Berlin – where history and modernity blend seamlessly. The city is a hub for creativity with a thriving art scene, a rich heritage, vibrant nightlife and a diverse culinary landscape.
As one of Europe’s most vegetarian* and vegan-friendly cities we’ve come across, Berlin offers a plethora of veg and vegan options. Join us as we explore its street food markets, cozy cafes, restaurants and cheerful beer gardens. *Disclaimer: We are Lacto-Ovo vegetarians. As such, some of the items we share may contain eggs.
Apart from what we share in this blog post, you can also check out our food map with our shortlisted F&B spots from Berlin, at this link.
Berliners love their Brunch, so let’s begin with some breakfast and brunch options.
- Berlin is renowned for its artsy and charming cafes, and we visited one called House of Small Wonder — a beautiful cafe offering food with a Japanese twist.
- Here, we sampled various brunch options, including Ricotta Hotcakes served with cream and raspberry jam, Croissant French Toast accompanied by fresh fruit, maple syrup, and cream, and a unique Biscuit Benedict featuring wasabi hollandaise sauce. We also enjoyed a refreshing Watermelon and Feta salad. The food here was fantastic, and the setting was delightful.
- Ricotta Hotcakes – €12.50 | Croissant French Toast – €12.50 | Biscuit Benedict – €18.00 | Watermelon & Feta salad – €12.00
- A few meters away from this brunch place is a charming Beer Garden and Cafe called Clärchens Biergarten, which could be your post brunch hangout spot. Enjoy some decadent desserts here along with some freshly brewed local beers of course.
- Berlin is known for embracing international culinary trends, and the Egg Drop sandwich, originating from Korea, has become a hot favorite.
- These sandwiches typically feature a fluffy scrambled egg filling, often combined with other ingredients like cheese or avocado, all sandwiched between slices of buttery, toasted bread.
- These are available at several breakfast and brunch spots throughout the city. We tried a great version of these at a little cafe called Lories and it was both satisfying and comforting.
- Egg Drop Classic – €9.50 | Egg Drop Avocado – €10.00
- Breggs and 44 Brekkie are a couple popular spots for Egg Drop sandwiches.
Now, let’s dive into our street food adventures, ideal for grabbing lunch while exploring the city.
Markthalle Neun is a historic market hall located in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. Originally opened in 1891, it has been revitalized in recent years as a vibrant hub for food and community events.
The market features a diverse range of vendors offering fresh produce, artisanal foods, and street food from around the world. It also hosts popular events such as Street Food Thursday, where visitors can sample a variety of international cuisines.
- We started off with some Veggieballs from a trader called Baller’s Place and got ourselves a plate of six that was served with some potato and cucumber salad along with three different sauces | Veggie Balls (6 Pieces) – €12.00
- We couldn’t resist and stopped by for some asian food from a trader called Bao Gao Club and got ourselves the Zucchini & Carrot Baos, Smashed Cucumber and Spicy Tofu Gaos | Zucchini & Carrot Bao (3 Buns) – €6.60 | Smashed Cucumber – €4.20 | Spicy Tofu Gao (6 Pieces) – €8.00
- Then on to some freshly made pasta from Mani In Pasta. We went for a Spinach and Gorgonzola cheese pasta that looked and tasted delicious and was a generous portion enough to fill you up nicely. Besides, this is an excellent choice if you’re accompanied by children making it a good sharing plate with your little one | Spinach and Gorgonzola cheese pasta – €12.00
- We also tried the veggie panini sandwich from Salumeria Italiana which came with a filling of sun-dried tomatoes, aubergine, cheese and paprika. The bread was a little hard to bite off but the filling was quite nice | Veggie Panini – €8.50
- Our final stop at the market was at Gaia for some dessert. We loved the cannolis from here, in particular the pistachio-flavored ones and found the tiramisu to be quite good as well | Cannoli – €5.00 | Tiramisu – €5.00
The Mauerpark in Berlin is a public park known for its lively Sunday flea market, street performers, and open-air karaoke. Several street food trucks also open shop on Sundays and you’ll find veg and vegan options from around the world.
- We opted to try something we hadn’t before and made a pitstop at Djo’s Djo’s for some Langos – a Hungarian street food snack which we enjoyed sampling. It’s made of deep-fried dough, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside topped with sour cream and other ingredients | Langos – €8.50
- Another interesting stop was at an Uzbek food truck called Chaikhana from where we opted to try some vegetarian manty aka dumplings. These were delightful, bursting with flavors with spiciness from the red sauce, and a touch of freshness from the yogurt dip | Vegetarian Manty (3 pieces) – €6.00
In the final segment of this post, we’re highlighting a couple of restaurants that showcase two popular cuisines in Berlin.
- Middle Eastern food is very popular in Berlin, with Doner shops seemingly on every corner (where you can get veggie donors or wraps). We however chose to try a newly opened restaurant called Fatoush, and the experience was quite good. They offered the usual favorites like hummus with pita bread and falafel wraps, but also had some less common options such as grilled halloumi with sesame, roasted aubergine with pita, and a wholesome lentil soup bowl.
- Berlin is home to several Indian restaurants but you need to know where to go for a tasty and satisfying meal. Our experience at Mister Chai wala was really good. It’s a chic restaurant specializing in food from the south of India.
- In appetizers we enjoyed some crispy bhindi pakora (Okra Fries – €9.20) served with mint chutney, the Paneer 65 (€11.90) was flavorsome except for the paneer that could’ve been softer. The medu vadai (Tamil Vadai – €9.20) were very good – served hot and crispy with two types of chutneys.
- We also tried their Appams (€12.90) which were served with a coconut gravy stew and a sweet chutney that went well with it.
- And the vegetarian Kothu Paratha (€12.50) was good too. It consisted of a flaky flat bread chopped on a griddle and mixed with a variety of vegetables resulting in a hearty dish.
That rounds up our food adventures in Berlin. We hope it gives you an idea of the vegetarian options available and is a starting point for your own food explorations in this city. Please feel free to drop off any questions and we’ll try our best to answer back to you.
