Lucy's The Deli

Lucy's The Deli

Finally a new cafe has moved into the long-unoccupied space at Torstrasse 116 near Rosenthaler Platz. "Hermann's" had a couple of successful years, but has been vacant for quite a time, which has been a loss to the area, as it has one of the biggest physical spaces in the area. 

Thankfully "Lucy's The Deli" has arrived (moving down the hill from Brunnenstrasse) and the atmosphere is very calm, with friendly staff and good food and drink. Much of the layout, furniture, and ambience has been inherited from "Hermann's" - all the better though, since it is very open, spacious, and calming. There are even booths if needing to work a little. 

For all those looking for vegetarian or vegan options, you will find a great selection of fresh options. And there are a couple of Keto options too, if you ask nicely. 

Being summer, I can definitely recommend the iced-matcha latte and the protein balls (different flavours available).  

Here's wishing Lucy's The Deli a strong survival, but not at the loss of the current atmosphere and vibe. 

Burgers in Berlin: #2 Shiso Burger

SHISO BURGER

Located on Auguststrasse 29C, Shisho Burger is an Asian Fusion burger restaurant that has become one of our regular lunch places. Directions here:

Photo by Anne S. / Care of yelp.de

According to the wikipedia, Shiso is the leaf of a Japanese mint plant and here they do combine many asian herbs with the traditional burger. The lemon-chili burger takes the asian fusion one step further by adding a fully flavoured chili sauce to the mix. 

Chili-lemon burger at Shiso (c) MJT

If you are after a full palette of tastes and a satisfying lunch or dinner without over-eating, then I definitely recommend a trip to Shiso Burger. The Angus Beef that is used for the boulette/patties is obviously very high quality, as it is succulent without dripping of fat. Since it is not always easy or cheap to find good quality beef in Berlin, this is a very satisfying yet reasonably priced solution. What is great about this place however, is that vegetarians are equally catered for, and there are multiple burger options, including the "Toad Burger" - Portabello mushroom (essentially a mushroom steak!), "Shiso Burger" - made like a Tuna patty, a "Salmon" and a "Veggie" Burger. 

"Toad Burger" / Portabello Mushroom at Shiso (c) MJT

Shiso Burger have a Mittagsmenu Monday through to Saturday, which for 3€ on top of the normal price of the burger, gives you a drink and house fries. Unfortunately if you want any other variation of the fries it will cost an extra 1,50€ - so in the end the Mittagsmenu "deal" is pretty slack actually. So we often simply share one serving of the sweet potato fries, which have more flavour than the regular house fries. 

Sweet potato fries at Shiso Burger (c) MJT

A unique touch to the already asian fusion burger, is the fact that everything is individually served in bamboo steamers. While aesthetically interesting, we have also noticed how efficient this is at clearing the tables afterwards.

Meal at Shiso Burger (c) MJT

While there is still a fresh and new vibe about this eatery, they already celebrated their first year anniversary and it seems more and more people are aware of how delicious the burgers are, as it is always busy. Conveniently it does not take long to enjoy your meal (a great pit stop or lunch on the go), though the service can fluctuate between being attentive and completely ignored or forgotten about entirely. (Sometimes having to beg to pay...) Oh, and make sure you have cash to pay with (NO CARDS)

Menu Shiso Burger

A little more information can be found at their website: www.shisoburger.de

Itadakimasu / Guten Appetit (c) MJT

Berlin Craft Bier Fest 2014

BERLIN CRAFT BIER FEST 2014

Quite by chance we found ourselves at the weekend at a beer festival - promoting local craft or micro-breweries.

(C) MJT

It was held at the RAW-Gelände, Revaler Strasse in Friedrichshein, which we immediately recognised as one of berlin's famous nightclub and dance areas, which we hadn't ever visited during the day... It is located in a discarded Tram Depot near S-Bahnhof Berlin Warschauer Strasse, address Revaler Strasse 99 (Google Maps here)

Unfortunately the beer festival was only two days 30-31 May, however they have a website www.craftbierfest.berlin and I assume this festival takes place more often than once a year.

(C) MJT

We only sampled a couple of beers with lunch, mainly because the wind and pollen was causing our hayfever to spiral out of control. But we tried a pale ale quite similar to an Australian wheat beer, and two local Potsdamer beers from Braumanufaktor.

Of the two Braumanufaktor beers we drank, I preferred the Hell (meaning light, as in colour clarity - don't be fooled, the alcohol content is the same as the weizen 4.8%).

(C) MJT

However the best discovery of the day was actually a Londoner Pie maker (wow, that sounds dangerously close to Sweeney Todd) with a selection of meat and vegetarian pies. We all decided on the wild mushroom pies, which were delicious.

(C) MJT

Obviously catering to expats, this company is suitably named "hello good pie" and their website www.hellogoodpie-Berlin.de They only started operating in 2013, and as they proclaim on their website, the flavours cater to a German pallet and naturally to the longing expat community. 

(C) MJT

We will be looking out for Matthew Minch (chef) and his pies everywhere we go in Berlin now. Absolutely delicious!!