Tomaten-Suppe (€3.50), broccoli and potato bake (€6), cheese Spätzle (schwäbische noodles) with salad (€6), or Grünkohl in Kräuter (cabbage in herbs, €3.50) are written on a board and taste much better than they sound. (Thankfully this rule applies to most German cuisine.)

A menu also offers set dishes at very reasonable prices – breakfast, including the typical Rühreier (scrambled egg) with bread for €3.20, is served from 10:00 -14:00, the kitchen remains open to 23:00, and a very popular Sunday brunch is available for just €5 every… well, Sunday.

This old-fashioned joint looks like it hasn’t been done up in years, exactly as I like it, and the homely feeling is extenuated by the friendly staff who seem to know everyone who walks in the door.

With the day’s newspapers available for perusal, good music, a cosy atmosphere, simple wooden decor and delicious food and drink, you might find yourself staying longer than originally planned. And with the nights getting ominously colder, where’s the harm in that?

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Schwarze Pumpe | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (German) | Apfelschorle € 1.50
Choriner Straße 76 | Mitte | +49304496939
10:00 – 01:00 daily (Kitchen ’til 23:00)

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Apparently the Irish drink more tea per capita than any other people in the world. As soon as I moved here I had to find where I would get my tea.

The Berliner Teesalon on Invalidenstraße proudly states that it has “tea specialities from all over the world”. And it does! This charming old-style Laden is home to over 250 types of tea including a whole shelf devoted to my own beloved Barry’s Tea! (I’m sipping it now as I type.)

It was only after I left Ireland that I realised there was more than one type of tea and the Berliner Teesalon seems to have all of them under one roof: black teas from India, white teas from China, green teas from Japan… Oolong, Pu Erh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, rooibos, Jasmine and flower teas – they’re all in tins and boxes which line the shelves in this veritable treasure trove of tea. Of course there are all sorts of tea implements available too, from teapots of all shapes and sizes to strainers and sieves to ensure the perfect cup.

To help tea aficionados with their choices, once every month or so customers are invited to try a selection of teas over a couple of hours for €12 (check website for dates). House-mixed teas in colourful tins prove very popular as gifts. “Es gibt nicht den Tee,” replied the woman when I asked which was the best. It just seems I’ll just have to try them all.

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Berliner Teesalon | Coffee & tea, Shopping | Barry’s Gold Blend (80 bags) € 7.25
Invalidenstraße 160 | Mitte | +493028040660
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 19:00, Sat 10:00 – 16:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

A short tram ride east will bring you all the way to Asia. Well, not quite – Berlin’s public transport isn’t that good – but the M8 will bring you as far as the Dong Xuan Center where a thriving Vietnamese community is blossoming on what used to be decrepit industrial wasteland.

‘Little Vietnam’ consists of an untidy collection of huge hangers stuffed to the brim with shops upon shops selling all manner of stuff you never knew you needed. Tacky and flashy are the order of the day – this is the place to come for neon shop signs, plastic flowers, cheap wedding dresses, rubber reindeer or plastic figurines. Those friendly one-armed waving cats can of course be found here, as can porcelain pigs engaging in activities no decent porcelain pig would normally be found in.

Weird wares are scattered all around, sandwiched between karaoke bars, shoe shops, barbers, hair salons and nail salons. It’s another world. Old men play cards at a furious pace around tables under clouds of smoke, money changing hands quicker than the eye can see. Live carp patiently await purchase in huge tanks at the back of supermarkets crammed with tins of things I’d never heard of and crazy fruit I’d never seen before.

Browsing through the hustle and bustle is hungry work and a number of restaurants of questionable hygiene offer authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Again, you might have no idea what you’re eating but hey, it’s cheap, cheerful, and certainly an adventure!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Dong Xuan Center | Bars, Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks, Restaurants (Vietnamese)
Herzbergstr. 128 | Outer – North&East | +493055152038
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Long one of my favourite haunts, the only disadvantage bohemian Café Cinema has for me is that it seems to be one of everybody else’s favourite haunts too. It can be hard to find a table!

