Stepping into Gipfeltreffen feels like stepping into a stranger’s house, and immediately wanting to become his friend. The place is warm and cosy, with old furniture, sofas in different shapes and colors, wooden tables and many little artsy artefacts laying around or hanging on the walls. Someone at Gipfeltreffen has a great eye for detail.

 We tested the cheese breakfast, a sandwich and the Canadian pancakes. The pancakes where the fluffy (and best) kind and made everybody smile, the sandwich girl was content with her modest choice and we all chipped in to help clean out the Käse Frühstück plate.

The bottom line: nothing too special, but an overall delightful experience

The plate test: all cleaned out. We wouldn’t have refused another round of the fluffy Pfannkuchen

Soundtrack: chill-out, soft jazz, Bob Marly, Yael Naim

Sitting arrangement: outside tables are added during the summer. Always full, natürlich

Crowed: local, friendly, many families

Kids: yes, and lots of them

Pets: yes, and lots of them

Service: slow-ish and nice. But who’s in a hurry, anyway?

Prices: 3.50€ for the sandwich, 6.50€ cheese breakfast, 6.60€ for the pancakes

Gipfeltreffen

http://gipfeltreffen-kreuzberg.de/

Gorlitzerstr. 68, Berlin

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Suicide Sue is an exciting place. Well, first of all, because of the name. That was enough to get us to come. Then the location: a quiet and pleasant street near Helholmtzplatz in Prenzlauer Berg. We showed up on a fair-weather Sunday and sat down around a shaded table outside. Inside there’s a welcoming and cosy space, with a wooden bar in the center and a counter where you order, choose desserts and can track the progress of order.

The breakfast choices run between Sweet (croissant and home-made marmalade), Savory (eggs, sausages and all the rest), pancakes, fruit salad, a vegetarian breakfast and the house special (a meal for two, which we chose in its veggie version). “Sue” prides itself on home-made spreads that are adventurous and superb: avocado and chilli, ricotta and dry tomatoes, beet, horseradish and apples, brie and dates, camembert and berries and list goes on.

Everything is served on wooden planks and in white vials. Simple and beautiful. And not to mention delicious. Since our first visit there we came back for seconds and will be back again.

The bottom line: original and marvelous.

Crowd: young, local, some families

Children: kid-friendly indeed

Pets: welcoming. Water bowl and dog bed await the 4-legged visitors

Soundtrack: French inside, quiet urban chatter on the outside

Suicide Sue

http://www.suicidesue.com

Dunckerstr. 2A, Berlin

 

What would you do if you owned a bar that stood empty during the morning, while you recover from last night’s hangover? In the case of Lagari, the answer is: rent it out to people who are serving what some might claim is the hottest American Brunch in town. So hot, that you can now get it on weekdays as well (10:00-16:00).

 The California Breakfast Slam is the local answer for American expats with a craving for brunch that tastes like home. And by “home” we mean “California-Style” – with a delicate and blessed Mexican influence. Amongst the brunches you can find fluffy pancakes, black beans and eggs on a tortilla, eggs Benedict (or Florentine, if you’re a veggie) and more.

The location itself is mundane and irrelevant. On a nice sunny day everyone is sitting outside, on the traffic island. It seems like ages ago now, but when we visited there it was a hot day. Too hot for Berlin, and believe it or not – there were not enough parasols to shade all the tables. You couldn’t fit a Brötchen between the brunch-eners: youngsters, expats and locals. But nothing was gonna stand in our way of enjoying the enormous portions. We fell head-over-heals for the pancakes, bitched about the heat for a while, and sat there for quite a while before we were able to stand up. It was filling.

The city is crawling with expats (as we know from being ones ourselves), so reservations for groups of more than 4 people are highly recommended during the weekends.

 The bottom line: For hungry California lovers, who are not shy of some black beans.

 The plate test: couldn’t finish. We were out numbered.

 Price: 8-10, not including drinks.

 Soundtrack: of the street. Pleasant multi-lingual chatter.

 Kids: why not? Sitting in the street.

 Pets: why not? Sitting in the street.

 Crowd: locals and visitors who know why they’re coming

California Breakfast Slam (at Lagari)

 Pflügerstrasse 19, Neukolln-Kreuzberg

 Email for reservations: cabslam@gmail.com