Image by Ciarán Fahey

Buried deep under Berlin’s famous Alexanderplatz (check the Alexanderplatz article) are the remains of a 4.5 billion year old UFO hushed up by the authorities and covered up from view. Apparently the East German regime was well aware of the implications of such a startling secret on the socialist state and so it built the Fernseheturm (check the Fernsehturm article) on the very site between 1965 and 1969 to hide it from public consciousness.

In 1995 however, an artefact from the space station was discovered, leading to the formation of a team of techies and hackers trying to reconstruct the puzzle of its existence. This is the ‘c-base’ project. Those involved meet in their own “space station” at the very back of an unobtrusive Hinterhof, working round the clock to try and uncover the terrible truth hidden for years by the powers that be.

Of course there are other activities too – the c-base does not restrict itself to looking just into the existence of aliens or UFOs – but as you can understand they’re a pretty secretive bunch, loath to any publicity or attention. So keep this under your hat.

Thankfully their activities also involve the serving of beer (just €2 a bottle for “aliens”) and some wild parties which are flagged in advance on their website. You’ll have to ring the bell at the door to be let in and if you ask nicely and are “compatible” they may even give you a tour! But remember, it’s all hush hush.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
C-Base Spacestation | Bars, Relaxing | Beer for “aliens” € 2
Rungestraße 20 | Kreuzberg | +493028599300
Top secret

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Robby Block

Don’t be turned off by the sparse menu. Afterall, if you do three things really, really well, why do anything else? This place is called Henne (Hen) and let’s be honest, it really is all about the milk broiled chicken here. Well, and the beer. And maybe the potato salad.

Actually this place could win a prize for nicest pub in Berlin. Berlin isn’t especially known for its local pub scene. Most pubs, or kneipe, here seem to be the last refuge of men you who have nothing better to do than to smoke and hold up the bar. But walk inside Henne and you might think you’ve left Berlin altogether. The rustic decor and heavy wood furnishings might be better at home in a country pub in Ireland than in modern Berlin.

The place is popular with both a local crowd and tourists, so reservations are a good idea. Especially if you want to go on a Friday evening. Again, though, it’s really all about the chicken. And the beer. And maybe the potato salad.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Henne | Bars, Restaurants (Chicken) | half a broiled chicken € 7.90
Leuschnerdamm 25 | Kreuzberg | +49306147730
Tue – Sat from 19:00, Sun from 17:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Ciarán Fahey

Berlin is nowhere near Mexico unfortunately, and the search for a good Mexican comedor in this city can be a hungry one. I’d just about given up all hope when I met a dog out for a cycle with his owner. It was dark and he had a light on his back as he jogged along beside her. They stopped at this cosy-looking place in Kreuzberg and she recommended I go in. “Es ist fantastisch!” The dog looked intelligent so I did.

Ta’ Cabrón is warm and comforting with simple furnishings, a couple of Mexican wrestling masks and the plastic cacti demanded by stereotype. Specials are written up on a board proclaiming various types of tacos (from €4), quesadillas (from €3.50), tostadas (€5.50), burritos (€5.50), enchiladas (€5.50), tamales (€6) and molletes (€6), all with various fillings, along with nachos (€1) and guacamole (€3.50). You help yourself to cutlery so if it’s delayed, you’ve no one to blame but yourself. I ordered a taco gobernador (€6) and a beer (€2.80) and was delighted to be served an authentic taco (with real tortilla!) stuffed with shrimp. I helped myself to the homemade hot sauce. Absolutely delicious. Maybe even too delicious - portions are unfortunately never big enough.

Joaquín Robredo from Culiacán, Sinaloa is two years in business. It really is “¡Ta’ Cabrón!” to have a genuine Mexican taquería in Berlin! It quickly filled up as I was eating – it seems I’m not the only one to be grateful.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Ta’ Cabrón Taquería | Snacks, Restaurants (Mexican) | Quesadillas € 3.50
Skalitzer Str. 60 | Kreuzberg | +493032662439
Tue – Thu 13:00 – 23:00, Fri – Sat 13:00 – 00:00, Sun 13:00 – 23:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Robby Block

When a place called Angry Chicken opened up in Kreuzberg, by the same lovely people who own Kimchi Princess, I was skeptical. Angry? In this town even the mildest of salsa is regarded suspiciously. Germans just don’t really do spicy. So I wondered, how angry could it really be? 

A couple of years ago Korean Fried Chicken, that other KFC, was all the rage in NYC. Food writers in the Times wrote with lyrical prose describing the crunchy, blistery fried skin, the tangy, garlicky sauces, the tender flesh. Although I lived in Korea for some time, I couldn’t recall fried chicken being such a big deal in there. It was what you ate on the stagger home, drunk most likely on soju; it was street food. Ah, but it was delicious and spicy and now some enterprising young kyopos, Korean Americans, had brought it across the Pacific.

Fast forward a couple years and Angry Fried Chicken has landed in Kreuzberg. Gluttony, I think, best describes my relationship to this place. The only problem here really is choice. Of course you can go for straight up Angry Chicken (spicy), but you might also like So So Angry Chicken (extra spicy), or even Sexy Chicken (soy garlic), or Furious (extra hot) perhaps?

And for those timid, spice-shy Germans, for whom even ketchup is too spicy, you could start them off with the Friendly Chicken (classic crunch).

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Angry Chicken | Restaurants (Chicken) | Spicy Chicken from € 3.50
Skalitzer Str. 36 | Kreuzberg
12:00 – 22:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Sharon Mertins

….. the little Angy Chicken take-out becomes a night club. The ‘angry’ chickens are put away to make way for a kitchen-like cloakroom right before the entrance of the ‘Soju Bar’ in the back. Once you get in, you will be standing in the middle of what looks like an urban street corner. Everything is covered in black tiles and neon lights, and the mirrored upper part of the dance floor is decorated with neon Korean signs. The music is a healthy mix of dance and minimal techno.

