During my visit to Berlin, I came across an Indian restaurant called Amrit, located fairly close to my hotel at Potsdamer Platz. The restaurant had a terrace that faced two different streets and was often filled with customers during the evenings. As I had been spotting Indian restaurants in Europe for several years, I couldn’t leave Berlin without trying a German-Indian meal.
Amrit
I chose the restaurant Amrit on Ebertstrasse because I saw crowds of people sitting on the terrace in the evenings, as travel guides often suggest that a restaurant with many locals is likely to be safe. Not that you actually needed to worry about getting sick from the water in Germany.
However, it soon became clear that the crowds in this restaurant were not there for the food but for the drinks, as Amrit was also a cocktail bar. The food in the restaurant was presented in an attractive way together with side dishes, but at least the vegetarian food tasted mostly like it had been cooked in a hurry and it was spiced with supposedly Indian flavors. The food there was edible, but received only three out of five stars from me.
Despite the fact that Amrit was also a bar, children were welcome in this restaurant, and it was a very positive aspect that non-alcoholic drinks were also available in this restaurant. They were served in just as sparkly and glitzy way as the other drinks. The interior of the restaurant was also showy and stylish in a Bollywood-inspired way. During the summer, the windows of the restaurant were wide open to the street terrace in order to get some cool air inside.
So, if you are looking for a Bollywood-style restaurant in Berlin, then Amrit is a good choice, but if you are looking for a delicious Indian dinner, you may want to look elsewhere.
Or at least that was the case a few years ago. But the Indian restaurant Maharadscha in Berlin proved that the locals can also cook Indian food just as well as anyone else.
Indian restaurant Maharadscha
The Indian restaurant Maharadscha was located in a residential area in Berlin near the famous shopping center KaDeWe, and the restaurant proved to be worth all the walking.
The restaurant was clean and had an authentic Indian atmosphere and decor. The service in the restaurant was good, and so was also the food. According to my experiences, Maharadscha was the best Indian restaurant in Berlin.
Here are a couple of photos from the restaurant.
Bombay Spice
Because of its easily accessible location, I decided to visit the Bombay Spice restaurant on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin Mitte. During the summer, the restaurant’s windows were open all the way to the terrace, and as it had been a hot day, I chose a table on the terrace in the hope of a slight breeze.
However, choosing a table on the terrace was not necessarily a wise decision, as upon the arrival of my food, a flock of sparrows descended next to my table hoping for some scraps. Despite my efforts to shoo them away, they persistently returned, and one even pecked at my hand as I tried to protect my own plate. The scene on the restaurant’s terrace reminded me of the Hitchcock’s horror movie “The Birds”.
As for my meal, I started with the traditional, naturally gluten-free papadum bread served with chutneys.
The chutneys were not at their best and I didn’t even have time to finish all the papadum breads when the main course arrived at the table.
In terms of vegetarian dishes, the menu had a few uncommon names that I don’t recall seeing in a restaurant in Finland. Those German Indian restaurant specialties were:
- Bahra Bengan (Eggplant / bell pepper, cottage cheese, peas, tomato, onion, nuts, raisins, cream sauce)
- Khumbi Paneer (Fresh mushrooms, cottage cheese, and cream sauce)
- Tinda Masalah (Vegetables, fresh tomato, onion, and ginger)
- Bhari Mirch (Seasoned vegetables, stuffed bell pepper, raisins, almonds, Mughlai sauce)
- Paneer Jhalfrezi (Indian cottage cheese, fried cauliflower, ginger, garlic, and bell pepper)
Paneer Jalfrezi was the only vegetarian dish with medium spice, while all other dishes in the menu were normally flavored (according to German taste). Jalfrezi dishes are usually seen only as chicken dishes, so without a doubt, this vegetarian version with cheese had to be tried when the opportunity arose.
The Paneer Jalfrezi proved to be an excellent choice with basmati rice and garlic naan bread. Its spiciness was pleasantly stimulating but manageable, and even the cheese had a slight hint of flavor. Usually paneer cheese tends to be quite tasteless in restaurants in Europe.
The tasty meal of Bombay Spice was crowned by the small but delicious Mango Lassi in a shot glass. It was offered by the restaurant and an obvious compensation for the disturbance caused by the sparrows.
In the Bombay Spice restaurant, the prices for vegetarian meals were affordable compared to Finnish restaurant’s ala carte menu, with a round price of ten euros including basmati rice. The restaurant was also suitable for people with limited mobility, as there was a separate restroom for customers using a wheelchair.
Video of Bombay Spice restaurant
Check also the music video that I made of the Bombay Spice restaurant in Berlin. You can see not only the delicious food but also the sparrows on the terrace mentioned in this article.
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