Monday, April 6, 2009

Back to Berlin, Savory Vegan Tastiness!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

Going back to Berlin is always a pleasure, it's one of my favorite cities, home to my good friend Marijke, & insanely vegan friendly. As we stepped off the plane, we headed straight to Ryan's favorite spot Vöner for some seitan döner kebab. While it wasn't bad, I recommend not showing up right as they open. The seitan wasn't hot yet & lukewarm döner just doesn't cut it! That being said, at the right temperature you're in for a treat!

Vöner is located at Boxhagenerstr. 56, 10245.

While walking around Kreuzberg on a crisp day, we decided to check out Cafe V, a place I had heard of, but not yet sampled. I must admit, I was turned off by a "vegetarian" cafe with fish on the menu, but it turned out there were plenty of options for us with 5 out of the 7 specials of the day being vegan. I opted for the Chickpea Polenta from the main menu, which is apparently a popular dish with travelers due to being featured in Vegetarian Times. The lightly crisped patties in a thin curry sauce with a nicely seasoned side of spinach with almonds & raisins hit the spot! Ryan enjoyed his Wild Rice stuffed Fennel in a tomato sauce, a option from the daily specials. The cafe has a casual, yet upscale feel to it, making it a nice place to take friends & family.

Cafe V is located at Lausitzer Platz 12, 10997.

An easy place to fill your bags full of vegan goodies, is Veni Vidi Vegi, an all vegan market, located in Kreuzberg. The option to not read labels is always a treat & when you're able to snag Tartex, Plamil White Chocolate bars, No-Muh-Chäs, Streich, Chocoreale, Cheezly, Provamel, & other packaged vegan treats, in addition to freshly baked bread & organic produce, it's hard not to go a bit crazy! It's cash only, so you can curb your spending habits with a predetermined budget if you tend to go overboard like myself.

Veni Vidi Vegi is located at Pücklerstr. 32, 10997.

Berlin has no shortage of vegan fast food & two places that fit the bill are Yoyo Foodworld & Hot Dog Soup. Yoyo Foodworld is the home of veggie burgers galore & Ryan opted for the Hawaii Chicken burger with Cheezly & Pineapple. While Yoyo also is known for their pizza, I instead opted for a hearty bowl of Curried Lentil Soup, likely to take the edge off a day of sweet treats. While not everything at Yoyo is vegan, a good pertentage is, plus they have vegan milkshakes! While Hot Dog Soup isn't a place with hot dogs in their soup, it is a spot that serves up two options, which I'm pretty sure you can figure out. All of their hot dogs have a vegan version & once again Ryan was feeling tropical with the Hawaii Hot Dog! Pineapple, ketchup, & crispy fried onions flanked the cruelty free dog in a soft bun & it was devoured quickly! I opted for the other specialty, soup! 2 out of 3 of the soups tend to be vegan & on one occasion I had a Spinach Coconut soup & another I had a Curried Chickpea soup, both tasty & topped with alfalfa sprouts.

Yoyo Foodworld is located at Gärtnerstraße 27, 10245.
Hot Dog Soup is located at Grünberger Straße 69, 10245.

I love a good brunch & a buffet isn't a terrible thing either, especially when everything is vegan, enter Hans Wurst! In addition to nightly dinner, this all vegan cafe has a brunch buffet on Saturdays & Sundays with the price on a sliding scale. I was lucky enough to attend with 5 fabulous friends & we all loaded up on fresh & healthy salads of vegetables, grains, & beans, tofu dishes, a cereal bar, & lesser healthy items like soft & fluffy rolls slathered in vegan hazelnut spread! It's always great to have options & Hans Wurst is a fabulous place to find them!

Hans Wurst Vegancafe is located at Dunckerstrasse 2a, 10437.

If you're like me, you love to wander in health food stores & supermarkets! I find myself getting lost in them for hours & my favorite chain of bio markets in Berlin is Viv. Whether loading up on snacks for walking around with, organic vegan baked goods, or delicious Pineapple or Banana soya yoghurt by SoJade, Viv is a great place to explore! Check out the Viv webpage for their many locations.

Another place to get your brunch buffet on is Cafe Morgenrot, a vegetarian collective cafe that offers a vegetarian & vegan brunch on a sliding scale every day! While you may not find the most amazing meal here, an inexpensive vegan brunch option on a weekday is always nice. Vegan dishes are pretty well marked, but beware the non-vegan spreads for bread. I fell victim to some poorly labeled items, but luckily figured out my mistake before too much damage was done. Load up on fresh fruit & you'll get your money's worth easily.

Cafe Morgenrot is located at Kastanienallee 85, 10435.

Berlin's newest all vegan dining spot is La Mano Verde, an upscale restaurant that's perfect to treat yourself to while on holiday. In addition to gourmet cooked organic meals, they also have raw options, plus many items are gluten free. I had the Tagliatelle Mano Verde which happened to be raw & gluten free, but you could never tell that the rich truffle cashew cream over zucchini pasta with bell peppers, mushrooms, & pine nut parmesan had never been touched by heat! Other dishes on the menu cover various cuisines from Italian to Asian inspired, as well as Mediterranean.

La Mano Verde is located at Wiesbadener Str. 79, 12161.

