My Berlin vegan experience

Did you know that Berlin is also known as a vegan paradise? Its vegan scene is amazing because there is vegan food everywhere you look!

I hope you're hungry as I'm going to take you with me on a culinary tour in this cosmopolitan city 😊

Lucky Leek

We will start our culinary tour with Lucky Leek.

Lucky Leek is a trendy restaurant located on Kollwitzstraße 54. The owner, Josita Hartanto, started as a chef in a restaurant that was serving meat. She didn't feel comfortable preparing meat after she became vegan, so she started her own small vegan restaurant with two tables. It didn't take long for her to move to a bigger restaurant and gain popularity among Berliners.

The restaurant is open from Wednesday to Sunday and it only serves dinner. Make sure to reserve a table a few days before you plan to come. It is important especially in colder months, when you can't sit outside.

The ambience of Lucky Leek is very warm and welcoming. The waiters are nice and helpful. You can choose either 3 or 5 course menus. They will gladly assist you with your choice. They are also very flexible, and you can combine your starter, main and dessert the way you want.

We decided to go for the 3-course menu.

Our dinner started with a complimentary amuse-bouche. One small toast was topped with snap peas pure and oyster mushroom and another one with sweet potato salad and quinoa falafel. It was so delicious! We couldn't wait for the next course!

My starter was carpaccio from smoked carrots with cucumber rolls, lettuce, flax seeds crisp and stuffed chili. Just looking at the meal made my mouth water. It was fresh and so good!

My husband started with consommé. It is a strong vegetable soup with baby corn, mushrooms, and small pancake rolls. The broth was very strong and comforting.

After we finished our starters we had to wait for about 30 minutes before the waiter came with our mains. It was a little long for my liking, but we had enough drinks to keep us company 😊

The main course was the best celery risotto ever. It was creamy and al dente - perfect Italian risotto. It was served with breaded celery, truffle and vegetable pappardelle.

After the main, it took another 30 minutes before we were served our dessert.

Have you ever heard about strawberry pepper ice cream? If not, you should give it a go. It is amazing.

I must say that our dinner here was the best vegan dining experience that we ever had. It all took a little bit too long, but good things take time 😊

The menu consists of two starters, two mains and two desserts. It was very difficult to choose as all meals contained exciting combinations of flavors.

It is a bit pricey to eat there so you can leave it for a special occasion. The 3 course menu is EUR 36 and the 5 course menu is EUR 59. You can also add a glass of wine to each course for EUR 29.

Overall, it was a beautiful evening and I would definitely recommend this restaurant further.

Tianfuzius

It is difficult to choose an Asian restaurant in Berlin. There are so many of them that are vegan or vegetarian! We decided to try Tianfuzius located on Regensburger Strasse 1 because it was close to our hotel. Let me tell you that it was a great choice!

The restaurant is open everyday for lunch and dinner.

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Tianfuzius is a vegetarian restaurant serving Vietnamese meals. They only have 3 meals with eggs and I am surprised that they keep them on their extensive menu.

This is another place where you have to reserve a table in advance as it's very popular.

They serve a variety of soups EUR 3.90, salads EUR 3.90 - 4.50, dumplings EUR 4.50 - 5.50, hot pots EUR 12.90 - 16.50, tofu EUR 11.50 - 14.90, eggplant dishes EUR 10.50 - 12.90, rice and noodle dishes EUR 8.90 - 9.50, vegan alternatives EUR 12.90 - 15.90 and desserts EUR 3.80 - 4.90.

We chose a couple of meals without focusing on starters and mains.

We tried dumplings with smoked tofu, carrots and zucchini, green beans in a ginger vinegar sauce, hot and sour soup with vegan chicken and water chestnuts, mixed Asian vegetables with garlic, and hot tofu stew Sichuan with garlic and peppers.

The food was amazing! My husband keeps talking about the hot and sour soup even two months after we returned back from Berlin. It was apparently the best soup that he has ever eaten.

This is a 'must go' restaurant! It is situated in a quiet residential area and it has a very nice homely atmosphere. If you like spicy food, don't forget to go to Tianfuzius when you're in Berlin.

Geh Veg

Geh Veg (Go Veg) is a small cafe on Birkenstraße 30, right across the metro station. It is open everyday and it's a very nice place for breakfast, brunch or lunch.

We went there every morning as we enjoyed their breakfast. From the first day I thought that the name of the cafe was Geh Weg which means Go Away. I thought that it was a strange name and shared my thoughts with my husbands who couldn't stop laughing. Well, then I understood I was wrong 😊

They offer homemade, fresh, vegan and gluten free meals and drinks.

They serve chia pudding EUR 4.90, muesli EUR 4.90, porridge EUR 5.40, smoothies EUR 4.20, smoothie bowl EUR 5.40, bagels and sandwiches EUR 3.90, avocado toast EUR 5.20, black bean burger EUR 4.90, wraps and soups EUR 4.20.

We came there straight from the plane. We were tired and hungry. We ordered smoothies, sweet breakfast and tempeh bagel. The food was great, and we ordered a piece of apple pie as well (I don't have a photo of it). It looked good, but it was frozen. We asked the waitress to warm it up. She gladly helped us, but after she brought the cake back we realized that it was still frozen. We were disappointed but we didn't want to let a piece of cake spoil our day.

The next day everything was perfect. When we came for the last time, I ordered a black bean burger which was cold and there was a dog hair in it! I returned it back and didn't make a big deal out of it as I got a new one (which was still cold) and an ice cream for free!

If you ever go there, don't order the apple pie and the burger, and you will be fine 😊

AtayaCaffe

AtayaCaffe is located on Zelterstraße 6. It is not that far away from the Berlin Wall Memorial. The owners are a married couple - she is from Sardinia, Italy and he is from Senegal. She is a vegan chef and her meals are a combination of Italian and African cuisine. It's a very interesting concept and I couldn't wait to try her food.

You need to order your food at the counter and the owner will bring it to you. The menu is changing everyday and it's reasonably priced.

We ordered gnocchi with tomato sauce, Italian salad and sandwich with hummus, arugula and sun dried tomatoes. The food was very good but heavy. It didn't really matter as we spent there a couple of hours drinking delicious wine and chatting with the owners about how they got to know each other, why they moved to Berlin and how they started their business. The atmosphere was super nice, and we even got to meet their kids!

Please visit this place, but only when you have a lot of time to talk 😊

Brammibal's Donuts

How should we finish our tour today? You are right, with something sweet!

Brammibal's Donuts is a Berlin based vegan bakery specialized in handmade donuts. It is located on Maybachufer 8.

They specialize in unusual flavor combinations and you can choose from rose-hip jam, pumpkin spice and cream cheese, choc pretzel, salted caramel hazelnut, maple smoked coconut, hibiscus sprinkles and many more.

Each donut is EUR 2.50 and you get 1 EUR discount if you purchase 4 of them.

We tried rosemary orange, rose-hip jam, peanut butter fudge and almond.

All of them were so good! But let me give you an advice. Don't go there before lunch, you will spoil your appetite 😊

I hope you have enjoyed our tour. There are so many places in Berlin that it was impossible to try them all. This is just my experience and if you've visited another vegan restaurants there, please let me know as I'm planning another trip to Berlin, and I would love to receive some recommendations.

Thank you for reading,

Cheers,
Martina

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