19 Best Restaurants in Berlin

"Home to what many consider the best hummus in town, along with other tempting vegetarian Middle Eastern salads and baked goods, Kanaan was founded by Oz Ben David, an Israeli, and Jalil Debit, a Palestinian. In a lively, welcoming peacock blue and white space just north of Helmholtzplatz in Prenzlauer Berg, Kanaan serves up a wide variety of small plates for lunch and big portions of mezze and mains to share for dinner. If you don’t have a (highly recommended) reservation, you’ll almost certainly have to stand in line to order and then wait a bit for your food; this a hugely popular place. Housemade hummus is the star here, served either straight-up or in several variations such as with an added egg and eggplant (hummus sabich) or with tatbile, a Palestinian garlic lemon dressing (hummus gaza). (Go on, get them all.) At lunch, supplement with some smaller plates: the beetroot carpaccio in a date, pomegranate, and balsamic dressing with feta, pistachio, and salted nuts is a knockout. Try to come with friends at dinner to sample all six of the mezze included with the set menu (á la carte isn’t available), including the addictive soft potato dumplings with creamy yogurt sauce and pomegranate seeds. Dessert choices are few but well worth trying, especially the rich chocolate-tahini mousse." - Liz Humphreys