As I said in my last post, we tried to do our best in the few free hours we had in Berlin (and when I say "do our best" I mean eat as much vegan food as we can). So after going to the Vegan Sommerfest we went to Viasko, a vegan restaurant opened last year.
Viasko looks like an Irish pub cause it was one before the actual owner buy it! And he decided to keep the design and decor the same and I have to say, I loved it. They serve food day and night and also a brunch on Sunday (have to go back to go to this!). I'm not sure if I'll be able to put in words how much me and Matteo enjoyed the place. The owner is really nice, speaks English and made his best to make us feel comfortable there. They have the menu also in English, which helped a lot. We were so excited to try the food that we decided to order (each one of us) starter and main course.
When I saw the starters coming I thought "Oh boy, I'll never be able to eat this and the main course!" but I was there to try. I had a "Überbackene Tomaten-Auberginen-Tofu Canapés", which looked like bruschetta and tasted amazingly and Matteo had an "Auberginen-Kartoffel-Strude" that was composed by some salad (some kind of coleslaw), mayonese garlic sauce and a huge strudel filled with potatoes and aubergine. It was delicious too, I've tried it of course. Our pictures don't look great cause I was using my phone this time and it was dark inside too, but you can have an idea of the awesomeness!
After eating enough for one lunch time, the main courses were still about to come! I have to say I ended up eating more than usual but wasn't able to finish my dish (this is never a problem cause Matteo - almost - always can do it!). Matteo was very Italian with his dish, asking for a gnocchi dish ("Hausgemachte Kartoffelgnocchi") and I tried to be as "local" as possible ordering a "Soja-Schnitzel „Wiener Art" (Soya Schnitzel Vienna Style). Well, it turns out that Schnitzel is an Austrian dish but I still thought it would be closer to some German food than any other Italian dish they had in the menu. Everything was just perfect, from presentation to flavours!
After eating more than we could, the owner suggested us to take one of the cakes of the day. OMG, I could not eat nothing else but we decided to take away a slice (and it was the delicious closing of our Saturday night).
I have to say that Viasko is now one of my favourite vegan places in the world. If you're going to Berlin, please go there and share your thoughts with me after!
PS.: The restaurant is also very pet-friendly, allowing dogs inside :)
(three of a hundred? twenty of a thousand? I don't know how many posts about Berlin I already have and have no clue about how many more can come cause you know how much I love that city!)
Last weekend, after handing my supervisor the last draft of my thesis (and believe me, I delivered the final paper TODAY to College!), me and Matteo went to Berlin for about... 36 hours. Yeah, not a big travel but it's always amazing to go there. We went there to my friend's wedding party and to meet her newborn baby girl (L) and I had some other objectives too: meet Melisser Elliott (from the blog The Urban Housewife and author of the book The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life), go to Veganz, the recently opened vegan supermarket, go to the Vegan-Vegetarisches Sommerfest, go to Yoyo at least once and go to Viasko, a vegan restaurant we've heard about it before but haven't gone there yet. Too much for just a few hours, I know. And it was raining all the time too (where were you, German hot summer?!) But we've managed to do must of the things in that list.
We arrived in Berlin on Friday evening and went to eat at Yoyo Foodworld. I won't write again about one of my favourite places ever but you can see how happy I was there!
On Saturday morning we woke up to go to the Sommerfest and we decided not to go to the supermarket this time (it will always be there - we hope so! - and the festival was just that day). Besides that Veganz would have a stand there too. We arrived there before noon and despite the rain there were already a lot of people there. The festival was hold at Alexanderplatz, a touristic must in Berlin, and it had between twenty and thirty stands, all about vegan stuff, from clothes to food. Melisser arrived after us cause she had an interview to perform in the stage and it was amazing to talk to her and watch the interview. She's absolutely lovely. We also won some good prizes there! One package of vegan pet treats and a €15 voucher to spend at Veganz (and the guys there were nice enough to let us spend in the stand and not in the supermarket), so I ended up buying vegan marshmallows (a dream coming true!), white chocolate chips and a slice of an amazing chocolate pudding cake. Seriously, Berlin is so vegan friendly that it surprises me still.
After that we went to Viasko, but this is a subject for another post. I'll be back soon, I have free time now.
If you want to read all my tips about Berlin (so far!) click here!
Can't describe how cool is this place!
I just realized that last time I went to Berlin (November 2009) I didn't write about it, just have one post about one of my favourite cities in Europe and this is so unfair. But, cause my BFF Clarissa (have to do it! ahahahah) lives there, I will always have opportunities to go and to try different places to eat. Or just come back to the ones I already love.
I went to Berlin two weeks ago to spend 4 days there. It was the first time I went there during the summer and it was amazing. We cycled, we swam, we cooked and I had a great time. On my first night there we decided to cook at home, so Clarissa made one recipe of the book Vegam Yum Yum and I had it with alcohol free beer ( I don't drink alcohol). It was delicious.
On the Saturday morning we had the amazing German breakfast. I love their bread and there are a lot of vegan options.
