Berlin: Currywurst at Curry 36 and Kebabs & Doners at Mustafas!

Germany is a country known for its beer, football, precision engineering and really tall people.  But there is more to Germany than what meets the eyes.  A rich cultural heritage paired with modern influence has resulted in a diverse European landscape.  In the next few posts, I re-visit the sights and feeds that made me love this systematic country.

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Street food culture is all over Europe and Berlin has one that is worth talking about.  This is a tale of two kiosks less than 100 feet apart with a cult following and thousands of Facebook check-ins.  Recommended by my colleague’s AirBNB host, I went to the famous Curry 36 and Mustafa Gemüse Kebab.

Curry 36 serves the best Currywurst in Berlin and the hungry crowd enjoying piping hot Currywurst in the subzero weather is a testament to its fame.  So what is a Currywurst you might ask?  

Well, if you are expecting to see real curry, you are going to be disappointed.  Currywurst is essentially Berlin’s answer to making the meaty bratwurst even better; that is by topping them with a curry-infused ketchup and to finish, an extra sprinkle of curry powder with a side of chips.  True curry aficionados would frown at the sight of a Currywurst, but the flavours are actually pretty sublime thanks to the umami from the curried-ketchup that when paired with bratwurst has an undeniable chemistry.  Sure it was not life changing in anyway but its was yummy!

The queue at Mustafas is never shorter than 45 minutes be it day, or night.  

The Kebab:

The doner and kebabs at Mustafa Gemüse Kebab are legendary for a good reason.  Its attention to detail like the perfectly sweet caramelised vegetables inside as well as a finish of crumbled feta is a rarity when kebabs are often a food to go with little love put into it.  Secondly was their ridiculously juicy chicken slices.  If you have had a Doner by the road side stall in Istanbul you would totally understand the unfortunately dry chicken in the doners they serve!!  

Having both Curry 36 and Mustafa Gemüse Kebab so close to each other is a blessing!  If you are out late and want a great bite, I would look no further.  The combination of Currywurst and juicy Doners were sensational. But be warned that the 45 minute wait for a Doner is a bloody vibe killer.  Add the subzero temperature and its starts to sound ridiculous.  Fortunately, there is usually no queue at Curry 36 due to the quick turnover.  So why not enjoy a Currywurst while standing in line?  It sure distracts the mind from the cold and queue!  Would I recommend Mustafas despite the wait?  Well it really depends on how you view food!  If you queue in anticipation of a poached chicken, grilled to finished, drizzled with truffle oil, and finished with a sea-urchin infused aioli, then stay far.  It is far from fine dining but I know a good kebab when I see one ;)! So yes I would return to Mustafas!

WenY

Berlin: A Century of Gastro Pub @ Zur Letzten Instanz, Berlin

Germany is a country known for its beer, football, precision engineering and really tall people.  But there is more to Germany than what meets the eyes.  A rich cultural heritage paired with modern influence has resulted in a diverse European landscape.  In the next few posts, I re-visit the sights and feeds that made me love this systematic country.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________After yesterday’s less than perfect dinner I was looking forward to lunch.  Fortunately my mate  Charmaine had some research done.  Today’s lunch was at a Berlin pub called Zur Letzten Instanz.  For over a century, this restaurant has attracted demanding eaters and some even said the likes of Charlie Chaplin have visited this classic diner.  But is the age of the restaurant a testament to the quality of food it serves?  I guess its something I was here to find out.

Grilled Pork Knuckle, red cabbage, and potato dumplings

I had a bit of this and if there was something I wanted to have at Hackethal the night before, it was this.  A gloriously crisped pork knuckle that just leaves you craving for more.  Every bite was crunchy and with the stewed cabbage, it was a sensational pork dish.  For the beer lovers, look forward to the crispy -salty crackling as it is the best I have had.

