Where to Find Vegetarian Food in Berlin
I wasn’t worried about finding vegetarian food in Berlin. As with all new cities I visit, I had researched the vegetarian and vegan food options extensively before we arrived, so I had a pretty good idea of what I was letting myself in for.
But I wasn’t expecting to be so bowled over (pardon the pun) by some of the food I ate. The vegetarian food in Berlin was amongst the best that I’ve had when travelling abroad - and I’ve been to my fair share of foodie hot spots! I mean, have you seen the awesome places we visited in Auckland?! It’s safe to say that I was suitably impressed.
During my research, I found such a huge amount of cafes and restaurants that I wanted to visit during our 5 day trip that it would’ve been impossible to visit every one. Nevertheless, we meticulously planned out each day of the trip according to where we would eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks (of course) and dinner. Yes, we’re those people.
Where to find vegetarian food in Berlin
I think we visited all of the main neighbourhoods over the corse of our 5 days, except for Kreuzberg… more on that later. Nonetheless, we found still feel like we had a great sample of the vegetarian food in Berlin. So here are our favourites by neighbourhood!
in… Mitte
Kopps
If you’re vegan and sick of only being able to find suitable offerings in dingy student joints or vegan junk food bars, then Kopps is the place you’ve been waiting for. Here, sleek, sophisticated interiors meet vibrant, innovative food pairings in a cosy corner of a tucked away street in Mitte. Kopps is expensive for Berlin, but it’s a beautiful dining experience not to be missed. If you’re trying to see Berlin on a budget, make an exception for this restaurant!
Price: ££
Daluma
If you secretly love to be a bit of a #healthwanker, then make sure to check out Daluma. It’s just as you’d expect; rows of multi-coloured, cold-pressed concoctions lining the refrigerator shelves, minimalistic, plant heavy furnishings and acai bowls galore. Don’t forget the granola at the counter with ingredients you can’t pronounce and the hunky model taking your order. I jest; Daluma serve up some pretty tasty breakfast offerings and with the sun beaming through the huge windows on a sunny day, the space makes for a lovely little place to relax with a healthy breakfast.
Speaking of breakfast - be sure to try the mix and match breakfast bowls. Choose one of three bases: chia pudding, probiotic muesli or coconut yogurt with cultures, and then choose your topping: chocolate coffee nut crumble, pineapple, banana and turmeric smoothie or acai, strawberry and sea buckthorn smoothie. Dreamy. Be aware that not everything at Daluma is vegan or vegetarian, but there is a good selection of options.
Price: £
SOY
Want fresh, delicious Vietnamese food that also happens to be vegan? I’m not telling porkies. SOY are on a mission to make people love the ingredient of the same name with their organic, 100% vegan and 100% tasty menu.
Choose from dishes like mixed rice pot with caramelised tofu and baked tofu dumplings with sweet and sour dip. Not forgetting an essential bowl of hearty pho. If you weren’t already convinced -they’ve even got vegan wine. What are you waiting for? Book your table, pronto.
Price: £
Chen Che
This awesome Vietnamese teahouse is a must visit. Tucked away on a main street in Mitte, the experience begins before you even get to the door. To get inside, you must first walk through a beautiful courtyard garden brimming with lush foliage and glowing orange lanterns. The menu is extensive, brimming with tofu based classic Vietnamese dishes. Think rice paper rolls, pho, and lots of coriander (coriander haters BEWARE!). Clearly this is a popular spot, as the place was packed when we visited! Top tip: Grab a cocktail to enjoy in the garden while you wait for your table.
in… Charlottenburg
Die Stulle
We based ourselves out of Charlottenburg for our trip, and weren’t expecting much on the food front - our impression of Charlottenburg was more of a family neighbourhood than a hip, happening foodie hotspot (side note: did I just use the words “hip” and “happening”?!).
But Die Stulle was one of many places to prove us wrong. We headed here for lunch on our final day and absolutely loved the interesting, plant friendly options. There’s also a cute outdoor seating area, perfect for sunny days. How good does cashew milk porridge with rhubarb lime compote and banana sound?! Mmmm *heart eyes*. Die Stulle also serve coffee from Bonanza, a Kreuzberg roastery I’d highly recommend. The bottom line? Don’t miss a visit to this hidden gem!
