November... in July

Café November – Husemannstr. 15, Prenzlauer Berg (Sunday buffet 7.50 euros)
http://www.cafe-november.de/

Please see our previous post for Café November: 8 Jan 2006

This Sunday we were wandering around (and trying to avoid a table or café directly on) Kollwitzplatz looking for brunch. It was, contrary to all of our good advice, unplanned, after 11am, and we had no reservations. Foolish.

But people do foolish things, don't we? It's all a part of our humanity, I think. We do them on purpose and we do them on accident, but what makes all foolish actions the same is that there is something in our consciousness that ticks away when it's happening to give us the 'I told you so' feeling.

Seven people wandering around Kollwitzplatz looking for a brunch buffet without reservations was one of those moments. Nonetheless we were happened upon by Chance or one of the Fates to the open door of November on Hussemannstr. Naturally there were no outside tables, but when you are seven you take what you can get. We did. And we ate. And while I hated to see the single staff member struggling with her very job - to make coffee drinks - it was worth the long wait for them (for which the lovely waiter, whose hair was trembling with the potentialities of a healthy Whiteboy's afro, apologised sincerely).

So go. Enjoy a bit of November this summer before the outside tables are shoved back inside again and we're forced to be watched from outside the windows instead of watching the city itself slide past us. - Heidi

Since I had not yet met Heidi and Roisin when they visited November the first time, this was my first foray there, and I was more than delighted. Not just with the hot waiter and big corner we snagged for our motley crew - the food was fantastic. I loved everything I tried. The salads were all so creative and delicious that I'd go back to this buffet, just to sample them again, and while it took a touch of patience, the make your own waffle option was so worth it. Yes, the drinks took forever, but they were definitely worth the wait. They were wonderful, and if my body could have handled the influx of caffeine, I would have ordered two or three other drinks off of their excellent, diverse menu. The restaurant was nice and laid back - considering the somewhat chaotic frenzy of brunching in the neighborhood, it was a minor miracle. So if you find yourself nearby, I recommend passing up all those other crowded places and heading over to November. You won't be sorry (and if you are, well, I can't help you) - Kelly Ann

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo - Lychener Str. 37, Prenzlauerberg (Sunday brunch 8 euros)


Today we visited restaurant named for famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo on Helmholtzplatz.

Amidst the roasting July temperatures we dragged ourselves to Frida Kahlo. Dragged you say? Well, God damn, it was hot! And now that I live all the way over in Kreuzberg, I have come to see Prenzlauer Berg as a very far away country. Still, it was worth the effort, and although this restaurant might work better in colder temperatures(soft cheese just looks horrible at 36 degree temperature) the enthusiastic chef made all the difference - Roisin


My favorite two things about Frida Kahlo (in no particular order) were the incredibly friendly and attentive chef, and the amazing pancakes. The pancakes were sort of chopped up with walnuts and served with real maple syrup - as good as dad makes 'em back home. I think I went back for thirds. The entire buffet was yummy and diverse, and not too overwhelming. Great salads, great pastas, delicious cheesy bread, and crepes too, just in case you were interested in doing pancakes euro style. The hospitality of the servers left more than a little to be desired, but the chef's lovely smile made up for it in my book (though perhaps not in my companions'). It's a lovely restaurant, painted in vibrant colors and with plenty of space to move around both the buffet and the tables - it even had space left for walkins as late as noon. It reminded me a lot of Hundertwasser in Friedrichshain. It's seems that being named after a colorful artist creates a colorful restaurant. However in contrast to Hundertwasser, I didn't have to fight anyone to get to the food, and there wasn't so much food that I needed to bring along 5 extra stomachs to feel that I had adequately conquered the buffet. All told, if you find yourself in Mitte or Prenzlauerberg on a Sunday, Frida Kahlo wouldn't be a bad way to spend your morning, or afternoon, or both - Kelly Ann

Gottlob

Gottlob - Akazienstr. 17, Schöneberg (Sunday Brunch 7.70 euros)

Gottlob was an interesting experience punctuated by great company which is always what makes brunch the special time that it is. Heidi and her posse arrived early (10am) to secure us a table, as we were improvising and had made no reservations. Fortunately there were tables outside for the non-reserved crowd, and as the restaurant was quite quite small, I was grateful to be outdoors. The only way this tiny space could be managed reasonably was with the fantastically efficient waitress, who I warn you, you dare not cross - don't get in her way, and never never move a table from it's predetermined place.

The buffet was small and crowded and tended to run out of things like bowls and plates quite frequently, but the pasta was wonderful, and the puddings were quite yummy as well. The drinks were also nice, as was the service, getting them to our table not in record time (that was Aretia), but in a decent amount of time, especially considering that the entire restaurant was being served by one dynamic woman. As a last minute brunch, it worked out quite well. - Kelly Ann


Some of the tasty fruity treats in summery Berlin's Gottlob
Gottlob is a 'neighbourhood' restaurant, meaning that it's filled with people from the area and it's regular customers are very regular. It's also in my neighbourhood, so the ease of waking up and strolling down gorgeous and sweet Akazienstraße to Gottlob was much-welcomed, particularly since we had, as Kelly Ann already explained, failed to reserve a table for this Sunday.