When traveling, sometimes budgets have to be taken in to consideration. Rather than eat falafel every day, you can go to a VoKü, which translates to People's Kitchen. Berlin is known for their many squatted houses where people have taken up residence in vacant buildings & turned them in to communal housing for all walks of life. Many of these houses offer vegetarian or vegan meals a few days a week that are open to the community & a cheap way to get nourishing food. I attended a VoKü at XB Liebig & for 2 Euros (under $3) I was served a giant dinner plate of vegetable couscous salad, warm potatoes, eggplant & other hearty vegetables, a green salad, & a giant helping of hummus. It was more than enough to eat & by far the cheapest meal I enjoyed. In addition to the dinner, they offer drinks & desserts for an additional cost. There's a VoKü almost every day of the week in Berlin & I recommend the experience. Berlin-Vegan.de has a great list of vegan VoKü options here.

XB Liebig is located at Liebigstraße 34, 10247 & their all vegan VoKü is on Thursdays at 9pm.

As you can see, there's no shortage of places to dine vegan in Berlin! I didn't even make it to all my options & there's other places on my post from last year as well. I highly recommend checking out Berlin if given the chance. It remains one of my favorite spots in the world!

33 comments:

Mihl said...

You always make Berlin look so good! (Okay, it is a great place! And it feeds vegan well.) Funny place, this Vöner. Don't show up when they open and don't show up when they close...either the kebab isn't hot or it is sold out, ha ha. I guess the best idea would be to get some lunch there.
I loved the brunch at Hans Wurst. They had such an awesome spread when I was there!

Macie said...

Wow, I never knew Berlin had so many vegan options! I'm so jealous - it all looks so amazing! Thanks for sharing :)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I haven't been to Berlin since the summer of 2003 - now I KNOW I need to go back!! :-)

Vegan Nutritionista said...

Wow! That looks amazing. I used your post on Prague a few weeks ago, and now I really want to check out Berlin. Thanks so much!

Laura said...

I missed out on soo much when I went to Berlin! I'll have to check this out before I go back!

Tami said...

I love seeing how vegan friendly Europe is...awesome post, as always!

I've noticed that doner shows up on every single vegan blog post about Berlin! Makes me want to go....

KitteeBee said...

dazee was just asking me where i'd like to go next and now i know.

i can't wait to see what you do with the white chocolate bars...

xo
kittee

Anonymous said...

After reading your post and bazu's post I am adding Berlin to my "Places to Visit Someday" list. I never would have guessed that Berlin was so vegan friendly.

I don't know how well I'd be able to control my spending either if I went to an all vegan market.

Meg said...

I want to go back!!! :D

Bianca said...

Places like this don't seem real to me. Seriously. I'd totally die in shock if I had all those options. And I also love to explore health food stores in other cities...best thing ever.

MeloMeals said...

awesome eat! Between you and Bazu I think I want to live there!

x said...

I want to go to there! Berlin srsly sounds amazing :)

aTxVegn said...

Great reviews and descriptions of all the places to eat. I don't know which I would enjoy more, shopping or eating!

quarrygirl said...

OMG i am drooling!!! your trip sounds so amazing. from an all vegan grocery store, to CHEEZLY everywhere, to high-end vegan dining, to the communal scene...you really did it all.

you are making me very very eager to go to europe.

thanks for the great review and awesome pix!

Anonymous said...

Damn I wish Yoyo Foodworld & Hot Dog Soup cam to LA. That would be so great!
I went to Berlin when I was a whee little girl and nonvegan. I have to go back and catch up with all I missed out on.
Thanks for the fun post, girlie!

trina said...

Wow. Berlin was so not this vegan-friendly the last time I was there. Nice post, and I want doner kebab, please, or maybe hot dog soup (that's adorable).

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I haven't been to Berlin in about 12 years, but it was a city I fell in love with almost immediately. One day, I'll return, and I'll be armed with an Urban Housewife guidebook!

Jenna said...

YUM. So much good food. We need a potluck soon.

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Awesome post! I've always wanted to to go Germany and now you've made me want to grab my passport, toothbruth, and Mr. Wing-it and catch the first plane!

You sure know how to make the most of your trips! You should have your own travel show on the Travel Channel!

Veni Vidi Vegi - I love that name!

Amy said...

Mmmm it all looks amazing! And yum! I want a vegan hot dog!!

Hannah said...

Good god I want to travel so badly, and this post is only making the temptation greater! Berlin is definitely on my list... Someday I must get there..

jb said...

I'm so envious of all your travels. You always manage to find the tastiest meals!

melanie said...

i am planning on finally making it to berlin in 09!! and your entries will be so so so helpful. thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Now I have another great reason to go to Berlin. I won't starve. You are so lucky to travel and enjoy these wonderful things. Thanks for always providing such good info.

chow vegan said...

Wow! I had no idea Berlin has so many vegan places and it all looks so delicious too! :-)

Carrie™ said...

Berlin sounds wonderful! I didn't know it was such a veg friendly city. Excellent!

Marijke said...

Just two little aspects you all could be interested in.
As I herd Vöner is still closed down due to some organizational problems.
And YoYo Foodworld is now 100% vegan!!!
It was such a pleasure to have you here, Melisser and somehow I'll manage to see again soon!

xoxo Marijke

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

I remember eating a lot of falafel and pretzels when I was in Berlin. When I go back, I'll definitely check out these places!

dreaminitvegan said...

That's very cool how veg friendly Berlin is. We have a German friend staying with us for a couple months who has been here in the U.S. for about 30 years and he hardly eats any veggies except for Kale, cabbage and brussel sprouts.

Brittany said...

i never would have thought anywhere in Germany would be so vegan friendly! i'll mark Berlin off my list, "place i'll never be able to go because i would starve."

great pictures, too!

Erin said...

I had no idea there was so much good food in Berlin! Although it sounds like Ryan might've preferred to be in Hawaii...

allularpunk said...

i must go to berlin!

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