Exberliner Issue 171 May 2018

BERLIN BITES
BREAKFAST
Taking back
brunch
Once primarily the domain of
Australians, breakfast in Neukölln
is now anyone’s game.
Here are three of the latest
hyped spots (including, yes,
one from Down Under).
EGG KNEIPE:
THE EIER HAVE IT
A spiritual cousin to California’s venerated
Eggslut, this Kottbusser Damm street food
stand celebrates the humble hen ovum in
all its forms: poached, fried or scrambled,
served atop fried potatoes, spinach, spelt
toast from the Endorphina bakery... you get
the idea. The eggs in question come from
a family-run organic farm in Oberlausitz,
and Egg Kneipe’s trio of German owners do
them justice in dishes like “Salmon Delight”,
grilled toast with a poached egg and a veritable
mountain of house-cured Lachs (€7). For
a gluten free option, there's the “Egg Rolls”,
hearty egg, rice and chestnut-flour crepes
stuffed with fillings like spinach, mushrooms
and Allgäu cheese (€5.50). There’s a lowcarb,
low-calorie “Fitness” menu with salads
and bowls as well as a gut-busting “BullEi-
Burger” in which an egg tops a beef Boulette
from Neukölln’s Blutwurstmanufaktur.
Nothing here is over €10 – a bargain for this
quality, though given the size of the place
you may have to eat standing up. Better to
take your breakfast to the nearby canal and
devour it while the yolk’s still warm. –JS
Kottbusser Damm 1, Kreuzberg,
Mon-Sat 11-20
BONA KOLLEKTIV:
THE NEW INSTA-CHAMP
The title for most-Instagrammed brunch
in Neukölln still undisputedly belongs to
the Aussie-owned Roamers, but this Polish-
Italian newbie has all the makings of a challenger.
There is unfinished wood. There are
succulents. There’s writing on the wall left
over from the location’s past life as an HQ
for the SDP newspaper Das Volk. And there is
a massive, colourful “King” platter of toast,
various spreads, salad, chutney-topped Camembert,
Italian ham and a sunny-side-up egg
decorated with sprigs of sage, rosemary and
thyme, served on butcher paper for maximum
visual effect. It’s a little steep at €11.50
but could easily serve two once you take into
account how filling Bona’s homemade sourdough
bread is – made with all manner of
grains, nuts, herbs and spices and leavened
with a starter from Poland, these dense slices
are a meal in and of themselves. A similar
“Queen” plate comes with a croissant, fruit,
yoghurt, muesli and a boiled egg instead of
a fried one. If you don’t mind the techno,
which the staff tends to play even when it
isn’t their semiregular “Techno Brunch”,
you can stick it out till you’re hungry again
and order less-photogenic Polish specialities
like pierogies and zapiekanki cheese-topped
baguettes. –JS
Hermannstr. 178, Neukölln,
Tue-Fri 9-17, Sat-Sun 10-17
THE FUTURE BREAKFAST
Rachel Glassberg Françoise Pollâne
Rachel Glassberg
Eggkneipe
The Future Breakfast
Bona
There's something undeniably endearing
about the backstory of The Future Breakfast
owners Katie James & Florian Tränkner.
The Australian-German duo started off
selling breakfast and coffee from a very
Instagrammable vintage caravan at Markthalle
Neun, Bite Club or pop up brunches
at Isla Coffee in Neukölln. Smart way to
build a following. In March, the Future
Breakfast sedentarised on Böhmischer
Platz in southern Neuköllln. The minimalist
menu matches the spartan, modernism
of the place: four dishes. Always a good
sign. It's also refreshingly free of the usual
avo-toast. Instead they offer Eggs Benedict
(€9.50) that don't just look as pretty as an
Instagram, but are actually tasty – and thoroughly
filling. The innovation here is the
substitution of ham with oyster mushrooms
that have been apparently marinated or
cooked in chipotle sauce. The yolks of the
slightly undercooked poached eggs bleed
over the mushrooms into the home-baked
English muffins – creating an interesting
version of that elusive Benedict fusion. The
matcha pancakes are a little disappointing
though: a mount of greenish doughy
discs, topped with green apples and a giant
blob of sesame-coconut whip., matcha
fans will miss the earthy taste of the green
tea powder – overpowered by the black
sesame – and the pancakes we tried that
day came so doughy that it was hard to tell
if they were just accidentally undercooked
or if pancakes shouldn't be vegan after all.
There's also a hearty Pearl Barley Bowl (€9),
a pantry mixture awash with roasted sweet
potato and bits and pieces like pomegranate,
kale and cashew that's as fillingas
the eggs but easier on the stomach (top it
with two eggs for €11). The food is slow to
come here – the wait can be over 25 minutes
even at opening time – so be prepared to
enjoy a few a cups of (good) coffee (€2.50-
4, from The Barn) to make the wait more
bearable. As for the prices, they're not low,
but the staff is cheerful and hipster-quality
food (organic eggs, lots of Instagrammable
homemade like-bait) has a cost. –FP
Böhmische Str. 46, Neukölln,
Mon-Fri 8:30-18, Sat-Sun 9:30-18, closed Wed
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