Berlin has its fair share of kebab and curry wurst joints, but where do you go if you want to scale up and invite your better half out for a romantic dinner? Here are 8 of the best restaurants in Berlin that are dreamy and really hit the spot.
1. Café Einstein
In a beautiful art nouveau villa where the German silent film star Henny Porten once lived, the legendary Café Einstein opens its doors to its high-ceilings, high-class and high tea. The place is filled with atmospheric candles which enhance the cultured old-school elegance.
Inside the massive house there is room for 800 people, and beside the café you will find a library, a large garden with a pavilion and the master room Lebensstern on the upper floor. Very classy indeed.
Café Einstein is open all day and serves just about everything the heart could wish for around the clock. The clientele includes eccentric actors, important producers and other celebrities, probably due to the fact that the film production firm X-filme is housed next door. Put on your finest manners and most distinguished virtues, you’ll feel like you’re a couple in an romantic movie from a classy past.
Where: Kurfürstenstrasse 58
Tel: +49 30 2639 1918
Nearest station: Nollendorfplatz
2. Restaurant Marron
The delightful Restaurant Marron is part of the hotel Villa Kastania in Charlottenburg, where the head chef Tobias Hagen conjures up a magical international cuisine, based on seasonal produce from Berlin and Brandenburg. With an open fireplace and loungy feeling, Restaurant Marron is the perfect place for a romantic dinner.
Marron is one of the best romantic restaurants in Berlin, and far more more chic than the rest, so be sure to leave your trainers and ripped jeans at home.
Where: Kastanienallee 20
Tel: +49 30 300 00 20
Nearest station: Theodor-Heuss-Platz
3. Maothai Stammhaus
The Thai restaurant MaoThai is something extra special – but not as low priced as most of the restaurants in Berlin. That said, each grain of rice is worth the money you’ve spent on it! MaoThai was the first Asian restaurant to open in the former East Berlin after the Wall fell. You can eat a superb green curry, shrimp rolls and crunchy, crisp duck. The service is also superb.
On the menu there are also quality wines and several Thai culinary surprises. An excellent choice for an intimate and unpretentious dinner.
Where: Wörther Strasse 30
Tel: +49 30 441 92 61
Nearest station: Marienburger Strasse
4. Kuchi Kant
With ten years under its belt, the restaurant Kuchi Kant has long since cemented its place in Berlin as a sushi institution in Berlin. Based on pan-Asian and Japanese nouvelle cuisine, the head chef offers delicious dishes, such as Crunchy Sushi Rolls, steamed buttered fish in bamboo basket, and Mr. Duc’s Special Plate, which is whatever the chef chooses for you.
Kuchi Kant is stylishly designed in dark, autumnal colours, but is still cosy and laid-back – a place you should definitely stop at to get a spot of raw fish.
Where: Kantstrasse 30
Tel: +49 30 3150 7816
Nearest station: Savignyplatz
5. Austria
Known city-wide for its legendary Wiener Schnitzel, Austria offers a broad menu of fine Austrian cuisine, including Tiroler Knödeln – bacon dumplings – and a great selection of wines to boot. The interior is romantic and refined, with flickering candles and wooden panels lending the place a classic air. Their Wienerschnitzel is so popular that you have to book a table well in advance, if you wish to be lucky enough to even have the chance of getting a taste of it.
In this era of hip, modern restaurants with microscopic portions on huge plates, it’s just lovely to see a place like Austria can still flourish. The restaurant exudes humble cooking, ambience and an idyllic rural feel. While you’re here, enjoy the legendary Almdudler, the revered Austrian soft drink, which is hard to get hold of – and easy to love for its fine bottle and claim to be brewed with at least 30 Alpine herbs, and it’s sweet and delicious taste, of course.
Where: Bergmannstrasse 30
Tel: +49 30 694 44 40
Nearest station: Gneisenaustrasse
6. Toca Rouge
This Chinese eatery should be high on your hit list. Toca Rouge is owned by the young Chinese master chef Afom, who stands behind the open kitchen counter himself making magic with various ingredients. Afom is not one to smile, but his food will make you smile like a Cheshire cat, so he’s forgiven.
The menu consists of an array of remarkably named dishes such as Deep Throat Avocado, Five Deadly Venoms and Green White Pool to choose from. Pure aphrodisiac!
Where: Torstrasse 195
Tel: +49 30 8471 2142
Nearest station: Zinnowitzer Strasse
7. Renger-Patzsch
The minute you step through the door, you can instantly tell that their food is good. There is an aura of care, style and good quality here.
The cuisine is described as Franco-Austrian, with the menu offering dishes such as the tasty Tarte Flambé (or Flammkuchen, as they call it in German). You can also get innovative dishes like guinea fowl with bacon and spinach, artichoke ragout with homemade tomato pesto and of course the classic Crème Brûlée, which at Renger-Patzsch is appropriately sweet, cold, and caramelised.
Renger-Patzsch is the kind of place where you and your partner will want to stay the whole evening, ordering more wine and letting the good times roll.
Where: Wartburgstrasse 54
Tel: +49 30 784 20 59
Nearest station: Eisenacher Strasse
8. The Grand
What used to be a community school for low-income kids back in the 19th century, is now an exclusive restaurant, bar and nightclub complex. The building’s chic, historic interior – think crumbling plaster matched to chandeliers and leather sofas – draws a well-heeled clientele.
The Grand serves modern Franco-German dishes with many grilled specialities, such as suckling calf from Germany’s north coast, and the bar has a great wine and cocktail list. Afterwards you can chill in the venue’s pleasant courtyard, ogle their collection of pop art or mingle in the ballroom style nightclub. Elegant slumming at its best and a good pick for an up-scale dinner date.
Where: Hirtenstrasse 4
Tel: +49 30 27 8909 9555
Nearest station: Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
