Review: Four places for the vegan in Berlin
I spent four nights in Berlin recently, two before IVU and two afterwards. This gave me an excuse to check out four different vegan places to eat for dinner...
Yo-yo Foodworld (Gärtnerstraße 27)
A friend of
earthnative met us not long after we arrived in Berlin and took us out to dinner and then to a poetry reading. We went to Yo-yo which is totally vegetarian with many vegan options that are well marked on the menu. It is mainly a burger bar using different types of mock meat patties made from soy, seitian, vegetables and other goodies. I did note that there were a few non burger things like wraps, salad etc and they do have veg "curry wurst". They didn't have our first options when ordering, however what we did get was pretty tasty. I had a "fish" burger which had vegan tarter sauce (which I love) and heaps of salad. Not knowing the serving size we also had chips and salad as a side which I couldn't finish as it was huge (yes I left chips on my plate- a travesty!) The venue is very casual, but still a cafe ratehr than a take out place and has tables outside. It is definitely worth it for a casual reasonably priced meal.
Yellow Sunshine (Wienerstrasse 19, Kreuzberg)
All I have to say is "yay vegan tiramisu!"
Actually there is more to it than that. Yellow Sunshine has a menu similar to that of Yo-yo with a focus on fake meat burgers and wraps. However unlike Yo-yo they had our first picks when we ordered. Also they did seem to have a slightly bigger menu and more salads and deserts. The Hawaiian "chicken" burger was good (it had a mock chicken patty, pineapple, vegan cheese and salad). This time we (being the people who went to Yo-yo the previous night) didn't order sides of chips and salad so weren't stuffed, rather comfortably full. The restaurant itself has about 5 benches outside plus tables indoors and is decorated in yellow (surprise, surprise). We came here after searching for another cafe that we couldn't find in the end but also manage to see a closed up circus ground, a park and a DJ playing on top of a van in the square and people dancing in front of it. So location, location, location! And vegan tiramisu. Which was so good that it merited a discussion with another delegate at the congress about it who went there the day before I did.
Hans Wurst Vegan Cafe (Dunckerstrasse 2a, Prenzlauer Berg)
A group of us who trained back from the congress decided to meet here for dinner. The cafe is small (maybe 10 tables?), stylish with interesting art and the staff were very accommodating and friendly to the out of town vegans who arrived on their doorstep. The vegan organic menu changes regularly and it is alleged that they do all day brunch on Sundays. The menu included soup, tofu burger, salads, pasta, curry and other tasty offerings. The servings were large and everyone was more than happy with the quality. I had a summer stew that had herbs, potatoes, greens and leeks in it and was served with yogurt and thick rye bread. I chose a small serve and it was ample, though admittedly I had spied the cakes before thinking of mains. They had peach cake, raspberry cream cake and something that looked like a chocolate nut sponge thing. I went for the raspberry cream cake under the proviso that "we diet tomorrow" (yeah that hasn't happened yet). The cake was moist, not too dense and was topped with cream and raspberry sauce instead of icing and wasn't over the top sugary which I liked. This place is probably the most formal of the four places here, but it was still relaxed and I would recommend it.
Vöner (I actually don't know the address of this one as I was dragged there by a rather attractive vegan and wasn't paying attention)
You know those kebab things where the meat is on a big skewer that rotates infront of the heating element and they slice bits off for the doner kebabs? Well this places does this, except with crazy vegan doner meat (hence the name Vöner- like doner but with a V for vegan- haha!) It's made from seitian and is sliced freshly off the skewer into toasted Turkish bread and fresh salad. They also have vegan burgers and wraps on the menu and sell organic drinks and fries. It is primarily a take away place, sort of like your local chip and kebab shop but has about four tables should you wish to sit around. But the food is good, cheap and vegan and well worth a visit. BYO cute vegan boy.
This is just a small sample of the places on offer to veg*ans in Berlin and it is interesting to see how mock meat has been used here. I know there are alot more places to visit, but there is only so much eating a girl can do in four days.
