The local Prussian fare is in the main pretty drab, so it’s good news for visitors that Berlin’s roster of ethnic eateries continues to expand.

In Mitte, restaurants cluster around Hackescher Markt and Oranienburger Strasse. The Kellerrestaurant im Brecht-Haus (Chausseestrasse 125, 282 3843) serves the playwright’s favourite recipes amid theatre memorabilia. Nola’s am Weinberg (Veteranenstrasse 9, 4404 0766) serves hearty Swiss food in a park pavilion. Good bars include the glitzy Greenwich (Gipsstrasse 5, 2809 5566), its down-to-earth neighbour Altes Europa (Gipsstrasse 11, 2404 8650, www.alteseuropa.com) and the fashionable football bar FC Magnet (Veteranenstrasse 26, no phone, www.fcmagnet.de).

Prenzlauer Berg teems with eating and drinking spots. On Kollwitzplatz, Gugelhof (Knaackstrasse 37, 442 9229) serves Alsatian food with friendly panache. Konnopke’s Imbiss (under the U-Bahn tracks by Eberswalder Strasse station) has been serving up sausages since 1930.

There’s authentic Czech food – together with inauthentically fast and friendly service – at the Prager Hopfenstube (Karl-Marx-Allee 127, 426 7367) on Friedrichshain’s main drag. Fargo (Grünberger Strasse 77, 2900 5720) offers both a happy hour and a ‘hungry hour’ in the the east’s youngest drinking district.

Kreuzberg is home to Berlin’s most surprising culinary innovation: visit Hasir (Adalbertstrasse 10, 614 2373, www.hasir.de) for a doner kebab, invented in the city in 1971 by owner Mehmet Aygun. At the other end of the scale, Abendmahl (Muskauer Strasse 9, 612 5170, www.abendmahl-berlin.de) serves gourmet vegetarian food – and some fish dishes. Indeed, Kreuzberg’s Oranienstrasse/Wiener Strasse axis and Bergmannstrasse area offer cafés and restaurants for every taste and price bracket. Schöneberg’s Winterfeldtplatz and Goltzstrasse are similarly blessed. Fine German-French dining in affable surroundings can be found at Storch (Wartburgstrasse 54, 784 2059), while the Pinguin Club (Wartburgstrasse 54, 781 3005) next door is a venerable and much loved local with a retro rock ’n’ roll atmosphere.

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