Back to Berlin, Savory Vegan Tastiness!

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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!