One of Heidi's 'friends' came to visit - a very bold one at that
It's not as though we didn't plan for this Sunday's feast. We did stop by the day before and enquired about getting a Sunday brunch reservation. A small place like Gottlob only can reasonably set aside 20 seats for reserved customers, so it came to no surprise they didn't have room for our 5 to 6-top table. Being an incredibly well-organised bunch, however, meant they gave us the excellent advice to come down at 10am and pick one of the outside tables. This we did and it made for an excellent spot to stretch out and eat until we popped.


Roisin's tasty plate decorated with sumptuous salmon
As many of our readers may or may not know, I'm leaving bold Berlin for luxurious Santa Barbara in a month, so cramming in all those places for brunch I haven't been to is pretty important. My flexible 'posse', as KA called it, are only out for a good brunch with little hassle. Gottlob did that (so long as you followed the waitress's rules about space and workflow) and did that well.

I've passed by this corner café-bar about a million times going to the Eisenacher Straße U-Bahn or wandering through to Winterfeldplatz. It's filled with a particular crowd: not stuffy, not overly-peppy 20-somethings, and never too full in the evenings to sit down for a glass of wine while the sun sets gently behind you. It's mood is one for the regulars, where you can be 'at home' without losing a touch of your anonymity.

I know I haven't talked about the food, which isn't at all like my usual reviews, and that's because while it was good it just wasn't spectacular. This should not keep you from picking a chair and bringing along your favourite friend or book, though. Just because it wasn't outstanding (the croissants were excellent I have to say) doesn't mean it isn't worth the breathing space of not doing the dishes and lounging your way through your next Sunday morning. - Heidi

Rote Harfe

Rote Harfe - Oranienstr. 13, Heinrichplatz, Kreuzberg (Sunday brunch 8.50 euros) http://www.roteharfe.de


Our very special guests
This Sunday we were in Kreuzberg with friends sitting at a roomy table with a Blick* onto fascinating Heinrichplatz. These past four weeks of sticky, hot, unrelenting weather combined with Germany's Fußballfieber**, have tried to melt us all into blobs of ineffectual TV-watching fiends and have finally approached their end. We celebrated, you could say, by eating our way through the Mediterranean-style brunch on offer at Rote Harfe.


Heidi's first round: beets, eggs scrambled with mushies, stuffed mushy, fruity pilaf, carrots, artichoke hearts, and olives (counterclockwise from 8, spiraling in) with a Milchkaffee and a plum spritzer
Delightful stuffed mushrooms (filled with spinach and basil leaves, topped with a cheesy crumble and smothered in a tasty red sauce), a vibrant couscous salad, and the battered and fried apple slices with cinnamon top my list of distractors from the 33C temps. That and the conversation at brunch, which is truly never boring, kept me from being reminded that another night of the ghostly presence of humidity would be my non-sleeping companion for another night running.


Another delightful shot of that stuffed mushroom treat, accompanied by a slice of watermelon and one of the potato-cheese-spinach Ballchen***
The other truly refreshing part of Rote Harfe's menu were the nectar Saftschorles****. Around our table we sampled a few: rhurbarb, mango, cherry, pear and plum. The Dublin contingent at the table daydreamed aloud about how they might export these German accomplishments to their 'home' city (brunch buffets and spritzers) but such dreams were dashed by the realities of Irish living: suffering long queues at the pub only to order a fruit drink seemed ridiculous in the cultural context, and the very idea of having something more than breakfast at breakfast (or indeed all day long) is perchance not a concept that could survive the immigration. Do correct me if I'm wrong here ladies. And bring on another cool night of thunderstorms, please! - Heidi


* view
** football fever
***little ball
*** spritzers

Luise Restaurant

Luise Restaurant - Königin-Luise-Str. 40-42, Dahlem Dorf (Sunday brunch 9.90 euros) http://www.luise-dahlem.de/

Today we went to Luise in twee Dahlem Dorf, where we met with friends and sat in their enormous beer garden and spent our morning on their delightful dishes. As Roisin estimates - this ain't the Berlin we're used to, but the food was damned good. - Heidi


Finding your way - just a few steps from the U-Bahn station.
For any foreigner the term ‘another country’ has particular importance. No just because it is a well-known English language bookshop, but because living in Berlin can be, at times, like living in a different civilisation, outside of civilisation almost.


The start to every good brunch is with one of these...
In Kreuzberg, where I live, one is at the heart of such a civilisation. Visitors from outside keep referring to the fact that I live in Germany. ‘No!’ others argue, ‘you do not live in Germany, you live in another civilisation entirely….’


Yes. Those are chantrelles. Wow.
Brunching in Kreuzberg, or in many of the other cafés in Berlin, is like brunching in a foreign land; for other Germans as well as for ausländers* it feels like the multi-cultural mix of home, for anyone else it feels like visiting a deeply foreign land. The contrary applies to me; brunching in Kreuzberg, in all of those Mediterranean/Turkish-inspired brunches is truly home… brunching where they do not exist is truly foreign.


Berliner Schrippe
And so to the Luise brunch. Brunching in Dahlem felt truly like we had left Berlin. No obvious Mediterranean/Turkish influence; but some quality pasta and mushroom salad. Surrounded by the typical residents of Dahlem I felt that I had left Berlin, and had entered Germany. Or perhaps I had just entered a different type of Germany, one that, as a Berliner I am entirely unfamiliar with… - Roisin


And for the finale - dessert!
*foreigners