Finding Dumplings

Back in those long warm days of last summer I used to enjoy creating Saturday cycle rides around Berlin based on street food. I found that you can easily circumnavigate the city on bike by finding strategic stop offs to grab a bite to eat or something to drink. You get to explore the city and barely notice when you have clocked up over 20km. One of my favourite rides that we made we named 'dumpling day' in which we explored food from South America, Nepal, Poland and China ending up at a dumpling festival at House of Weekend for sunset.

It occured to me that day how much this simple doughy snack is a unifying factor across the world. So many food cultures have a version; from momos to dim sum, pierogi to the gyoza, and maultaschen to pelmeni. The dumpling is truly a globe spanning concept and it is a simple and cheap way to explore different cuisines.

So here are some of my favourite places in Berlin to explore the world through this humble and yet mighty snack. Maybe you might wish to incorporate them into a bike ride as we did.

Dim Sum at Lecker Song

Schliemannstraße 19, Prenzlauer Berg

There is nothing as satisfying and comforting as opening the lid of a steaming dim sum basket and seeing an array of different shapes and colours of the tasty pearls contained within. Lecker Song is a really cute little Chinese dumpling café in Prenzlauer Berg which offers a varied dim sum menu at a great price. They are my favourites in Berlin due to the delicious fillings, the perfect execution, and the lovely setting.

Momos at Momos

Chausseestraße 2, Mitte

This Tibetan/Nepalese snack is given the fast food treatment at this Mitte outlet which offers nothing but steamed or fried vegetarian momos served with a spicy dip. It is a great place to grab a tasty veggie bite on the go.

Jiaozi at Wok Show

Greifenhagener Straße 31, Prenzlauer Berg

In researching this article I discovered that dim sum are not the only Chinese dumpling in town. The jiaozi are the proletariat to the bourgeois dim sum; with huge mounds of simple folded parcels served either steamed or fried with dipping sauces. Wok Show is a simple yet very popular Chinese restaurant on the Pankow Prenzlauer Berg border where you can share massive plates different variations of tasty jiaozi. Bring an appetite though as they only serve them in multiples of twenty!

Manti at Gözleme

Karl Marx Strasse 35, Neukölln

After four years living in Neukölln, I thought I was well versed in Turkish food and yet it was niggling away at me that I had never tried the manti dumplings that I often saw on menus. Knowing I was about to write about dumplings I decided to try them at what is supposed to be the best place: Gözleme which luckily is five minutes walk from my place. They are a simple imbiss style restaurant who serve either vegetarian (potato) or meat manti for 7.50 euros. I had been missing out! Manti are the ultimate comfort food and the creamy garlic yoghurt that comes with them is simply divine.

Gyoza at Takumi Nine Sapporo

Chausseestraße 124, Mitte

Takumi Nine Sapporo is famous for its ramen but the gyoza are also pretty special. They are paper thin and have a delicious aromatic filling of either chicken or vegetables. It can get pretty busy at times but if you don't have to wait long as it is quick and cheap and cheerful.

Knödel at Knödelwirtschaft

Fuldastrasse 33, Neukölln

The Austro-German Knödel is the last word in comfort food. Massive balls of bread, flour or potato are flavoured usually with meat or cheese and then boiled and simply served. Two are normal. Three are pretty filling. Four are enough to put you in a coma. At Knödelwirtschaft in Neukölln they have managed to combine this simple German peasant food with the hipster dive bar aesthetic for which this area is renowned and it just works, really really well. The knödel are perfect and there is a great authentic Berlin vibe to the place. Just try it, you'll love it.

Some other notable places:

7 Dumpling (Prenzlauer Berg)

A case of simplicity done to perfection, nothing but chinese style dumplings done really well.

Gloria (Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg)

The place for empanadas and a lovely glass or two of Malbec

Tak Tak Polish Deli (Mitte)

A cute cafe with tasty Polish pierogi

Häppies (Pankow)

A highly instagrammable German/Indian fusion place dedicated to tasty innovate knödel variations.

Goji (Charlottenberg)

Cantonese dim sum in Chinatown