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!
I know I have written in some of my posts here that we, vegetarian and vegan people, have to listen to some things that are quite unbelievable. Living in Dublin made me forget how it is hard sometimes to go out to eat or just to have a “simple” conversation about what I do eat or not. At least, people here know what is the meaning of the word vegan*.
So, today I will post some of these strange dialogs, conversations or just questions I have listened for many years:
- I'm vegetarian.
- Ah, don't you eat meat?
- Yes, that's it.
- But fish and chicken you do, don't you?
- Oh, yes, they're vegetable now, didn't you know? (well, most of the times I don't answer like that, but sometimes it happens)
- Hi, I'd like to know if this lasagna has meat in it.
- No, just ham and cheese.
- Try this (some kind of snack that's very common in Brazil)!
- No, thanks, there's egg (or cheese, or meat) in it.
- Ah, come on, it's just a little bit, you won't feel the taste!
- Hi, does this chocolate has milk in it?
- I don't know, why?
- I'm allergic. (this is the best technique used to prevent people lie to us)
- How much allergic?
- Whaaaat?
- Hello, does your pasta has eggs in it? (In Brazil most of the pasta is made with eggs)
- Of course, there's no pasta without eggs, lady! It's necessary to make it “stick together”.
- So you're vegetarian. Do you just eat lettuce?
(this can be the end of the conversation or the beginning of a long one)
- But the animals exist for this, it is natural to eat them.
(no conversation)
- But I don't understand, you don't eat meat, right? But why do you eat soy?
(This one I'm still thinking about what the person really wanted to tell me)
- I understand that to eat meat is bad, that it's not good to kill an animal. But what's the problem with the milk? The cow has it anyway.
- What do you think about somebody taking milk off your mother breast for months to feed another animal?
(this happened just once. Nobody knows how to be nice all the time!)
Well, for sure I have more but I can't remember now and there are some that just make sense in Portuguese because of the words.
* I remembered about this post yesterday because I saw a big article about veganism in one of the biggest newspapers here in Dublin. And the headline was something like “how veganism can make the world better”.
Can't describe how cool is this place!