The other three places that we went were:
1. Vöner - this is a vegetarian kebab place. Yes, you read it right. Veg kebab. And you can eat other vegan options there as well (like falafel or burgers). The kebab sandwich (vöner) is huge and cheap, very cheap (2.90 euro). Address: Boxhagener Straße 56.
2. Yoyo Foodworld - my favourite place in Berlin. Top 1. This is the best fast food place ever. They have a lot of vegan options (burgers, wraps and pizzas). This time I got the salmon burger (4.99 euro with french fries). I was never a fan of fish before becoming vegan but I decided to try the fake one. And I didn't regret! It was a little bit weird when I saw the burger cause it had the salmon colour but the taste was really good. Have no idea if it's like the real fish, but I don't care. I enjoyed it a lot. Address: Gärtnerstraße 27.
3. Café Vux - this is a place that I was looking for to go in Berlin. First, cause it's owned by a Brazilian guy that used to play in a punk band that I really like. Second, cause I've been reading a lot of good reviews about the place. So, we went there to the Sunday brunch. You have to arrive there early (they open the doors at 11 am, so be there by this time) cause it gets full quickly. And it's easy to understand the reason. The food is amazing and everything is vegan. And, once again, cheap (the brunch is 6 euros). I wish I could try the cakes they have too (it's not included on the brunch but they look so good!), but I had no space in my stomach to try them. Next time! Address: Richardstraße 38.
And of course I had some ice cream in the city! An amazing peanut and lemon vegan ice cream (L)
I have to say that I really love Berlin and that the city is one of the most vegan friendly cities that I know in Europe. I could say that it's better than London cause of the relation places + price. But this is just my opinion. Do you know Berlin? Where did you go to eat there?
We just spent three days in Berlin but we could see a lot of things and eat at the best vegan places. I was really surprised to see that there are a lot of places for vegan people there. I think Berlin can be the best place, after London, for vegans. I'd like to thank Clarissa for taking us to see the city, we had a perfect time and the best company!
I decided to write in topics about the food places, so here we go:
* Cupcake Berlin: I have to start with the most awaited place of this travel. I didn't know it before, but it's not a vegan place. But it's not a problem at all, they have the best vegan cupcakes ever (vegan options are: Very Vanilla, Brown Sugar, Double Trouble, Perfectly Peanut and Blondie). We went there on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time. Beside the cupcakes, the place is nice and the owners are so kind that you stay there a long time. And the place is pretty famous in Berlin – they cooked cakes for Tom Cruise once. They also have t-shirts, cloth bags and buttons. The only bad thing is that they don't open on Monday and Tuesday.
Address: Krossener Str. 12
Opened hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 7pm
* Hans Wurst Bio Vegan Café Restaurant: this place is perfect. We went there on Sunday to the brunch. I love vegan places because you don't need to ask about the food. The brunch is all you can eat and in the end you chose how much you want to pay, between 7 and 12 Euro. The food is awesome and it's a cool place too. We stayed there for 4 hours more or less, eating, drinking and talking.
Brunch at Hans Wurst
Opened everyday 12pm to midnight (on Sunday they open at 11am)
Vegan chicken cheeseburger - Yoyo
Vegan salami Pizza with cheese - Yoyo
Opened everyday 12am to midnight
* Veni Vidi Vegi: a vegan store. This place is great too. You can buy a lot of vegan stuff to take home, without read the ingredients. 100% vegan. They have a lot of options of pate, chocolate, cheese, biscuits, soy milk and the list goes on. I bought a button there that says 'esst mehr tofu' (eat more tofu).
Address: Pücklerstr. 32
Opened hours: Monday to Friday, 12pm to 19pm – Saturday, 10am to 4pm
These are the places we went to eat. But of course we didn't go out just to eat, we saw a lot of the city. Berlin is an amazing city. Big (with a population of 3.4 million) and beautiful. Every place you look, you see history.
Sowjetisches Ehrenmal (Soviet War Memorial)
We saw the Berlin Wall (yes, it's something intense to see), the Brandenburg Gate (it's more beautiful at night), the Reichstag building (German parliament), the Schloßplatz (a popular square that has a Marx and Engels monument), The Fernsehturm (the famous TV tower) at Alexanderplatz, Karl Marx Avenue and the Sowjetisches Ehrenmal (Soviet War Memorial) in Treptower Park (this was the most impressive place to me, it's not so much famous but I think everybody should go there).
Brandenburg Gate
Me, Matteo, Marx and Engels
Sowjetisches Ehrenmal (Soviet War Memorial)
Berlin Wall
Another thing that's really good about the city is the transportation infrastructure. You can go everywhere using train or tram. The city has two big train systems (U-Bahn and S-Bahn) with more than 20 lines and 300 stations. The tram system has almost 400 stations and also more than 20 lines. And you can chose to walk or to ride a bike too (Berlin is known for its highly developed bike lane system).
If you're planning to come to Europe, you should visit Berlin for sure!
We just came back from Berlin and I'm starting to write all my tips about the city. I have to confess that I am really surprised with all the vegan options we can find there. Yes, I ate a lot of vegan cupcakes and so much more. Hope I can be back tomorrow with all places you must go in Berlin ;o)
