Hoeck - Berlin

I 've been through many cafés, bars and restaurants, and have through the years made a Top 5 list of both good and bad experiences. This sits comfortably in 5th... read more I 've been through many cafés, bars and restaurants, and have through the years made a Top 5 list of both good and bad experiences. This sits comfortably in 5th place as an all-round shit experience. Spending christmas in Berlin, I set out to find a place to have a traditional german christmas-dinner; I 'm danish and a chef, so my interest is always peaked when abroad. It wasn 't easy, and we ended up cooking at the flat we stayed in, but still wanted some traditional german grub. Went in on a recommendation from a lady down the street, we walked in to this very old school and charming-looking dual restaurant-bar (one room is mostly dinning, the other more drinking and smoking is allowed . We were greated, sat down and offered menus by a pleasant woman that didn 't seem to understand any english, but fair enough. After the drinks arrived and the food from the pretty sparse menu had been ordered, things went a bit down hill : the waiter seemed to vanish for 20 mins at a time. Food arrived (late! my mom had some chicken (tiny pieces that wouldn 't make up for a full chickenbreast in a bland vegetable sauce/soup, I had the breaded veal schnitzel, a classic in the german kitchen, served with potatosalad . The chicken was dry! vegetables wet, overcooked and bland. My schnitzel had been flattened to around 1/2 cm in thickness, breaded with 2 cm of crumbs, potatosalad was limp, tasted like it came from a jar and there was no sauce. Greasy, soggy, shitty! Beer and wine was ok, but we paid 60€ for something I wouldn 't have paid 30€ for, and I wouldn 't have accepted, had we been back in Denmark (my dog wouldn 't have eaten it, and he eats dust! Stay away. Plain and simple, or go in for a beer at the bar, filthy as it were in there, the mood seemed cheerful.

I ate my first dinner in Deutschland, in Europe for that matter, at Wilhelm Hoeck. It is a very authentic German restaurant so the menu is loaded with various m... read more I ate my first dinner in Deutschland, in Europe for that matter, at Wilhelm Hoeck. It is a very authentic German restaurant so the menu is loaded with various meat dishes. Being a non-red-meat-eater obviously put me at a slight disadvantage but I order the Bergkäse Blattspinatknödel (cheese and spinach dumplings) and they were phenomenal. I also had two glasses of Riesling that were sehr gut very sweet which is perfect for my taste. Overall, the atmosphere is wonderful and the wait staff were very patient with my party (16 people, 14 of which are Americans). It is a pricier restaurant compared to most I've seen in Berlin so far but the portions are large.

Really quirky pub. I really loved the food and service. Staff were really helpful and the only downside was the smoking in the bar, which surprised me as in UK... read more Really quirky pub. I really loved the food and service. Staff were really helpful and the only downside was the smoking in the bar, which surprised me as in UK we have had none for 10 years. But as it was July we ate outside.

When a friend told us about the oldest bar in Berlin and it's delicious Blutwurst we looked at each and realized the time had come. Let's chow down on some bloo... read more When a friend told us about the oldest bar in Berlin and it's delicious Blutwurst we looked at each and realized the time had come. Let's chow down on some blood. The good news? Divine. Legendary. Delicious. The bad news? We might be ruined on other Blutwurst forever. Note that there is a bar, and a restaurant and we were asked which we preferred when making reservations.

I was brough here because of the best Curry Wurscht (curry sausage). The restaurant and its dark ambiance may have its history and be okay for the locals. Howev... read more I was brough here because of the best Curry Wurscht (curry sausage). The restaurant and its dark ambiance may have its history and be okay for the locals. However, I did not really warm up for it. And neither did I warm up for the sausage which in my totally biased foodie opinion was far from anything exciting.