German food can be hard to find in Berlin…read more You can find German food at Prater Garten. Prater Garten has a double distinction. Outdoors, it has the oldest biergarten in Berlin. Indoors, it has an upscale German restaurant of distinction. The biergarten is not my style. If I am going to spend all day sitting outside drinking beer, I want the location to be outstandingly beautiful. Prater Garten's Plain Jane courtyard doesn't cut it. The indoor restaurant though is a different story. This is the traditional German restaurant of your dreams. The Gaststatte was the culinary peak experience of a month of serious Berlin eating. * * * Prater Gaststatte looks just the way you would expect a German restaurant to look. Dark woods. Wainscotting. Cream walls. The menu for both food and drink are limited, although they do change seasonally. This means that they make the same dishes over and over and over again. They have brought them to a high level of perfection. They only serve three beers at Prater Gaststatte, beers they brew themselves. I have no doubt those beers are wonderful. However, Prater Gaststatte had the Holy Grail of what I had come to Germany looking for Artisanal German Schnapps and Artisanal German Distilled Spirits. Bars in Berlin just don't carry those. Prater Gaststatte had a curated selection of six. (Actually a curated selection of five. The sixth item was a traditional Czech rarity.) Indiana Jones had just found his treasure. German Spirits are strong. Judiciousness limited my consumption to three. I went with a Nordhauser Doppelkorn, a Dirker Hasselnussgeist and a Stahl Birnenschnaps. Doppelkorn is a German alternative to vodka. It is 76 proof, just slightly weaker than a traditional vodka. It can be made from any of five different grains, but the rye-malt combo is the most common. The Nordhauser is an eminently superior alt-vodka - consummately smooth yet full of taste. I could have done a string of those happily. The Dirker and Stahl were both schnapps: hazelnut and pear respectively. I have never had a beverage like the hazelnut schnapps. It was not a liqueur. It was a strong brandy. Nothing sweet or cloying here. It was commanding like a brandy but smooth like the Doppelkorn. The hazelnut taste was overwhelming. It was as baritone and nutty as an Amaretto. An utterly unforgettable beverage. I stuck my neck out by going with a pear brandy. Most pear brandies are awful. I had had one and only one in my life that was good, the Finnish product Xante. Nothing is as good as Xante. Xante tastes like the canned pears served in heaven. But the Stahl Birenschnapps impressed. Nothing cloying. A real fresh pear taste. I was a very happy guy. * * * Note that although my beverages were outstanding, The food was even better. Given the quality of my distilled spirits, that last sentence is saying quite a lot. Never mind the strawberries I had for dessert. It is the beginning of strawberry season in Germany, And my meal had been so substantial that anything other than fruit would have been a crime. Spring is asparagus season in Germany. German restaurants will have one third to one half of all the dishes be asparagus dishes. I ate my fair share of mediocre asparagus dishes elsewhere in Berlin. The cream of asparagus soup at Prater Gaststatte is utterly to die for. Nothing tastes more like asparagus than that cream soup. And good cream soups are one of the fundamental pleasures of life. However, the headliner act which blew me away was their Brandenburger Pork Chop. A Brandenburger Pork Chop is a thick double-cut pork chop. The only way to get a "good" pork chop in the United States is to go to a steak house and pay steak house prices. American steak houses typically cheat by cooking it in apple juice so the pork chop gets caramelized. You eat well, but you are still covering up a ho-hum pork chop. This was a we-don't-have-to-hide-under-anything superlative pork chop. Yes there was about a tablespoon of red cabbage on top of the pork chop. It was like a maraschino cherry on top of a huge slab of meat. That pork chop had nothing to apologize for. It was a magnificent piece of meat. Easily a third of it was outer fat - outer fat that had been broiled to perfection. The pork chop fat was the star ballerina. The pork chop meat was the male dancer holding up that ballerina in a romantic pas-de-deux. It was the absolutely perfect pairing. (Anyone who uses that pork chop and ballet to make a joke about "Swine Lake" will be thrown off Yelp permanently.) Suffice it to say, I liked the meat course. Accompanying that was the potatoes au gratin of your dreams, And the green beans with bacon of your dreams. I never wanted to wake up. * * * If you come to Berlin, Come to Prater. Skip the Biergarten. Eat at the Restaurant. Deutscheland, Deutscheland Uber Alles!

Just noting that as of this review the hours are incorrect on Yelp so better check the website…read morebefore you go. It opens at noon, not 6pm on Saturdays. There are plenty of tables with communal seating. It wasn't super busy when I was there but admittedly the weather was pretty poor so I imagine it gets buzzier when the sun is out. I ordered a beer, some sauerkraut and a pretzel. Beer was nice, as was the food. Pretzel seemed stale upon initial inspection but was actually pretty good. They have mustard on the side. Overall, didn't wow me, but it was a nice stop and I'd recommend for someone wanting a chill biergarten to visit in Berlin.

Great food and great ambiance. Service was excellent and the waiters were super cool helping us…read morewith the menu. We don't speak German and they were very cool and patient explaining the dishes and the techniques used. It was a perfect date night!

This was our final dinner while in Germany with the group. The restaurant was noisy but not so much…read morethat we couldn't hear each other while talking. Service was quick and the servers were fun to talk with. The food was delightful and the beer was good as well. Definitely need to come back and bring more people l In the future.