Homemade Meatball, sautéed vegetables and fried potatoes

This dish was my random shot at trying to be different.  It brings me away from the typical German stereotype of sausages and pork knuckles.  And for me, it was a gamble that paid off.  Who would have thought that the Germans did meatball that rivals those of the Swedes?! The meatball was flavoured sensationally and having the sweet sautéed vegetables as a pairing kept the sodium levels contained.  And for carbohydrates, I could have not been more pleased with the potatoes presented before me.  It was superb!

Veal liver, shallots, caramelised apple, sautéed vegetables

The thought of a liver main course would send shudders through the nerves of most.  But with my colleague ever so keen with the “I’ll have whatever you recommend”  move, a meal of liver came without anyone on the table even noticing.  Surprise surprise, the veal’s liver was super meaty with no stench whatsoever.  In fact, it tastes like a braised steak!  Very delicious especially when you have the sweetness of the apples!

The century old gastropub Zur Letzten Instanz is almost a no-brainer if you are in Berlin looking for a quality grub. The food is good, its interior rustic and even its service was decent for a busy gastropub.  All dishes really hit the sweet spot for me but if I had to choose what I found most impressive on the table, it would be the Pork Knuckle and the Veal Liver.  Why not the dish of meatball you might ask?  Well one of the meatball dishes came without any vegetables and it was then I realise it was really salty!  Definitely a memorable meal.

WenY

Berlin: A Local Favourite @ Hacketals, Gaststätte

Germany is a country known for its beer, football, precision engineering and really tall people.  But there is more to Germany than what meets the eyes.  A rich cultural heritage paired with modern influence has resulted in a diverse European landscape.  In the next few posts, I re-visit the sights and feeds that made me love this systematic country.
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My first night in Germany was at Berlin and I kicked off with a traditional German meal at a family owned gastro-pub called the Hackethal`s in Gaststätte.  Its small sitting area means its slight cramped, and its location was rather secluded made it hard to find.  However, the promise of a good meal was all the mattered to me.  The staff speaks English and ordering was a bliss.  But as they were understaffed, the service was also slow but bearable.  At this point, the food had to be really good.

Veal Schnitzel - Crisp, well battered and fried golden brown. A faultless classic! But wait? Was this German?

Eisbein - Smokey ham hock cooked till tender and served with mash and sauerkraut.  Likeable but the amount of skin and fat on there means it was quite literally not worth the buck!

Bratwurst - Much skinnier and longer than I expected.  Each bite is a sensation of meatiness that speaks homemade.  Not juicy bites filled with creamy-lardy flesh.  It was nice but was it the ideal sausage?  Not quite unfortunately!

rote Grütze or simply red berries with custard is a Berlin classic.  Its taste was a reminisce of a childhood imagination from the cartoon classics!  Cooked berries doused with generous amounts of custard.  Really simple and hearty. 

The result? I found the food was decent but it did not really hit the sweet spot I was looking for.  The imagine imprinted in my mind was one of crispy skin knuckles, jumbo size meaty bratwursts and pretzels.  In saying that though, the food was inviting and would I come back?  Most definitely only if I am in the area because Hackethals is quite secluded!  But would I go for the Eisbein?  Definitely no.  However, with so much more on offer at Hackethal, I am pretty sure that there is something that would tickle my fancy better!

WenY

London: The full Monty @ the Breakfast Club, Hoxton

On every trip I go to,  the morning before fly out always goes in a flash.  By the time I get on the plane, settle in and finally arrived at my home destination, more often than not I feel as though I have just ran a marathon.  Whether its that shitty budget airline Easyjet or the 1 hour train ride from the airport to my apartment, I always end up feeling pretty spent and dinner-less.  So on my last day in London it was time to build the reserves.  This time, I was at the Breakfast Club in Hoxton.

The venue serves the American/English for breakfast in an pub-styled cafe with familiar music in the background.  To start up the morning (which I woke up feeling super hungry), was a Peanut Butter Milkshake.

Good old Peanut Butter Milkshake £5.  Just the month before when Shake Shack in Convent Garden ran out of their special “peanut butter” for my shake, I left London feeling defeated. So when the Breakfast Club had it on their menu, I was sold.  The milkshake was spot on when it came to its consistency.  Unfortunately the sweet-salty balance was hanging a little on the sweet side.  I needed perhaps one more generous scoop of peanut butter. A satisfying drink nonetheless.

