Our pick of the best restaurants to try during the Berlin Film Festival 2026

Berlin tends to reward restaurants that try things, even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed. That appetite for risk is part of what keeps the city’s food scene unusually fluid and diverse – from micro-seasonal cooking in Wedding to high-end tasting menus near Checkpoint Charlie – fittingly, for foodies to eat well during this year’s Berlin Film Festival. The places in this list have been selected for the clarity of their ideas and for how distinctly they represent current Berlin: open kitchens and counter dining, local sourcing and fermentation, biodynamic and natural wine lists, and menus shaped as much by neighbourhoods as by technique.

Together, they map a practical cross-section of the city. Here you’ll find all-day cafés that turn into evening small-plates rooms, set menu destinations, tea and yakitori and even dessert-only luxury, with a few reliable street-food stops thrown in. And, of course, there’s also Currywurst – still Berlin’s most portable calling card – covered by our three favourite brands across the city.

Julius in Sprengelkiez
for sleek fine dining

Across the road from the well-known Ernst, Julius is the more casual, monochrome sibling from restaurateurs Dylan Watson-Brawn and Spencer Christenson. Open Thursday to Sunday, it runs as an all-day café before switching to dinner service from 6pm, with a tasting-style omakase option available by arrangement and vegetarian or pescetarian alternatives. Chef Shunsuke Naogoka’s weekly changing, micro-seasonal menu leans towards precise small plates, often nodding to his Japanese heritage (think beetroot with yoghurt and umeboshi, or onsen-style eggs with pumpkin purée). Daytime brings pastries, sandwiches and in-house roasted coffee, with the café open for breakfast, coffee and wine on Fridays from noon till 4pm and weekends from 10 till 16. Dinner is served from Thursday to Sunday from 6pm.

To book a table at Julius, Gerichtstraße 31, 13347 Berlin, visit the restaurant’s website here.

CODA in Neukölln
for Michelin-starred desserts

Berlin’s CODA takes an unusual fine-dining approach: a set menu of entirely dessert courses, served from 7pm on Wednesday to Saturday. Chef René Frank applies patisserie techniques to mostly savoury ingredients, avoiding refined sugar and dairy in favour of natural sweetness from produce such as corn, beetroot and carrots, balanced with salty, sour and bitter notes. The 13-15 course menu is paired with tailored drinks, with optional wine flights (the cellar leans towards German bottles), mini cocktails and sake. Inside, the dimly lit room offers counter seating facing the kitchen as well as tables. Open Wednesday to Saturday from 7pm.

To book a table at CODA, Friedelstraße 47, 12047 Berlin, visit the restaurant’s website here.

UUU in Wedding
for a Chinese-inspired tasting menu with tea pairings

Tucked into a residential street in Berlin-Wedding, UUU is a small Chinese-inspired restaurant with an intimate dining room centred on a circular table for around ten guests. Opened in 2020 by chef Yuhang Wu and host Jonas Borchers, it serves an eight-course tasting menu that draws on regional Chinese flavours and techniques, while using seasonal produce from Berlin and its surroundings. Dishes cited include Seared Scallop with Bergamot and Caviar, Shipin Tofu with Sichuan Pepper and Guobaorou-style Sweet-and-sour Chicken with Puffed Buckwheat. Drinks focus on tea and house kombucha. The team serves dinner on Fridays and Saturdays from 5.30pm till 10, with Sundays bringing afternoon tea available from 2 till 4pm.

To book a table at UUU, Sprengelstraße 15, 13353 Berlin, visit the restaurant’s website here.

Tim Raue in Kreuzberg
for Asian-leaning fine dining near Checkpoint Charlie

A short walk from Checkpoint Charlie, Tim Raue’s eponymous restaurant pairs Berlin ingredients with techniques and flavour ideas drawn from the chef’s travels in Asia. The room is sleek and urban, with a cool blue palette and travel artefacts; elsewhere, poured asphalt floors nod to Kreuzberg’s grit. Menus are offered in set formats, including Kolibri X Berlin (a hometown-themed line-up), Koi (more overtly Asian), and a vegan option; Saturday lunch is also available. Raue’s cooking typically avoids gluten, dairy and refined sugar, with dishes such as Pike-perch with Soy and Leek, and his take on Peking Duck. The restaurant is open Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm till midnight.

To book a table at Tim Raue, Rudi-Dutschke-Straße 26, 10969 Berlin, visit the restaurant’s website here.