Weihenstephaner is a Berlin classic. Even though it originally hails from Bavaria, bringing with it…read morebeers from the oldest brewery in the world, plus authentic Bavarian, Tyrol and South Tyrol cuisine. With its prime location on Hackescher Markt and easily accessible by the S Bahn and a few other bus lines, you have no excuse not to dine here. The prices will be on the higher end of the spectrum, since this is also tourist central. I needed a venue to accommodate 20 people with good English speaking servers, hence the decision was made to have an early dinner here. For a big group, you'll be seated in their vaulted cellar. The ancient architectural feel of the place, coupled with the dim lighting makes you feel like you've stepped backwards in time. Due to the unstable, humid weather Berlin was experiencing when we dined here, we were moved to the upstairs restaurant which had a more brighter, airy feel. The extensive menu contained soups, some salads, a whole variety of regional dishes and of course, bratwurst. The enormous variety of beer and some wine, plus non alcoholic options also satisfied every person's appetite. A few strong recommendations on the food front: Bavarian potato stew with bacon (add on sausage!), any of the bratwurst plates, and of course, the massive Schweins "hax'n" -- this is a gigantic pork knuckle served on a bed of mashed potatoes and dark beer sauce. You won't be disappointed! The service was also outstanding for the way they handled our big group. That's an automatic extra star earned for Wiehenstephaner.

10/2/23 I enjoyed our early dinner here. The restaurant is in a very popular area with lots of…read moreother restaurants and shops and right down from the station. There's lots of outdoor seating. The table was clean when we sat down. I ordered the schnitzel which also came with mashed potatoes. It was delicious! Our waiter was satisfactory. Not overly friendly but average service. If I'm ever in the area, I would go again. The prices are reasonable.

Limited menu, good beer but crowded and loud. One person in our group had to ask where their food…read morewas. Not good customer service.

Really nice Biergarten in a great location not too far from the S-bahn in the Tiergarten. The…read moreweather was a bit shite when I was there so unfortunately the bbq wasn't up and running but I still enjoyed my pilsner and a pretzel. Prices for beer are cheap and they have a nice food menu outside of the bbq options but I didn't try anything as I was heading to lunch after. The personnel were nice and spoke English fluently. I didn't feel like I was judged at all for not speaking German. The vibes even on a rainy day were nice and most of the tables were filled. I can only imagine how wonderful this place would have been had it been sunny!

Totally unassuming and well worth the trip! Kind of hard to see from the outside, but once you get…read morein, it's awesome. Go down to the bar inside, order some drinks, and plant yourself on the courtyard outside. Great beer, not pretentious, and chill. Loved this platz!

Super fun pub! We didn't speak German and it was a very local bar. The people and staff were very…read morenice. Great beer. It was hard to find, we almost left and realized it was set back in a courtyard and we had to take stairs down to get in. Went back 2x while staying in Wedding/Berlin.

Great place! Ate there a few times when I was staying in a hotel nearby! Very friendly, great food…read moregreat beer!

The food was great! And that shrimp flat bread style is on fire! I'm glad I went for the waiter's…read morerecommendation! The view was great. It was by the water so you the enjoy the outdoors in Berlin while having a nice meal

They had only a few vegetarian options available here so I was initially apprehensive of stabbing…read moreat salad sitting among folks having amazing-looking goulash and schnitzel, but was pleasantly surprised by a well-presented lightly creamy tagliatelle mushroom pasta. The beer was fast and well-frothed, and I tried this interesting black beer dessert later which felt like a panna cotta/tiramisu mix. The hosts were sweet and dealt with my terrible deutsch.

I ate here with family last fall. I wanted sauerbraten. When I saw the name, I recalled the comic…read morefrom my childhood. With sauerbraten on the menu, I had to try this restaurant. My wife and I had sauerbraten...every bit as good as I had hoped. Son had the veal schnitzel...also delicious. The vegetarian item looked good too. Huge portions. Reasonable pricing. Great atmosphere (though the neighborhood looks a bit run down). I will return in my next visit to Berlin. I have to try the Konigsburger Klöpse.

I came to Berlin on a cruise tour, and our guide gave us three hours to explore Berlin on our own…read more I was really hungry, so I stopped by here to grab something to eat and to hopefully experience real, authentic German cuisine. The first thing I wanted to ensure was that this restaurant accepted Apple Pay. I asked one of the waiters inside if they took Apple Pay, and he looked annoyed. When it was confirmed they took Apple Pay, I said, "Okay, I'd like to dine here then." I was a solo diner, and he said, "Okay, well, sit wherever you want." Once I sat down, I began to peruse the menu. Another waiter came over to take my order and began speaking German to me. I told him that I unfortunately don't speak German, and he got annoyed and kept speaking German. I ended up pointing to the items I wanted to order, but already wasn't feeling great about my experience. I ordered the Pork Vienna Schnitzel, and it was the most disappointing meal I have ever had. To be frank, I've had better Vienna Schnitzel in the United States at German-themed restaurants. The breading on the Vienna schnitzel was very puffy and fell off. There was no flavor to the food at all, and it was very bland. I simply ate the food out of sheer hunger, since I hadn't eaten since 7 AM that morning, and it was almost 2 PM by then. I finally paid and left, but I did not feel welcomed in the facility, and the food was a bust. Hopefully, other American tourists have better experiences here than I did.

Food was solid and the beer was good. I'm not a huge beer fan, but when I'm Germany…read more... We enjoyed the currywurst and potatoes as well. We left quite full and would dine here again. Atmosphere was relaxed and service was decent.