The full Monty w/ fried eggs  £11

Its all your usual suspects gathering on a plate this morning.  You have the toast, eggs, crisp bacon, meaty sausages, sauteed shrooms, pan fried potatoes, beans and of course, baked beans.  The full Monty was hard to go wrong with and yes, nothing went wrong.  The big breakfast was a great morning fuel for a long day but then again, it was also a very average breakfast that you could find anywhere in London but it was something you had to have in London.

The Breakfast Club in Hoxton had no queue when we were there at 9.45am and that is exactly what I look for where possible.  Fuss free diners to kickstart my mornings.  Pair that with good service  and a decent food experience to get the Breakfast Club Hoxton.  The food I had was not the healthiest for sure but it was rather comforting.  However, comforting while good can also be bad when you eat what I eat.  In this case, it was safe to say that the only thing I will not be doing after the meal was a medical check up.  

WenY

London: Chicken Briyani @ Masala Zone, SOHO

Our cravings for Indian deepened as we finished our breakfast.  As day turned to the night, we finally succumbed to our cravings and decided once more to have an Indian meal.  After a good hour of painstaking search and trying to make bookings, we ended up at a food chain called Masala Zone in SOHO.  Despite coming at 8pm, there was still a queue to be seated which tells a lot about the love affair between the English people and Indian food.  Speaking to the ladies queuing ahead of us, they spoke of how the really enjoyed Masala Zone and found its price to be relatively cheap for London standards.  I was sold. The turnover is quick and it took no longer than 20 minutes to clear the crowd of 15 people in front of us.

Tonight, the whole table ordered Chicken Briyani with a Curry Vegetable to share.

The Chicken Briyani (£12.50)

The meticulously cooked grains of rice with perfectly spiced chicken curry was lovely to look at.  Served with two little “bowls” of sauces, I was ready to dig in.  Masala Zone’s approach to the traditional Briyani was different as the curry chicken was not mixed in consistently through the rice.  But flavour wise, the curry definitely had the right heat, spices and seasoning to match.  However, one thing I would definitely put forward is that the Chicken Briyani definitely did not fill me up!  It was small as lol.  Its rare that I say food serves are small and this is one of those instances.

The curry vegetable (£10) 

This dish was decent, but the sauce could be richer.  It felt as though the vegetables were bleeding its liquid into the sauce.  In essence, nothing special.

Over all, Masala Zone was a decent Indian experience.  Would I come back on a normal day?  Probably not without a huge craving for Indian food as I have access to amazing Indian food in the Hague, Australia and Malaysia.  The food served to us was not bad and definitely above average.  But the whole experience including Masala Zone’s rather petite serves of food made it rather undesirable.  When I think Indian I am more used to home generous servings where you eat till you drop.  Unfortunately this was not one of those instances.  Also note that my visit to Masala Zone stretches awhile back so the prices indicated might be a little off.

WenY

London: An Indian Breakfast @ Dishoom, Shoreditch

Indian food.  Ember red appearance and melting pot of flavours where meat & spices fuse into a full bodied pleasure.  While lunch and dinner are the common meals one might have Indian food for, there are people in the UK who thought “Why not bring it to the breakfast table too?”.  This is the story of the highly successful Dishoom line of restaurants scattered over London city.

The entrance of its Shoreditch branch from the back brings you through a lush garden into a wooden accented indoor dining area.  The setting makes it feel as if you are taking a step back in time.  Dishoom’s menu is predominantly Indian classic as you might expect.  The only problem is that nothing on their menu seems familiar.  In saying that, nothing was to risky to try and this is some of the food we had.

A Chocolate Chai to start the day.

A creamy, and chocolaty delight with a punch of chai.  The whiff of cinnamon is unmistakable and the acidity of the drink paired with a mild spice keeps the usually rich chocolate drink  light for the morning.  If you like chai, you will like this!