Currywurst – citywide
for Berlin’s iconic street-food staple

Sliced sausage doused in curry-spiked ketchup, Currywurst is a Berlin classic found at kiosks across the city. Our three favourite stops span different neighbourhoods and histories. Curry Baude sits by the historic entrance to Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn in Wedding; it has been run by butcher Reina Lehmann since 1989, with sausages and sauce made to his own recipes. Meanwhile, Curry Wolf operates multiple outlets, offering the special sausage with or without casing, alongside house sauces. Finally, Curry 36, which started as a cart in 1980, remains a late-night fixture with queues for currywurst, bockwurst and chips.

Curry Baude serves walk-ins only at Badstraße 1-5, 13357 Berlin. For further information, visit the kiosk’s website here.
To find a branch of Curry Wolf, visit the group’s website here.
To find a branch of Curry 36, visit the group’s website here.

Stoke in Kreuzberg
for binchotan yakitori and seasonal small plates

In Kreuzberg, Stoke is a Japanese-inspired restaurant centred on charcoal-and-woodfire cooking, with yakitori at its core. Dinner is offered as a set menu or a limited à la carte selection, with skewers grilled over binchotan and supported by rotating seasonal dishes; the line-up changes daily according to market availability. Seating is split between a kitchen counter and dining tables. The project is led by three friends – Jeffrey Claudio, Jessica Tan and Niklas Harmsen – drawing on experiences of eating in Japan and adapting them for Berlin. Open Wednesday to Saturday from 6 to 11pm.

To book a table at Stoke, Lindenstraße 34–35 (via Feilnerstraße), 10969 Berlin, visit the restaurant’s website here.

Goldies Smashburger – citywide
for dirty burgers

Goldies in Berlin takes its name from the “smash” method: beef patties are pressed flat onto a hot griddle to encourage a browned crust while keeping the centre juicy. Founded in Kreuzberg in 2017 by chefs Vladislav Gachyn and Kajo Hiesl, the business initially focused on fries and fried chicken, before adding smashburgers at a second site in 2021. The burgers nod to American fast-food classics, with Martin’s Potato Rolls used for the bun. Ingredients include beef from free-range German cattle, plus pickles and house-made sauces. Goldies now has four Berlin sites.

To find a branch of Goldies Smashburger, visit the group’s website here.

Nobelhart & Schmutzig in Kreuzberg

for Berlin-only ingredients at the counter

In Kreuzberg, Nobelhart & Schmutzig runs an evening-only, counter-style service where guests face the open kitchen and talk through their preferences with the host – and smartphones are not permitted. The ten-course menu, overseen by Micha Schäfer, follows a strict rule: ingredients must come from Berlin or its surrounding region, so imports such as tuna, chocolate and lemons do not appear. Dishes tend to be pared back to a few components, often leaning on vegetables and dairy, with natural-leaning wine pairings. Vegetarian menus are possible with notice, but vegan suppers are not offered. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm.

To book at Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Friedrichstraße 218, 10969 Berlin, visit the restaurant’s website here.

Café Frieda in Prenzlauer Berg
for chic bistro fare

Near Helmholtzplatz in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg, Café Frieda is a contemporary bistro and bar from chef Ben Zviel and sommelier Samina Raza, who’s also behind nearby Mrs Robinson’s. The kitchen works to a set of stated principles around seasonal cooking, local supply chains and minimising waste, with an emphasis on produce grown without artificial pesticides or additives. Service is built around a short run of small plates and snacks, with past dishes including Oysters with Watermelon and Tomato Oil and Lamb Tartare with Wild Mint and Almonds. Natural European wines and vermouth feature, alongside soft serve ice cream. Open Tuesday to Friday from 6pm till midnight, and on Saturdays from noon till late.

To book a table at Café Frieda, Lychener Straße 37, 10437 Berlin, visit the café’s website here.

Otto in Prenzlauer Berg
for small plates, natural wines and Berlin-cool vibe

On Oderberger Strasse, Otto is a compact neighbourhood restaurant with a stripped-back industrial feel: bare concrete, an open kitchen and a small terrace out front. The cooking, led by Berlin-born chef Vadim Otto Ursus (whose training includes stints in Scandinavia, Portugal and Mexico), centres on seasonal small plates built around local produce and house ferments, served on hand-thrown ceramics. Lunch is deliberately limited, while evenings broaden into more experimental ingredients developed off-site, such as buckwheat honey, fermented trout and wild boar nduja. The wine list leans towards natural and orange bottles. Open daily from 6pm.

To book a table at Otto, Oderberger Straße 56, 10435 Berlin, visit the restaurant’s website here.

Food Desk