02 January 2013

Vegetarian in Berlin

I've been around the world, but never to a restaurant with the entrance in an industrial loading dock. You really must look to find Cookies Cream in Berlin, but it's worth it.

There is no sign on the street, and one must walk back into an alley by the Comic Opera Berlin. Just when you think Mackie Messer is about to jump out and do something rash to your person, you spot a large antique chandelier hanging in the loading dock, the incongruity of which give a bit of hope. An unmarked steel door with a buzzer allows you entrance, at which point the decor resembles a downtown NYC club.

This is a fine vegetarian restaurant, really nice helpful staff, and great food. We had, for appetizers: the pumpkin soup (out of this world), Mozzarella di Bufala with figs and toasted walnuts (quite good, though once you have had the real thing in Italy, everything else is just a reminder of what could be). Main course was Parmesan potatoes filled with peppers and goat cheese (fine) and kohlrabi with beluga lentils (hmmm good)
We opted for the cookies and cream for desert (vanilla ice cream with chocolate cookies with bits of olive (quite good).

Coming from the USA, where plates are gigantic, the tendency to smaller portions at first site leaves one disappointed, but you don't go away hungry, and it's certainly much healthier to eat less.

I highly recommend this place, and will return.