Crepes And Corks: Berlin Food

In Berlin, we had two very different dining experiences. First, we decided to have a traditional Prussian-German dinner at a restaurant called Marjellchen. The entire restaurant is accessorized in pink - flowers, candles, table cloths, napkins...you name it. The menu is pretty extensive, focusing on different concotions of meat, pork and poultry products. Plus they had a special asparagus menu (of course). The owner came out and talked with us, so we were able to ask her recommendations before ordering. She is the one in the purple shirt, below, and unfortunately weighs over 300 pounds and has major difficulties breathing. I am never one to shy away from a good meal, but diet and exercise are key to living a healthy life. Her food was amazing, but everything in moderation people! I ordered the Caraway Meat "Mecklenburg"- from best lambs leg, stewed with green onions, carrots, onions and caraway, besides parsley potatoes and cucumber salad. My sister got Fillet Pot "Marjellchen" - with fillets of beef and pork in house style, besides fried potatoes, different vegetables and Bernaise sauce. Both came in pretty white pots, served like a stew. The waitress arranged a portion on each of our plates and left the rest on the table for us to go for seconds (which we happily did). My mom ordered a simple grilled fish with white asparagus off the special menu. Here are the pictures from this restaurant, and scroll down for the second dinner.

Waitress serving us

Fillet Pot

Caraway Meat

The bowl our food was brought to the table in

Second, we went to Heising, a restaurant that has been around for about 40 years. An older German couple own the place, but the chef and cuisine are French. The second you walk in to the restaurant, you are transported back to the early 1900s. It was a small restaurant (sat about 40 people) and was very cozy. Music playing from a record player, the husband took our orders, and the wife brought and explained our food. You have the option of a three or four course tasting menu (see below). We started with Kir Royales as an aperitif. First course was Coquille St. Jacques (Scallops) with three different sauces - champagne, orange-ginger, and tomato caper. My personal favorite was the orange-ginger. I loved the addition of orange peels in the creamy sauce. Though we didn't order any other drinks, the owner gladly poured (and refilled) their house white whine to go along with our seafood. Next, I enjoyed fresh oysters - amazing as always. My main course was a fillet of Loup de Mer (white fish) which was stuffed with ricotta cheese, on a creamy sauce with braised fennel. We finished with the "Grand Desert" - which had a variety of desserts including chocolate mousse, an apple tartlet, and a cheesecake.