Transit

The words "NO MSG ADDED" glow in neon lights over the bar of this Asian restaurant, dragging you inside. In the recent wave of gentrification that seems to be spreading
north on Rosentalerstrasse, this is a pleasant new place near to the new Amano Hotel.



The bowls have names like 'Bathing Beauty' (rice dough with chicken and morel mushrooms) and 'Doktor Fish'(catfish in a kind of coconut milk sponge with basil). The smaller bowls cost just €3, larger bowls like the Dumpling Noodles Soup (wontons with grilled pork) are €7. A side order of rice is just €1.

There are some great drinks too, like the Regeneration (similar to a Mojito but without the rum) and the Against Cold, a lime, ginger and honey tea.

Fresh and inexpensive, this is an agreeable place for a quick and tasty meal.

Transit
Rosentalerstrasse 68,
10119 Berlin

Open daily: 11:00 - 01:00

Tel: +49 (0) 30 247 816 45

There is also a branch of Transit on Sonntagstrasse in Friedrichshain.

www.transit-restaurants.com

Restaurant 3

This is a new opening around the corner from Bar 3 and near the Volksbühne theater, a hang-out for the thespian world.

The decor is minimalist and stylish, it's got a nice atmosphere. My tomato soup was fresh and delicious. I then had a salad with beetroot which was good but on the vinegary side. My companion's lasagna was said to be rather tasteless, and overall the portions are small (but the prices are reasonable too).

The food tasted very fresh and the menu changes constantly, so this is definitely one to watch.

Restaurant 3, Weydingerstrasse 20, Berlin
Tel: +49-30-2804-6973

Mexican Berlin

Mexican joints are few and far between in Berlin, but a nice burrito place is Dolores on Rosa Luxemburg Strasse. It's busy, but the corn chips are crunchy and delicious, the guacamole is good too (especially if you like garlic).

I had the classic vegan: black beans, brown rice, salsa verde and lots of fajita onions. Healthy fast food. Dolores is also the only place in Germany I've ever seen the Brazilian soft drink Guaraná Antartica for sale.

Rosa Luxemburg Strasse 7, Berlin Mitte, 030 280 99 597
www.dolores-online.de

Another good place is Maria Bonita. It's a bit grungy, you either sit at long tables on the street or on barstools. I made a reservation without realising it is pretty much an imbiss. The dishes are inexpensive (so is the beer) and authentic, the guys who run the place are fun too.

Danziger Str. 33, Prenzlauer Berg
www.maria-bonita.com

Chez Leon, Brussels

The meal got off to a bad start when the restaurant told us we had lost our table because we were ten minutes late.

Another table was found, but then they made a huge fuss about the fact that we had booked for eight and were nine. The waiters made us feel very uncomfortable.

In the end, the mussels and chips were good, and the beer was cold. But the service experience was for the thick-skinned only!

18 rue des Bouchers, Brussels 1000, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 511 14 15. www.chezleon.be

This is an interesting article from Business Week that a friend passed on to me about Barcomi's, a well-known American café:

Creating Café Barcomi's in Berlin
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2009/sb20090924_016527.htm

The Barcomi's at Sophienstrasse 21 is one of my favourite places for cookies and brownies. The coffee is STRONG. It's rather more expensive than most cafés in the area.

Welcome to the new blog. It's had a face-lift, as you can see.

Now it's all about food.

Guten Appetit!

A weekend in Provence

These pictures are of the Saturday market in Aups, a village in the hilly region of Var. The cheese this guys is selling was very expensive (around €47 per kilo) but creamy, slightly nutty in flavour and delicious. We were told not to put it in the fridge, as that ruins the taste, but to eat it at room temperature. We did, and it was lunch-heaven.



Aups is lovely to stroll around. Much of Provence, in fact, looks like it's part of a film set. The market is good for fresh food and olive oils, but the clothes were rather disappointingly lacking in French chic.