Foodie Berlin: Nusantara Indonesian restaurant

Berlin charmed me, among many other things, with the diversity of its restaurants. When not possible to travel, only a short trip around the corner will reveal some country whose cuisine I never tried before. Like, for instance, the Indonesian one. During some long explorations of Moabit - post coming up very soon - I spotted a green patch of colour on Turmstrasse and some pictures of big dishes and promise to come back as soon as possible for a luxurious lunch. Nusantara means archipelago in old Javanese and the name sends a lot of spicy waves in my imagination. Arrived around lunch time, the place was quite busy, but decided to take a seat outside, on some camping big chairs, too big to be comfy. Everything looked a bit unkept and a bit dirty, but the service, although slow, was friendly and welcoming and ready to bring without additional costs a new dish if the wrong one was brought by mistake. 

I started my Indonesian culinary trip with an Es teh, fresh Indonesian ice tea, with an aromatic smell and taste, sweetened with white sugar and brought with big ice cubes. 

Indonesian coffee is famous, and tried it several times. It's a bit sprinkling, sour stronger and goes very well with lemon cakes. While waiting for my meals, I was sipping my Kopi Jahe, a special ginger coffee that I instantly liked it, and which is very perfumed too. Although it can be drink with milk too, I preferred the raw strong version. 

Finally, it was about time to have my first impression of Indonesian food. Out of a long list of menu - in English and German - without too many hints about the ingredients, I went for two. The first was Tempe Mendoan. Tempe means fermented soybeans. It was accompanied by a very creamy peanut sauce. It looked and tasted very meaty, although not deeply fried. The peanut sauce was taking all the possible tastes around and thus, did not left anything for any other special flavours. 

The main star of my Indonesian lunch was Gado Gado: a combination of various veggies, eggs, cubes of peanuts with sesame seeds and broccoli. As in the previous case, the peanut taste took all the other special tastes. The balance was brought surprisingly by the soy sprouts. 

The prices are more than affordable.

I left the restaurant moving slowly as a penguin, and with some new hints about an unknown cuisine. Maybe I did not get the best samples of food, but at least if it will be a next time, I will make my homeworks better and will know for sure what specific meal would love to taste first and foremost.

Foodie Berlin: Hanage Okonomiyaki

Shortly after the long summer vacation of wandering in Europe, I was told that a new Japanese restaurant was opened in Berlin. Longing for a long time for some original Japanese food and ambiance, I almost run there to discover the place on my own and since then, I've been at least two more times. Hanage Okonomiyaki is situated on Pappelallee 19, near the corner with Raumerstrasse, in a foodie area in the Eastern side of Berlin. The website is not very helpful, except for the directions and some suggestions of the menu, but the restaurant is just at the beginning and many already heard about it from word-of-mouth or other online media reviews. 

The personnel is very welcoming, Japanese style, with German and English and, of course, Japanese used regularly. The menu is also bilingual which helps a lot the diverse audience that I spotted during the various visits to the place. Another advantage of the menu is that it lists the ingredients which may help a lot those not familiar with the various Japanese names.

Especially late in the afternoons, the place can be quite crowded and previous reservations are recommended. I tested both the outdoors and indoors and rather preferred to stay inside, where I was also able to spy the fast movements of the Japanese chef beyond the transparent walls of the small kitchen counter.  

Many of the Japanese products I can hardly find in Europe are on their menu and this is a very good news. For instance, the Pokka green tea, serving brewed cold tea in the bottle. 

My pleasant addiction is the homemade ginger lemon tea, a bit surprisingly spicy, delicately perfumed and very fresh. It keeps a good company to the salty foods. The list of drinks on the menu includes Kirin beer, cider, Ozekihana Awaka Sake and other traditional beverages, mostly alcoholic.

Indoors, there are alternative long wooden tables with 'normal' chairs and a typical Japanese corner, with tatami where one stays without shoes. The orders are made directly at the counter, but it doesn't take too long till you have them on your table. The furniture is simple and everything looks small and crowded, the original Japanese space feeling after all. Unfortunately, it does not have wlan, but the food gives enough inspiration to survive a short Internet detox, at least during the lunch break.

The bowl of edamame was a bit of a disappointment - till now, Ishin is still the best in terms of proper preparation and good balance between quantity and price - as there were a bit too salty and not very well boiled. 

My disappointment was immediately forgotten after having the first bit of my onigiri tamago (mouth watering while writing): corn taste, moderately salted, with warm special rice. Ate it every little bit at once, savouring the combination of flavours.

The biggest hit of the restaurant is the famous okonomiyaki, a typical savory pancake with shredded cabbage, and sauce topic. Mine had a strong cheese taste, matched by the sweet cabbage and corn and spiced by the BBQ sauce. In Japanese 'okonomi' means 'what you want/like', while 'yaki' means 'grilled'. The menu has three different sorts of okonomiyaki that can't wait to test and maybe learn how to prepare too, hopefully soon.