Yo-yo Foodworld (Gärtnerstraße 27)
A friend of
earthnative met us not long after we arrived in Berlin and took us out to dinner and then to a poetry reading. We went to Yo-yo which is totally vegetarian with many vegan options that are well marked on the menu. It is mainly a burger bar using different types of mock meat patties made from soy, seitian, vegetables and other goodies. I did note that there were a few non burger things like wraps, salad etc and they do have veg "curry wurst". They didn't have our first options when ordering, however what we did get was pretty tasty. I had a "fish" burger which had vegan tarter sauce (which I love) and heaps of salad. Not knowing the serving size we also had chips and salad as a side which I couldn't finish as it was huge (yes I left chips on my plate- a travesty!) The venue is very casual, but still a cafe ratehr than a take out place and has tables outside. It is definitely worth it for a casual reasonably priced meal.
Yellow Sunshine (Wienerstrasse 19, Kreuzberg)
All I have to say is "yay vegan tiramisu!"
Actually there is more to it than that. Yellow Sunshine has a menu similar to that of Yo-yo with a focus on fake meat burgers and wraps. However unlike Yo-yo they had our first picks when we ordered. Also they did seem to have a slightly bigger menu and more salads and deserts. The Hawaiian "chicken" burger was good (it had a mock chicken patty, pineapple, vegan cheese and salad). This time we (being the people who went to Yo-yo the previous night) didn't order sides of chips and salad so weren't stuffed, rather comfortably full. The restaurant itself has about 5 benches outside plus tables indoors and is decorated in yellow (surprise, surprise). We came here after searching for another cafe that we couldn't find in the end but also manage to see a closed up circus ground, a park and a DJ playing on top of a van in the square and people dancing in front of it. So location, location, location! And vegan tiramisu. Which was so good that it merited a discussion with another delegate at the congress about it who went there the day before I did.
Hans Wurst Vegan Cafe (Dunckerstrasse 2a, Prenzlauer Berg)
A group of us who trained back from the congress decided to meet here for dinner. The cafe is small (maybe 10 tables?), stylish with interesting art and the staff were very accommodating and friendly to the out of town vegans who arrived on their doorstep. The vegan organic menu changes regularly and it is alleged that they do all day brunch on Sundays. The menu included soup, tofu burger, salads, pasta, curry and other tasty offerings. The servings were large and everyone was more than happy with the quality. I had a summer stew that had herbs, potatoes, greens and leeks in it and was served with yogurt and thick rye bread. I chose a small serve and it was ample, though admittedly I had spied the cakes before thinking of mains. They had peach cake, raspberry cream cake and something that looked like a chocolate nut sponge thing. I went for the raspberry cream cake under the proviso that "we diet tomorrow" (yeah that hasn't happened yet). The cake was moist, not too dense and was topped with cream and raspberry sauce instead of icing and wasn't over the top sugary which I liked. This place is probably the most formal of the four places here, but it was still relaxed and I would recommend it.
Vöner (I actually don't know the address of this one as I was dragged there by a rather attractive vegan and wasn't paying attention)
You know those kebab things where the meat is on a big skewer that rotates infront of the heating element and they slice bits off for the doner kebabs? Well this places does this, except with crazy vegan doner meat (hence the name Vöner- like doner but with a V for vegan- haha!) It's made from seitian and is sliced freshly off the skewer into toasted Turkish bread and fresh salad. They also have vegan burgers and wraps on the menu and sell organic drinks and fries. It is primarily a take away place, sort of like your local chip and kebab shop but has about four tables should you wish to sit around. But the food is good, cheap and vegan and well worth a visit. BYO cute vegan boy.
This is just a small sample of the places on offer to veg*ans in Berlin and it is interesting to see how mock meat has been used here. I know there are alot more places to visit, but there is only so much eating a girl can do in four days.