Category: Places

  • Chutnify

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    Chutnify Curry Restaurant Berlin

    It’s no secret that most Indian food in Berlin, and no doubt the rest of Germany, blows. It seems that most spices imported from the subcontinent are sent straight to Currywurst stands, without so much as wafting over the city’s actual curry houses.  The situation is slowly improving, however, and Berlin has decent tandoori and Sri Lankan places, and now somewhere to get freshly-made dosas.

    Chutnify is a colourful and cute little eatery in Prenzlauer Berg’s alarmingly clean Kollwitzkiez. It specialises in the South Indian equivalent of a crêpe, full to bursting with minced lamb, tandoori chicken or vegetarian alternatives, and served with a tantalising selection of chutneys. We recommend trying the mixed platter, which includes the spectacular Mumbai beach snack Bhelpuri and two delicious dosas, asking for everything “Indian hot” and doubling down with the sauce they call “the Chillifier”. If you do go overboard on the spice, you can always cool off with the surprisingly good mango cream, served with marscarpone and fresh basil.

    Chutnify may not serve anything as hot as your favourite curry house back home, but it is surely the most authentic taste of India that you’ll get in this fair city of ours. Check it out and see what you think!

    Chutnify Curry Restaurant Bottles

    Chutnify Curry Restaurant Berlin

    One Response to “Chutnify”

    1. papaerk says:

      Looks lush x

    leave a comment

  • House of Small Wonder

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    House of Small Wonder brunch

    Berlin might be light years ahead of other hipster hot spots in terms of its Thursday – Tuesday “weekend” party scene and “life artists” per capita, but in other areas it’s still playing catch-up: coffee, craft beer, and brunch. Sure, places like California Breakfast Slam serve boozy brunches of American proportions with a side of Berliner indifference, but in any major US city, joints like this are two-to-a-block and run 100% more efficiently.

    So we were happy to learn that a unique Williamsburg breakfast concept has been imported from Brooklyn to Berlin. House of Small Wonder is described as “urban greenhouse meets American dishes with a Japanese twist”, and is worth a visit for its ramshackle Tokyo rooftop garden vibe alone. The menu runs from standard brunch fare like the organic egg scramble to Eastern-infused offerings like Okinawan Taco Rice – Tex-Mex with a twist – and Tsukune Don – chicken meatball with nori, scallion, sesame and soft egg over rice. We chased our delicious mains with some insanely good french toast croissants, the thought of which still make us salivate.

    If there’s a drawback about House of Small Wonder, it’s the location: in the otherwise unremarkable area around Friedrichstrasse. We’d recommend combining this with a shopping trip to Weekday, or saving it for when the parents are in town and, for no good reason, staying near Unter den Linden. It’s sure to become more of a destination once the owners open up their huge NY-style Japanese restaurant downstairs, but until then, you’ll probably find yourself reserving House of Small Wonder for special, and especially tasty, occasions.

    House of Small Wonder staircase

    House of Small Wonder Japanese Tex Mex

    House of Small Wonder bird wrapping paper

    House of Small Wonder French Toast croissants

    House of Small Wonder bird cage

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  • Fantastic photos from Berlin's biggest Christmas market

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    Tis the season! While all the other bloggers are seeking out the quaintest, most traditionally festive Weihnachtsmarkts in Berlin, we thought we’d go to arguably the worst and take the best photos of it! Wintertraum, which stretches from Alexanderplatz to Jannowitzbrücke, bills itself as Berlin’s biggest Christmas market, but really it’s a funfair – complete with candy floss vendors, vomit-inducing rides to test the stomachs of adventurous candy floss eaters, and what seems like a billion flashing lights. So what better place to test out the steampunk-y Petzval lens I had on load from Lomography?

    The Petzval comes in stunning gold, and apparently “is a stunning reinvention of the legendary Petzval Lens, which was first conceived of in Vienna, Austria, in 1840.” It works with both analogue and digital cameras, and allows you to take photos with a narrow depth of field, producing a trippy bokeh effect in the background. I really enjoyed using it to capture the insanity of the Wintertraum Christmas market, including the creepy clowns, retro rides like “BREAK DANCE”, the possibly-BER-inspired “Chaos Airport” … and James’ beard! A photo opportunity if ever there was one. ;)

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  • Fantastic photos from Berlin’s biggest Christmas market

    Category:

    _MG_5344

    Tis the season! While all the other bloggers are seeking out the quaintest, most traditionally festive Weihnachtsmarkts in Berlin, we thought we’d go to arguably the worst and take the best photos of it! Wintertraum, which stretches from Alexanderplatz to Jannowitzbrücke, bills itself as Berlin’s biggest Christmas market, but really it’s a funfair – complete with candy floss vendors, vomit-inducing rides to test the stomachs of adventurous candy floss eaters, and what seems like a billion flashing lights. So what better place to test out the steampunk-y Petzval lens I had on load from Lomography?

    The Petzval comes in stunning gold, and apparently “is a stunning reinvention of the legendary Petzval Lens, which was first conceived of in Vienna, Austria, in 1840.” It works with both analogue and digital cameras, and allows you to take photos with a narrow depth of field, producing a trippy bokeh effect in the background. I really enjoyed using it to capture the insanity of the Wintertraum Christmas market, including the creepy clowns, retro rides like “BREAK DANCE”, the possibly-BER-inspired “Chaos Airport” … and James’ beard! A photo opportunity if ever there was one. 😉

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  • Filterhouse

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    coffee slogan on wall

    The owners of Filterhouse have their priorities in order. By day, they serve an impressive selection of filter coffees, and by night, a full menu of gin and tonics. Replacing the reliable Café Matilda, Filterhouse is ramping up the hipsterfication of our beloved Graefekiez with cold brew and cold drip (where did summer go?) and paleo options which taste as good as real Homo sapien food. We can recommend the pancakes with blueberries, coconut, syrup and mint, the (non-paleo) roast chicken with lime and spinach pesto in coffee-encrusted bread, and the coffee… Oh, the coffee! I tried a Gichathaini from Kenya, which was like a rhubarb-y kick up my arse – and I can’t wait to try the rest of the extensive selection. If you like coffee and/or food, check out Filterhouse. If you don’t, get out now!

    kaffee bar area

    closeup of pancakesFilter House Chicken Sandwhichmenus in the sun green chairs in back room