travel tips
The Schnitzelei, German Tapas
To further expand upon the 9flats Stop Being a Tourist slogan, today I’d like to write as if I am a helpful 9flats host who has insider tips on things to do during your trip.
I spent last Sunday celebrating a friend’s birthday in a nice restaurant in Berlin populated by Berliners – so for those visiting Germany’s capital, it is definitely worth a going to if you want to experience living like a local in while being abroad.
It’s called Der Schnitzerlei and you’ll find it at the on the corner of Röntgenstraße and the canal in Charlottenburg (incidentally, Röntgen means X-Ray in German! So technically one must walk down X-Ray street to visit this restaurant).
We sat outside under an awning with a view of mature trees and the boats passing by on the canal – alternatively, there is also a beer garden-style outdoor area (pictured above). The main reason to visit this restaurant though, is not the location, but the fact that it serves something I had never heard of before, German Tapas.
We ordered an assortment of 9 tapas (neatly fitting in with 9flats’ favourite number!) which arrived out on a very long wooden board beautifully presented in little white dishes. The selection was, to me anyway, typically German. Different kinds of meatballs in sauces or mustard. Blutwurst (black pudding), sauerkraut, plums wrapped in crispy bacon and other similar goodies.
Really the tapas portions are more than enough to fill you up, so ordering a schnitzel was probably a bad idea for a main course (in my defense it was a half-portion, the normal schnitzel portion takes up most of a large plate). The lemon-half wrapped in gauze fabric so that your hand didn’t get sticky juice on it was a very nice touch.
The waiting staff were incredibly helpful and polite, pouring large taster portions of wine to help us choose and providing for free some Obst Schnapps (made from fruit) and even leaving the bottle on the table. Of course, this being Germany a selection of beers are also available.
If you are visiting Berlin and would like to visit The Schnitzelei, the nearest station is Richard Wagner Platz on the U7 line, and the restaurant is about 15 minutes walk from there.