Price: ££
Bio Company
Bio Company is not an etery, per-se. It’s a bio market. What does that mean for you? A shop, full to the brim with organic, vegan, vegetarian and gourmet food items, a bakery, and a plethora of gorgeous natural skincare and make-up! This is the perfect spot for you if you’re basing yourself in the Charlottenburg neighbourhood for a longer holiday in Berlin, and wish to make some of your own healthy meals. As is the norm with healthy supermarkets, it could be pricey to do your full food shop here. Luckily, you can pick up all the basics at the cheaper supermarket just a few blocks away.
Price: £-£££
Benedict
How can I BEGIN to explain this 24 hour breakfast restaurant? It’s heaven. This eatery comes attached to the Max Ku-Damm boutique hotel where we stayed for our trip to Berlin. It also has a fantastic adjoining bakery. If you’re a guest of the hotel, you’re given a daily token for free breakfast at Benedict. Although we had so many other places to tick off of our “vegetarian food in Berlin” checklist, we’d read a ton of raving reviews for Benedict, so we knew we had to give it a try. A try quickly became two tries, and then three… and then four. Everything tasted so incredible and was packed with flavour, we just couldn’t help ourselves from coming back again and again.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget the Benedict espresso and white chocolate pancakes for as long as I live - they were THAT good. The breakfast Greek salad is also a must-try, as well as the vegan chickpea pancakes with cashew, beetroot and aubergine dips. Benedict was truly the best foodie find of our trip to Berlin. A word of warning, though: this place is open to the public as well as hotel guests, and it gets SERIOUSLY busy. Like, queues down the street busy. If you stay at the hotel, you could find yourself competing with the locals for a table - so if you want to eat there for breakfast, make sure to get there bright and early.
Price: ££
in… Prenzlauer Berg
Lucky Leek
When I was researching vegetarian food in Berlin, Lucky Leek was one of the first places I came across. The menu sounded fantastic and we knew we definitely wanted to try it, so we booked a table months in advance. As expected, the food was delicious - a slightly fancy twist on your usual vegetarian fare, which was more than welcome (there’s only so many vegetarian buffet restaurants a gal can take before getting bored).
How does avocado tartar, jackfruit, pumpernickel and seaweed caviar sound as a appetiser? Or red cabbage pear cream soup with orange groves and walnut crumble? …Fancy and delicious af? Yup, and it delivers.
Price: ££
Kanaan
The food at this place is surely what dreams are made of. It’s certainly the stuff that my dreams are made of. Imagine the smoothest, creamiest hummus you’ve ever tasted, topped with salty, herby cooked mushrooms and a big slab of warm pitta bread for scooping. That’s Kanaan. And if smooth, creamy hummus isn’t enough of an incentive for you… it has the friendly service and cheapest prices going. If you’re looking for vegetarian food in Berlin and you love Middle Eastern food, don’t miss this place!
Price: £
TriBeCa
Looking for vegan ice cream? Go here. The staff are super fun and the flavours are deeeeelicious. The pistachio lucuma is particularly dreamy. And for hipster points, you’ve got to try the coconut ash. The base of each ice cream is composed of cold pressed coconut oil, rice milk, nut milk and cocoa butter. No artificial flavours, additives, refined sugar, dairy or soy. Even better? The ice cream is served in plastic-free pots! Vegan AND eco-friendly? This place is winning.
Price: £
Zula
Sadly, we didn’t quite make it to Zula, but I wanted to add it here anyway. Why? Because it came highly recommended from an Israeli work colleague. I figure if anyone’s going to know what they’re talking about when it comes to great hummus, it’s someone who grew up with it! And I have to say, the menu looks pretty mouthwatering. Like at Kanaan, most of the dishes have hummus as the base, with a huge list of different toppings to choose from. A whopping 19 vegan options are available, so it’s safe to say that Zula has the vegan club covered.