In the usual Japanese ironical note, the restrooms are small enough - but not musical like the ones in their mother -country - with some funny insights that are giving some basic directions without in an universal language. 

After so many searches, I finally found an original Japanese corner in Berlin too, serving not only the stereotypical sushi, but genuine Japanese meals that you hardly heard about in Europe but once you discover, you would instantly fell in love with.
All being said, it is about time to plan a new foodie adventure at Hanage Okonomiyaki.

Restaurant review: Rice Queen on Danzigerstrasse

The last Saturday evening, we were a bit tired and a bit more confused about what to do. As usual, we turned to the East side of the city for more inspiration. For the first time in more than a year, we went slowly on Danziger strasse, on both sides of the street, looking to find out a decent restaurant for a smart easy light meal. We spotted the Rice Queen and after checking the menu at the entrance, we were convinced to enter. 

It was quite busy, with a lot of local people enjoying late family meals. The restaurant seems to be another reconverted space from the area. It also has small tables for couples. The service is fast and pleasant. The background music was nice not too loud. The restrooms looked decent, but not impressive, with some old Chinese soap advertising near the ceiling. The prices are Eastern Berlin-style, meaning more than affordable. 

I started with a Jasmin-Rose tea that was not too perfumed and flavoured, a lot of water and not too much tea leaves. 

My choice of entrée was Su Wor Tip, some small pancake pockets with a mixture of veggies and soy sauce. There were a bit burned on sides but overall fine, an almost neutral taste. 

My partner chose something very inspired, as usual: 5 spices tofu. There have been identified at least 4 main spices - cinnamon, anise, pepper, cloves. Maybe it was too oily and maybe too sweet too, but overall was considered a good choice and healthy enough after some heavy meals on Friday evening. 

Call me unlucky - at least when it comes to order food - but my Pad Thai was a disappointment. The tofu looked like plastic and it was too salty for any normal taste. It looked as a couple of spices and veggies and the noodles were thrown soullessly together and brought to my table. Again, a very big disappointment.

The dessert saved the meal. Crispy spring rolls filled with banana, soaked in honey, sesame, almond and coconut sauce. Warning: it is very sweet, but 3 pieces are enough to make you feel full, especially after some modest or even less than modest mains. 

We left the Rice Queen convinced that the next time, we should try other restaurants on Danziger strasse. I am sure that till the next time there will be even more temptations, as the area is changing very fast. 

Eating Tibetan

Where else can you make a tour of the cuisines of the world in only a couple of hours? In Berlin, where everything is new, diverse and cheap. One week ago, I was looking for a clean and creative place to eat after a couple of hours of walking. On Rykestrasse, there are so many options that at the end of the day, someone so hard to be convinced about the qualities of the food can easily give up and return home hungry. Very often, I stop at a restaurant, have a look at the menu, ponder the options and go forth. This happened this time too, when I first wanted to have some Japanese sushi, but unhappy with the menu, went on till I saw a cute Tibetan restaurant and decided to stay. 

My limited culinary imagination associated Tibetan cuisine with strict vegan/vegetarian meals, but in this case, the cuisine is mixed - Indian/Tibetan and some meat-based meals are also possible. The prices are acceptable, the service is very kind and fast, with a lot of good advices.

The restaurant was recently opened, by the lady who served us and gave us explanations about the specific cuisine offered and her husband, who is cooking. One may find a lot of Indian influences in the menu, especially the bread and the icecream. During the summer time, it is a pity to do not eat at a table outdoor, but for the winter, the interior decorated in traditional style can be a good choice. Before your meal arrives, you can read some of the guides and reviews displayed at the entrance.

The food was simple and delicious. Not too oily, with a lot of fresh vegetables, some of them to be found only in Asia (like some very tasty mushrooms). We also received a bowl of rice, that added even more taste to the whole combination. The vegetable balls had some sauce, a little bit too tasty but interesting. The mango lassies are recommended as well, but I rather wanted something fresh with an almost neutral taste, as the Schweppes - the only non-Tibetan drink I wanted to have. At the end of the 2-course meal, even if I was full - the veggies can give you too the feeling of satiety - I could not resist to have a saffron coconut Indian sorbet. I was a bit disappointed as it was too sweet for my taste - 'you can feel the sugar' said the other food tester at the table - and without any trace of the saffron that I know. But it was cold so I did not fully dislike it. 

Would I return here? Not sure as unless is close to the most wonderful eating place in the world or the easiest one to go when nothing to eat in the fridge. It is too far away and I would be curious to test many other new and interesting restaurants around. However, I fully recommend it to anyone looking for a good meal in the area. Maybe I will come back one day to find out more secrets of the Tibetan cuisine.