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Exciting, gritty, artistic, ever-changing, and multicultural, Kreuzberg has found the spotlight in recent years and its restaurant scene has caught up, too. You won’t find glitz and glamour here, but rather spectacular cuisine in what might first appear to be a shabby café or a comfy local hangout.
Within view (and earshot) of the elevated U1 line, Café Morgenland is a relatively unremarkable neighborhood haunt on weekdays but on weekends it devotes an entire room to the extremely popular brunch buffet, which means table space can be scarce. The Turkish-inspired dishes (an ode to the home country of many a Kreuzberg native) are a delicious alternative to the more traditional brunches served elsewhere in Berlin.
In a city full of Turkish restaurants, Defne stands out for its exquisitely prepared food, friendly service, and pleasant setting. Beyond simple kebabs, the fresh and healthy menu here includes a selection of hard-to-find fish dishes from the Bosphorus, such as acili ahtapot (spicy octopus served with mushrooms and olives in a white-wine-and-tomato sauce), as well as delicious meze and typical Turkish dishes like "the Imam Fainted," stuffed eggplant with tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and pine nuts.
In a city where it seems as if 10 new restaurants open every day, this Spanish and Portuguese tapas spot has been spared much of the hype, but that's a good thing: Marqués serves high-end, inventive food and Mediterranean wines, without pretension. The menu is extensive, so talk it over with friendly staff, who will advise and serve you delights like sizzling plates of chorizo, and salted, fried pimientos de padron, the small, green, Spanish peppers. To sate a larger appetite, try the beef fillets or pasta with mixed seafood—a rarity in land-locked Berlin. The cocktail bar in the basement serves stellar creations.