Price: £
in… Friedrichshain
Neumann Cafe
Such a great little place! The stars of the show at this eatery are the “kaffee & brot”. I think we can all guess what this means… coffee and bread, anyone? Now, real talk: Who doesn’t have a place for these two on their list of favourite things in life? Exactly. Most of the dishes are served upon a hunk of their freshly baked sourdough. The toppings, I admit to have found quite unusual at the time. But fear not, they taste great. Think pickles, bean shoots and lots of salad-y goodness. The end result? Beautiful, vibrant and colourful plates of food. Needless to say - don’t miss the coffee.
Price: ££
Silo Coffee
Aussie inspired breakfast menu, where coffee is king (although if you ask me, coffee is always king). At Silo, it all comes from their own roastery, Fjord coffee. If I tell you my coffee obsessed boyfriend has turned me into a major coffee snob, maybe you’ll take comfort in knowing that we both vouch for Fjord. Inside, you’ll find a laid back and artsy vibe with a part rustic, part industrial interior. Think exposed brick walls and lots of pine furniture. No laptops are allowed during kitchen service hours, though - so don’t rock up here with the intent to tackle your inbox.
If your inner hipster loves seeing strange objects hanging precariously off of coffee shop walls, you’ll enjoy Silo. Psst - in this case, it’s a bike.
Price: £
in… Neukolln
Brammibal’s Donuts
“Vegan doughnuts”. The words we all want to hear. That’s what you’ll find at Brammibal’s, and I was damn excited to get my hands on one. Can I be completely honest, though? I wasn’t as blown away by Brammibal’s as I had hoped to be. The dough component of my smoky maple “facon” doughnut was satisfyingly soft and chewy, but the flavour of the topping just wasn’t quite there. But. I’m willing to assume that I made a bad choice, or caught them on a bad day. Because 4.5 stars from 501 Google reviews and 4.9 stars from 334 Facebook votes can’t be wrong… right?
In any case, how often does one come across a 100% vegan doughnut shop? I think this alone deems it worthy of your visit. I’ll let you make up your own mind about their merits.
Price: £
Isla Coffee
Isla coffee is a zero waste cafe. If there was anywhere to symbolise Berlin’s achingly cool reputation, it would surely be this. From the furniture to the coffee cups, everything here is reclaimed, recycled or homegrown. The coffee comes from a selection of local roasters, and the food is from predominantly local suppliers.
On the weekends, you’ll find a brunch menu including sweet and savoury porridge jars. Count me in. Oh, and if you get a bit excited about a snazzy light fitting (like me) then you’ll love this place. Isla also host occasional food and drink workshops, if that’s your kinda thang.
Price: £
Populus Coffee
Gracing many a “best coffee in Berlin” line-up, the Finnish owned Populus coffee is nestled away on a side street in Neukolln. Small and unassuming from the outside, inside, the space reveals a quirkily cluttered counter and brew bar, opening up to a decent sized seating area towards the back. A cosy space dotted with luscious trailing plants, Populus “want people to discover coffee as what it can be when the right people collaborate.”
All food options, from the homemade cakes to pastries, sandwiches and various small bites, are vegetarian or vegan with some gluten free options to boot.
Price: £
So there you are! A guide to finding vegetarian food in Berlin. You may notice that I missed out one of Berlin’s most prolific foodie neighbourhoods, Kreuzberg. Cut a long story short, we got a little lost trying to walk into Kreuzberg on foot, and then ran out of time to try again. A little embarrassing, but a standard and not to be unexpected Molly moment. Some of the spots I would have loved to have visited in Kreuzberg, include:
- Hallesches Haus
- Restaurant Bastard
- Le Bon Food and Drink
- Nano Coffee
- Zola
- Bonanza Coffee
- Gasthaus Figl
…Next time!
Berlin is a city unlike any other I have visited. I felt such a mixture of feelings here. Some neighbourhoods I loved, while others felt uncomfortably permeated by ignored social issues. It’s a city of vitality and fearless self-expression. It’s complex, a dark horse. Remembered always for it’s tragic history, celebrated now for it’s forward-thinking attitude. One thing is for sure: this city does food and coffee well. And if you’re looking for vegetarian food in Berlin, you won’t go hungry. Besides - don’t we all love a dark horse?
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