Shopping and Eating in Berlin.

I don't know what the weather will be like now, but back in April I very much enjoyed the biergarten at Café am Neuen See. They also made a tasty to-order thin-crust pizza from scratch.

There is a Vapiano restaurant at Potsdamer Platz, it's nothing special but ok pasta and pizza if you want to eat near the hotel. Something more German near the hotel is a restaurant with food from Hessen. It's on the right side of In den Ministergärten street, about 100 m from the intersection with Ebertstrasse.
In this house there is also a restaurant with typical German food. I'm not sure it's open on evenings, during lunch for sure though. The street is Niederkirchnerstrasse, some 5 minutes walk from Potsdamer Platz. When entering the building, go directly to the right, then you'll find the restaurant.
For high end shopping you should visit KaDeWe on Kurfürstendamm. I think the whole street can be of interest in that respect.

Go to Alexander Platz and from there catch the tram to Hackescher Markt (two stops 5mins). Wander around and there you will find some known and not so known trendier stores. From there you can head north up Rosenthaler Strasse and in that area you will find some good value restaurants and lots of life.

If you have a whole day and want to get a good inside tour of the Berlin look for Insider Tours (They are the yellow tour company see http://www.insidertour.com/) and ask for the 'Famous Tour' and try to get the tour guide Brian. This guy will give you more than your money's worth and will help you out with anything. I had dinner with him and a bunch of other people almost twice!

I didn't like Kufrstendamm. It is a crowded tourist shopping strip with all the usual western outlets you can probably find back home. No heart and soul like the old East Berlin. Stick to the East and go to the area I mentioned above.

Hope that helps

BTW Come 5 o clock everyone has a beer in their hand so I hope you like beer....but its all cool

BTW2 Postdamer Platz was the equivalent of Time Square in the 1930s before it was annihilated during WWW2. It remained wasteland until reunification. It has been obviously rebuilt however critics argue that it doesen't have much of its former character.

Some additional points:

"High end places" are not that interesting at Berlin. Let me know if you are looking for something specific - i might have an idea. If you must (because you travel with your girl/wife), see Quartier 206 (especially "Departmentstore@206") and Galeries Lafayette (both on Friedrichstr.) or "The Corner" (Französische Straße, just off Friedrichstr.) - the most famous boutique (and a little bit like Colette in Paris). Avoid Kurfürstendamm and Kadewe - it's a waste of time. If you are looking for classic scents and shaving equipment go see "The Different Scent" at Krausnickstr. (in Mitte as well).

There are some nice stores between Hackescher Markt, Rostenthaler Str., Münzstr., Neue Schönhauser (all in "Mitte"). Might be of interest. "AM1 AM2" at Münzstr. 21 is a very nice Boutique there - they have some nice stuff, for example Margiela, Dries van Noten, Valextra.

You may find decent shoes (from England) at von Truchinsky or Schuhkonzept .

There are a lot of vintage shops in areas called Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg (Oderberger Straße, Kastanienallee, Neue Schönhauser). Most of them are a little "trashy" as well.There is a huge flea market in "Mauerpark" on sundays wich also provides a lot of low end "vintage" stuff. I am not sure if this is what you are looking for.

There is also a very nice flea market at "Straße des 17. Juni" on Saturdays and Sundays. You might find vintage watches, jewlery, luggage etc. there. There are some stores with antique watches and jewlery in an area called Kreuzberg around Bergmannstr. (cloesed on sundays).

Most of the "second hand" stores will have some army stuff - mostly from the former eastern german army (NVA). There are some guys selling fake army stuff from russia at most tourist places like Checkpoint Charly.

Eating depends a lot on your prefered price range in Berlin. There is a lot to get on the lower end - which is mostly not that good. You should have some "Currywurst", which is a local hit. They have decent currywurst at "Kadewe" - a huge department store most people visit. "Konnopke" at Schönhauser Allee in Prenzlauer Berg is very famous - I don't like it.

There are a lot of restaurants around Potsdamer Platz - no recommendation from me. Very standard stuff, a lot of hotel restaurants, aimed at tourists.

The best restaurant in Berlin is Fischers Fritz - in Mitte and close to Potsdamer Platz. It is classy and you will spend 150 Euros plus a person. If you like to spend less - let me know what you like to eat and what price range you aim for and I might have an idea.

The best coffee in Berlin: Bonanza Coffee Heroes at Oderberger Str. (Prenzlauer Berg). Crowded on Sundays.

Regards,

Max

My favorite place for coffee is Berlin is Bonanza Coffee Heroes. I stumbled across it in Prenzlauer Berg, and they make some of the best espresso and latte in the world. It rivals any I've had in Seattle, for instance.

go to Ka De We, highly recomended.


go to the pergomon museum, highly recomended - by the way, one of the recomended market areas is rigth by the pergomon museum, under the railroad tracks. lots of antique and vintage stores.

a great cafe for lunch or dinner is cafe einstin, the one on under den linten is very nice.

Kant str. has all the good ethnic resteraunts.

have a currywurst someplace, and a donner