Mediterranian in Berlin

Restaurants by district

Quick Meals

Fine Dining

Asian

Central European

Jewish

Mediterranean

New Strategies

Exquisite Fare

Coffee & Dessert

Street Food

Breakfast & Brunch

Bars & Pubs

Candela

Grunewaldstr. 81, 10823 Berlin - Schöneberg | Tel: 782 14 09, Fax: no fax | U7 Eisenacher Str. | Times: Mon-Sun 17.00-0.30 | Prices: Mains around DM22.

map:

Meals are served with an Italian touch in a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. A mainstay of the 30 and 40-something set, the popular Candela fills up quickly most nights. Sit outside on warm, summer evenings and watch the passers-by. The service is quick, friendly and attentive, a major feature in this restaurant's success.

Francucci's

Kurfürstendamm 90, 10711 Berlin - Charlottenburg | Tel: 323 33 18, Fax: 323 33 21 | U7 Adenauer Platz |

map:

Bang opposite the Schaubühne, Francucci's is an old Charlottenburg place to be. You can enjoy gourmet thin crust pizzas with a range of unique toppings - vegetarians are well served. Salads come in gigantic bowls and the shaven-headed waiters are not stingy on the parmesan. Pasta dishes are a delight - try the fresh ravioli with sage butter. Service is bolshy Italian rather than bolshy Berlin - lots of shouting and smoking, but you will certainly get your dinner before you starve.
Pasta and pizzas start at around € 15, and you can order the half-metre monster to share with friends for € 60.

The atmosphere is lively, and interior welcoming with its random array of Mediterranean artefacts and cooking implements. A most pleasant Italian experience - combined with a trip to the Schaubühne, it makes for a perfect evening out.

Gorgonzola Club

In an area which isn´t known for its classy eateries, Gorgonzola Club is a delightful find. Heavy white table cloths and tarnished candle-stick-holders tend an air of traditional elegance to an otherwise sparse, almost rustic interior. The regular menu offers crisp and tasty pizzas and the regularly changing specials board coughs up such gems as linguine with fresh water prawns in white wine sauce. The wine selection is comprehensive, but there is little need to go beyond the excellent Italian house wines sold by the mezzo litro.

Il Contadino Sotto le Stelle

map:

A seemingly chaotic Southern Italian place where it's impossible to get a table without a reservation. The food is tremendous, the menu (in Italian) changes often, and every detail, right down to some of the best bread in town, is in place.

La Rustica

map:

Berlin's first family of Italian restaurants started with Muntagnola, a place with food so good you'd swear there was a Sicilian grandmother hidden in the kitchen. Impeccable Southern Italian fare then showed up at Contadino, in Mitte, which was smaller but no less excellent. The latest arrival is La Rustica, which doubles as a lunch place and pizzeria (the only one of these three places serving pizza), with a small deli in one corner. All feature superb and affordable cuisine with an emphasis on lesser-known dishes, a great wine-list, and occasionally crazy waiters. We don't recommend La Rustica's outdoor tables next to the train tracks, though, if you plan to converse with your dining companions.

Osteria Tarantina

Große Presidenten Straße 5, 10117 Berlin - Mitte | Tel: 28 38 70 90, Fax: no fax | S Hackescher Markt | Times: Mon-Fri 12-1, Sat-Sun: 17-1

map:

Tucked in a nondescript side street near the Hackesche Höfe, by no means unnoticed by the youthful trendmongers who inhabit Mitte nights. Affordable excellence during the day, reserve at nights. Order anything that catches your imagination - it's all delicious, even the pizze.

Rosmini Pastamanufaktur

map:

HOT TIP: A new, small, and inconspicuous place with simple and extremely fresh pasta and salads, and a good wine list. The prices are very reasonable and there's a new menu every day. Like the name says, all pasta is made on the premises, ranging from campanelli, gnocchetti, orrechietti, to more standard fettuccine, rigatoni and linguini. Dishes are prepared with a slight Southern Italian touch. The head chef originally hails from Sicily. The small, open front room faces Invalidenstrasse through plate-glass windows, giving the place a lively, city neighborhood atmosphere. Service is prompt and knowledgeable. Portions are sufficient but not overwhelming. They also offer a three-course lunch menu from 12:00-15:30 for DM15.00.

Sale e Tabacchi

map:

Modern atmosphere and decor (designed by architect Max Dudler), high ceilings, buoyant, enthusiastic and very professional Italian waiters. Large selection of appetizers, including some 8 sorts of carpaccio. Pasta is fresh and made on the premises. Located in the famous TAZ building, and often frequented by the publishing, cultural, architectural elite. Also just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie (30 meters) and a nice digestive walk 10 minutes up Friedrichstrasse to the new shopping promenade.

Trattoria Paparazzi

Husemannstr. 35, 10435 Berlin - Prenzlauer Berg | Tel: 440 7333, Fax: no fax | U2 Eberswalder Str. | Times: 6pm-midnight daily, closed Mon in Jan | Cards: none

map:

We knew this place was good well before the august Feinschmecker magazine declared it one of the best Italian restaurants in Germany. Signature dishes are the strangopreti, little pasta dumplings of spinach and Parmesan cheese, and the malfatti, served with sage butter. Disarmingly reasonably priced, excellent house wine.