My breakfast is the Kejriwal  £5.50.  

What is it?  A chilli cheese toast with fried eggs.  I was skeptical of the size when it hit the table.  Do not be fooled!  It was actually enough to be decently full but not overly filled.  The perfectly fried cheese on the sandwich with a mildly runny egg is so simple but so good.  I was expecting a chunky chilli topping but there was nothing I could see.  Just a mild burn from a spread underneath the cheese.  Very yummy!

My friends had a Bacon Naan Roll and a Sausage Naan Roll £5.50 each.

They are quite similar in appearance.  Taste wise, they were not too dissimilar. Each had fried eggs, chunky cut sausages or smoked bacon, and tangy chutney wrapped in naan bread.  I tried the sausage one and reckon that made a better breakfast because the sausages were still juicy.  This was because my colleague felt that the naan was a little dry and I agreed because it looked over toasted.  For this reason along, the sausage gets my pick! Pair  award winning sausages, mildly runny yolk and naan along with some delicious chutney.  How good does that sound?  Superb I would say!

Dishoom was an interesting brunch for me.  Who is to say that the brunch scene in London is boring?!  Well I guess I did and not I have to bite my tongue for it.  With the Riding House and Dishoom done, London actually has some decent brunch spots no kidding!  The prices and sizes are decent too.  Even more so when you put creativity on a plate into the equation.  Will I return to Dishoom?  Hell yeah.

WenY

London: Delicious Steak @ Hawksmoor, Spitalfields

Everyone tell’s a story about a good steak they had or at least they thought they had.  But what is a good steak.  Is it that thumb thick cut that you got from your butcher?  Or perhaps that $89.99 price per kg for a grade 5. Well, those are simply just the beginning.  From the ageing process, to the thickness of the pan and even the temperature of the steak prior to cooking, making the perfect steak is an art that can only be improved and never be mastered.

During my trip to London, I decided to take a little trip to Hawksmoor Spitalfields which was a short walk from the Liverpool Street Station. This establishment known for their steak caught my attention with its rave reviews.  So what do I eat?  All of their beefy offerings!  To start was a roasted bone marrow with caramelised onions.

A simple dish that is so easy to mess up.  At Hawksmoor the marrow was  creamy and the caramelised onions sweet.  The mixture spread like butter on the toasted sourdough.  While it was tasty, I felt like the marrow could do with more basic seasoning to avoid it tasting “raw”.

After that comes the highlight.  The steaks at Hawksmoor are not what one would call cheap and definitely is a place reserved for special occasions.  Starting from £8 per kg up to £14, Hawksmoor specialises in large cut steaks.  The best cuts of steak to cook!   This was the 1kg cut.

The steaks at Hawksmoor are specially selected from their butcher before they are aged to maturity.  One can tell that Hawksmoor does it well just by looking at the intensity of colour of the meat.   Pair that visual pleasure with the robust bovine kick really made it a sensational meat.  The high heat used also produced a consistent char on the surface giving it a nice “frying” that resonates beautiful smokiness.  Over all,  this was a seriously good steak.

For our sides we ordered some shrooms, triple cooked chips and mac & cheese.  Oozy unhealthy goodness!

While the mac & cheese really tasted good, I cannot help but feel that Rockpool makes a better one.  Then comes  the triple cooked chips, which Hawksmoor superbly well.  The crispness of the chips were unquestionable and dipping them in Heinz ketchup brought back childhood memories! 

Hawksmoor was a nice eat but was it the best steak?  Definitely not.  But like what Rockpool is to Australia, that is what Hawksmoor is to England.  When it comes to dollar value, service and ambience, I feel like the upmarket feel and service quality I receive at Rockpool trumped the one at Hawksmoor.  Putting both steaks side by side, thing then gets a little complicated.  While both had intense flavours, I felt that Hawksmoor charred their steaks better!  So which will I return for?  Hah, I am a glutton so I will return to both any day for a good bite!

WenY