I first stumbled in here in 2004 and I’ve been stumbling out of it pretty often since.

Old movie posters and film snaps decorate the walls, overseen by film-set lighting above, but it’s the classic lines of its simple and tasteful furniture, with candles adorning the tables, which give this cosy Berlin institution (in operation since 1990) its cosmopolitan air.

But for the music which is always great, (I’ve never heard a bad song here), you would imagine you were back in the 1920s, a wonderful time to be in Berlin by all accounts. (I’m not that old.)

Friendly prices ensure regulars return, with coffee just €1.50, beer (.5l) for €2.90, and proper Cuba Libres being set free for €4. Snacks range from cake for €1, stew with bread for €2.50, a mixed salad with sheeps’ cheese and tuna for €3.70, or (from 18:00) two fried eggs with salad and your choice of tomato, ham or mushroom, or a combination, for no more that €3.50.

Café Cinema is a favourite meeting place for Berliners and it stays open late too. That’s probably not a coincidence.

Don’t forget to check out Haus Schwarzenberg (check the Haus Schwarzenberg article) just behind it while you’re here.

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Café Cinéma | Bars, Coffee & tea, Music, Snacks | Cake € 1.00
Rosenthaler Straße 39 | Mitte | +49302806415
12:00 – late daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Ear-popping on the way up and eye-popping once you’re there, the Fernsehturm is quite literally Berlin’s most outstanding attraction! Towering majestically 368 meters above Alexanderplatz, it can be seen from almost anywhere in the city – a comforting beacon of hope for lost wandering souls trying to find their way home or to the next party.

The Fernsehturm (literally ‘TV Tower’ in German – it has been transmitting TV and radio signals since it opened in 1969) is the tallest free-standing structure in western Europe (positively dwarfing the “miserly” 324 metre Tour Eiffel).

Two lifts whisk visitors at a speed of six meters per second to the viewing platform 203.78 meters above the city in the time it took you to read that sentence. (Forty seconds in case you weren’t paying attention.) In any case, it sure is quicker than taking the 986 steps. The view all around Berlin is quite impressive, eye-popping as I mentioned before, and it can be enjoyed with a Cocktail 360˚ (vodka, gin, vanilla, lime and cranberry) for €7.50 at the Panorama Bar. Why not? It’s Germany’s highest bar! A modest bottle of beer is €3.60.

If you really want to go for a twirl however, reserve a table at the swish revolving restaurant a floor above. Diners complete a full rotation only once every half hour so you need not worry about returning your food after eating it.

Refurbishment is calling! The restaurant’s closed from February 13 to 26 and the observation deck from February 20 to 26.

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Fernsehturm | Bars, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Restaurants (German) | Adult € 11
Panoramastraße 1A | Mitte
Mar – Oct 09:00 – 00:00 daily, Nov – Feb 10:00 – 00:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Natalia Irina Roman

Morgenrot is one of the many cafes in Kastanienallee. It has a few tables outside and self service. The atmosphere is relaxed and intimate around the small wooden tables.

What makes Morgenrot a special stop?

-One can borrow from the bar a one chess-set-lacking-a-pawn.

-One can have wonderful vegetarian brunches (until 15:00) for customer-decided-prices between 4 and 8 Euro (Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays)

Additionally, the cafe hosts cultural and political discussions – it’s an open space which welcomes and supports such initiatives. This openness, the affordable prices, the great breakfasts and the vicinity to the Volksbuehne im Prater theatre (see the Volksbuehne article) make it a stop worth while.

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Café Morgenrot | Bars, Coffee & tea, Relaxing | Brunch from € 4.00
Kastanienallee 85 | Prenzlauer Berg | +493044317844
Tue – Thu 12:00 – 01:00, Fri -Sat 11:00 – 03:00, Sun 11:00 – 03:00, Sun 11:00 – 01:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Sharon Mertins

There is something absolutely charming about small restaurants whose only view from the street is a door with a set of stairs leading you down to an underground world.

