Budget Berlin: Cheap Eats

“I would love to travel, but I just don’t have the money!” Have you heard that excuse lately? Travel blogs, Instagram channels full of enviable travel pics, and our widely travelled friends’ Facebook feed not only make for heaps of wanderlust, they also bring up the question: How on earth can they afford that? The answer is fairly easy: Travelling doesn’t have to be expansive! On the contrary, the best experiences are often the ones that money can’t buy. At Industriepalast Hostel Berlin we offer you a comfortable stay in a great atmosphere at a really low price, but we also want to make sure that you can get the best out of your trip to Berlin without spending too much. And this is where our newest series Budget Berlin comes into play. In multiple episodes we provide you with some tips and tricks regarding awesome experiences in the German capital that will set you back no more than a few bucks. Our first three chapter were aimed at showing you how you can explore the city’s sights by foot, on a free bus tour, or with free attractions. But you sure do not want to do that on an empty stomach, right? So here’s the ultimate guide to cheap eats in Berlin:

Code word: street food

The way to a city’s true spirit is through your own stomach. The problem: fine dining at fancy restaurants will not exactly reduce your travel expenses to a minimum. Well, you are in Berlin now, so you are in for a treat. The shabbily chic capital is famous among foodies for its excellent choice of exquisite cuisine at very affordable prices. And even though you could actually afford to dine at a restaurant here (we’ll get there, no worries), you can actually find some even cheaper eats. The magic word: street food. Falafel, shawarma, kebab, currywurst, fries, burgers, subs, thai noodles, pizza, burritos, whatever it is that you crave, you will never pay more than 3 – 5 Euro! There are countless food joints to chose from in the streets of Berlin, and it is not always easy to tell from the outside how good they actually are. As a rule of thumb, you should always stick to the places that are popular with the locals. And that could be a fancy korean bbq (“Mmaah Barbecue Express”, Columbiadamm Neukölln) as well as your classic kebab joint (“Mustafa’s Gemüsedöner”, Mehringdamm Kreuzberg), or even the Syrian take on the classic hotdog (“REFUEAT”, Hermannplatz Neukölln). If the cue is long, you can’t go wrong. If you want to make sure you gert the maximum choice, check out one of the capital’s amazing street food markets. They not only make for a yummy nosh, but also look amazingly good on instagram. We’ve put together a handy little Berlin street food guide for you, check it out.

Fancy something more fancy?

A romantic dinner date at the burger joint around the corner actually does sound like a weirdly adorable idea – if it’s a once-in-a-while kind of thing. But sometimes it just has to be a decent restaurant, right? And in Berlin you can get that at a very reasonable price. And just because a place is low-priced, it does not necessarily mean it’s no good here. Throughout the city you will find proper restaurant with decent food for as little as 5 to 10 Euro. If you want to go even cheaper than that, you can find lunch or dinner options for under 5 Euro, for instance at Italian restaurant Pizza-Dach on Wühlischstrasse in Friedrichshain, Indian joint Chutnify in Neukölln, or the Swabian Spätzle-Express on Kreuzberg’s Wiener Strasse. Berlin-based food blog FiveEuroFeed is all about hunting down yummy eats for maximum 5 Euro – check it out for a tasty bargain.

Love food, hate waste

Almost half of all food that is being grown and produced in Germany ends up in a rubbish bin sooner or later. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as numerous initiatives prove. The biggest movement: Foodsharing. Other than “dumpster divers”, who wait for supermarkets and restaurants to dispose of their still edible leftovers and then literally taking them out of the containers, food sharers collect the leftovers even before they are being thrown away. A new app follows a similar path: “Too Good To Go” lets you purchase a plate of leftover food from a local restaurant at a very reasonable price (usually 2 – 5 Euro) so you can stop by and pick it up at a set time. You normally don’t know what exactly is actually going to end up on your surprise plate, but it is definitely the cheapest way to get to eat a fancy restaurant dish. You can download the app from the play store (Android) or the app store (iOS).

A tasteful discovery

You don’t have to munch away on travel bugs in order to know what every true foodie knows: To travel is to eat. Thus, the story of Berlin can just as well be told gastronomically. The crew behind Fork & Walk Tours Berlin share this wisdom, too, and they feature a broad variety of yummy city tours. Tradition and history, multi-cultural and nightlife foods, or even vegan eats – this is the best way to discover the true flavour of Berlin. The tasteful tours are worth every cent, and there’s one for budget foodies, too: “Berlin Classics” is the affordable urban expedition into the delicious heart of Berlin food classics. The unforgettable journey starts at 36€ – sign up here.

Our team from Industriepalast Hostel all have their favorite restaurants in town and are more than happy to help you out with recommendations whenever you’re hungry. By the way: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And you can get an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet for as little as 6 Euro here – coffee and juice included.

Bon appetit,

Simon

Blogger @IndustriepalastHostel

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