This Bandy Brooks is a convenient little corner ice cream-chocolate-coffee shop that's next to the Liebknecht Bridge and overlooks the Spree River and the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral). On the nicer days, they have a lot of seating outside (with umbrellas) where you can enjoy a cup of coffee and some sweets while taking everything in. Basically, have that movie European café moment, even if it's not quite one of the picturesque cafes.
Location is everything here, basically. It's a nice place to take a break at while being smack dab between the Berlin Television Tower, the Berlin Cathedral, the Berlin Palace, and a bunch of big and small museums (including that museum area with the Pergamon and the Neues). Though, we hadn't actually stopped there to sit down. We were heading towards the Cathedral and it was a hot day, it was just conveniently the place that looked like it had the nicer ice cream between all the little tourist shops and eateries lining that part of the street. Why I'm even writing this review is because I got a cone of mango ice cream, and as someone who has been trying out ice creams throughout this trip, it was really good. X3 Didn't try out any of the chocolate, though apparently you can order online.
It actually has one or two other locations in Berlin and claims some kind of history about their chocolate. The narrative from their website (and printed on the wall of their Friedrichstr location) tells about how a Belgian merchant going by Bandy Brooks meets Pee Dee, a Native American with Ecuador ancestry, and together they got into the chocolate business together mainly by selling to Southern cotton barons. That's why if you buy some of their chocolate, you'll see chocolate designs trying to draw from Native American influences/art as well as Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Television Tower. I'm in no position in telling whether the designs themselves are legit or not, but I haven't been able to find a Bandy Brooks in the US or outside of Berlin.
Overall, super convenient for a tourist exploring this area. It's a shop that definitely takes advantage of the amount of foot traffic and tourists. I like their mango ice cream and wish I could have tried out some of the more elaborate sundaes they had. But mainly, I think that their outdoor seating and view is what really makes the spot worth noting when you're just looking for someplace nice to take a break. read more