But the best part is even further back through the concrete walls where you’ll find a door leading to a handicapped toilette where a Karaoke machine lives! Throughout the night, you can dance out on the dance floor or sing your little heart out in that crowded toilette with, for the most part, chipper party goers who buy everyone else drinks to celebrate their euphoria of singing along to Michael Jackson, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones or even Britney Spears.

The perfect place for people going out with friends with a completely different taste in music! If you don’t like the club, the toilette offers a wide selection of alternative music.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Soju Bar | Bars, Music | Entrance € 5.00
Skalitzerstr. 36 | Kreuzberg
Wed -Sat from 23:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Sharon Mertins

Like I’ve said in other recommendations, in Kreuzberg, there is no priority given to any kind of rushing. Except for when days are sunny, the weather is friendly enough for outside activity and everyone rushes out to the canal to enjoy the sun, the swans, friends’ company, or a quiet moment alone with a book. One of the many charms of Kreuzberg is the abundance of green and its closeness to water.

The area’s laid back attitude means that no matter how broke you are, there is absolutely no reason for you to not be able to enjoy life. So if you don’t feel like sitting in a nice cafe or simply don’t feel like spending too much money, there’s always the option of buying drinks at any ‘spatkauf’ and joining the rest of the Berliners on the grass at the edge of the canal or on ‘Admiralbruecke’ where you can be serenaded by guitar players, singers, or a passing DJ with a boom box on his bicycle.

Despite new regulations which don’t allow people to stay on the bridge after 22:00, hanging around this area with a bottle of ‘Berliner pils’ or some good wine in hand is probably one of the most Berlinish things to do. And isn’t it lovely to be able to just relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of life?

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Kreuzberg Canal | Music, Relaxing | Free
Planufer 10967 | Kreuzberg
From sunrise to 22:00 daily

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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
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

In a big city, it’s always nice to enjoy the nightlife and just let your hair down a bit. But sometimes, we get so consumed with the business of daily life, that we forget how important it is to be able to pamper yourself every once in while. Despite its relaxed attitude, Berlin, like any other big city, can manage to wear you out.

So, when I received a voucher for a day at a Hamam right in the middle of Kreuzberg last christmas, I was delighted. I’d known of their existence around this area but never ventured out to look for them. When the opportunity presented itself, I went for it. My visit consisted of me and my friend relaxing in a warm room with comfortable cushions and magazines, then relaxing some more in the bathing area every once in a while pouring warm water on ourselves while we chatted, and then dividing the rest of our time between the sauna and the cold water showers. You can also get traditional Turkish ‘Kese’ (Turkish handglove) peeling and ‘Sabunlama’ massages.

I find it lovely to live in an area with such cultural diversity like Kreuzberg. And I think the Hamam at Marianenstrasse, though a bit Europeanized, has managed to maintain an authentic and, if I may say so, heavenly environment in which women of all different cultures come to enjoy such an old and absolutely delightful tradition.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Hamam at Schokofabrik | Relaxing | 3 hour visit € 14.00
Marianenstr. 6 | Kreuzberg | +49306151464
Mon 15:00 – 23:00, Tue – Sun 12:00 – 23:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Sharon Mertins

Ah Berlin! ‘Arm aber sexy’ (poor but sexy)! And sexy it is, in many different ways. Flea market culture has allowed many here to experiment and improvise ornaments and furniture. Berlin prides itself in its originality when it comes to home decoration and the price reduction you can achieve with a little bit of cleverness.

Of course not all of us are gifted with such dextrous hands to make our own kitchen cabinets out of wine boxes or hanging flower vases out of recycled bottles. But there are a lot of people here who are. And some of them have opened up lovely shops with ‘home made’ products with what they call a ‘Shabby Chic Style.’ One of my favorite of these places is Jean et Lili.

Here, you can find painted door knobs, soap holders, bottle lamps, vintage aluminium storage units, wooden kitchen mini cabinets, and all sorts of little bits from here and there, all really uniquely finished and really original. Most of their furniture items are hand made right here in this city, with love, and can be pre-ordered. Their prices are very friendly and even just a little peak in the colorful little shop is quite a treat.

The shop I frequent is the one in Kreuzberg, but they also have another one in Prenzlauerberg on Winnstr.9 (see website for details).

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Jean et Lili | Shopping
Dieffenbachstr. 38 | Kreuzberg | +493069001742
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 19:00, Sat 11:00 – 18:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin

Image by Sharon Mertins

The Moviemento can be found on a street where you would most certainly not expect to find a cinema of this sort. It lives among Turkish supermarkets and Imbisses and its film poster covered entrance is surrounded by colorful vegetables six days a week. But regardless of its colorful location, I find their programming fantastic.

Most current films are shown in German but sometimes they also show original versions. Just make sure you keep a good watch on the program. In the evening they often have special presentations of classic cinema, almost always original language, and they also host small film festivals and often show political documentaries.

The inside of the cinema is well worth a look, and you can always have a quick drink while you check the program.

What I like most about this place is that they truly have a film-loving spirit. It is very often the favorite place for local independent filmmakers to show their films. And after applying for a job there when I first moved here, they replied saying that they didn’t have anything available but were happy to put me in touch with all the people they knew who worked in the film business here. And to this day, they still send me job postings from friends of theirs who are looking for crew members. Their good-natured concern for local cinema has been ever since a major selling point for me.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Moviemento | Cinemas | Ticket from € 5.00
Kottbusser Damm 22 | Kreuzberg | +49306924785
Opening times vary according to showings

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Berlin