Manouche is still one of my favourite places to go eat or have a drink. Maintaining that Berliner spirit, daytime opening times may vary, but evening hours from 17:00 to 00:00 are usually constant.

In winter months it feels like stepping down into a candle lit cave tastefully decorated with flea market junk and topped off with interesting art. It’s constantly busy, but if you’re lucky to get there in the seldom quiet times, you may choose to sit on a table, a large comfortable sofa, or maybe behind some curtains in a corner that looks like a fortune teller’s abode. When busy you may have to ask to share a table with other guests or have a glass of wine while you wait.

Manouche is the kind of place where the waitress sits with you while taking your order and may sometimes enjoy a bit of a chat while writing it down. This is probably why sometimes the food takes a bit longer to arrive but being in a hurry in these parts of Berlin is just not ‘in’. And this is part it’s charm.

When the weather permits it you can sit outside, and all throughout the year they have live music on different nights.

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Manouche | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (French- Creperie) | Crepes from € 5.00
Grimmstr. 23 | Kreuzberg
Tue – Fri 17:00 – 00:00, Sat – Sun 15:30 – 00:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Sharon Mertins

When one of my best friends came to visit a few weeks ago from Amsterdam, he had a whole itinerary planned for us for the weekend. He had lived here for four years before moving away, and he was determined to do his favorite ‘Berlin things’ throughout the few days he would be here. One of them was watching the sunset at Nola’s.

Nola’s restaurant is no big secret around Berlin. But despite it’s popularity, it’s still worth a visit. It’s a lovely place to watch the sunset while you sip on a cold drink while sitting on one of the sun-chairs during the summer, or nursing a hot cup of chocolate with a blanket wrapped around you during the colder months.

Nola’s has a wonderful terrace with a fantastic view of the Volkspark am Weinberg, and an inside area with an elegant 1950′s sort of decoration that gives you the feeling of being….in a classic 1950′s movie set. The Swiss cross is always present along with ‘Rivella’ ads but this is all very subtle and done with good taste.

On Sundays they offer a fabulous brunch with an absolutely delicious variety of Swiss cheese, eggs, sausages, salmon, homemade marmalade……you get the idea. And for those winter cravings………..Fondue and a variety of Swiss dishes.

The atmosphere is always relaxed and more of a family environment depending on the time of day… But the sunsets…..!!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Nola’s | Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Restaurants (Swiss) | Brunch € 11.50
Veteranenstr. 9 | Mitte | +493044040766
10:00 – 01:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Sharon Mertins

Fleamarket culture is something particularly wonderful in Berlin. But with so many people wanting to partake in this experience, popular fleamarkets like Mauerpark and Boxhagener platz have become something of a battle to walk through in the past two years.

As all of these markets started getting fuller and fuller, and rent prices started going up in the neigbourhoods of Prenzlauerberg, Kreuzberg, and parts of Friedrichshain, many artists and international students moved their creative bohemian lifestyle down to the Neukölln streets. This little migration has changed the face of Neukölln drastically.

There are new ideas flowing and shops and bars popping up all over the place. And with these new additions came the ‘Nowkoelln Flowmarkt.’ It’s still small enough to have a very meticulous look through it. Still local enough to find your next door neighbour selling homemade chocolate cake and coffee. But hipper than other fleamarkets since it’s participants and visitors are mostly that wave of international creative types. You can still find odd little things like old 1950′s ornaments or modern locally hand made trendy products. And all for fleamarket prices.

It only happens every third Sunday of the month, but it’s always a nice relaxed atmosphere, sometimes with street performers and ‘bio’ food stands. But most importantly, without the big tourist traffic jams….

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Nowkölln Flowmarkt | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Shopping, Snacks
Maybachufer, Neukölln | Neukölln
Every 3rd Sun of the month 10:00 – 17:00 (See website)

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin