Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
You'll find plenty of excellent stands
outside of Kreuzberg as well. Try the clas-
sic stand
Kaplan Doner
(Müllerstr. 150)
on Leopoldplatz in Wedding, or the casual
sit-down joint
Babel
(Kastanienallee 33;
&
49/30/4403 1318
) in trendy Prenzlau-
erberg, a laid-back eatery that also offers
falafel, halloumi sandwiches, and compli-
mentary tea.
but the ingredients are higher quality—plus
it's open 24 hours, making it popular with
club-hopping night owls. For the classic
walk-up doner stand experience in Kreuz-
berg, check out
Mustafas Gemüse Kebab
(Mehringdamm 32), which does a great
chicken doner laced with potatoes, fried
veggies, and sheep's cheese. On the sha-
warma side of the equation,
Restaurant
Rissani
(Spreewaldplatz 4-6;
&
49/30/6162
9433
) is a Lebanese favorite in Kreuzberg
for its shawarma, falafel, hummus, cous-
cous, and (best of all) bargain prices. Upon
request, they can perk up your food with
spicy
scharfe sauce,
though they've toned
down the spiciness for the typical German
palate.
(
Berlin-Tagel (11km/7 miles).
L
$$
Hotel Hackescher Markt,
Grosse Präsidentenstrasse 8 (
&
49/30/
280030;
www.loock-hotels.com). $$
Myers
Hotel Berlin,
Betzer Strasse 26 (
&
49/30/
440140;
www.myershotel.de).
Street Eats
33
Hawker Stalls
Asian Melting Pot
Singapore
Sure, Singapore is aggressively tidy,
thronged with skyscrapers, and stripped
of local color in the name of moderniza-
tion. But for exotic street food, Singapore
beats any other Asian city, no contest.
Best of all, you don't have to scour the
streets to find it: Since the 1950s and
1960s, the government has herded inde-
pendent street vendors into giant food
centers all over town. Under one roof, as
many as 100 stalls, most selling only one
specialty item, surround a group of tables;
diners can hop from stall to stall, sampling
their wares. These bustling hawker cen-
ters, filled with the clang of woks, the hiss
of escaping steam, the sizzle of hot oil, the
smell of ginger and curry, and the shouted
come-ons of competing food sellers, are a
Singapore experience not to be missed.
Singaporean food is a polyglot mix of
Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Thai cuisines,
blended into several dishes you'll find only
here. Dishes to sample include spicy chili
crab (and its cousin pepper crab);
laksa,
seafood and rice noodles in a hot coconut
chili soup;
bak kut teh,
a savory soup filled
with pork ribs;
chwee kueh,
rice cakes
topped with fried radish; fish ball noodle
soup, with balls made from pounded fish
and rice flour;
char kway teow,
flat rice
noodles fried with seafood; samosa-like
curry puffs; popiah,
a deep-fried roll
stuffed with turnip, egg, pork, prawn, and
sweet chili sauce;
rojak,
a sort of salad of
fried dough, tofu, cucumber, pineapple,
and whatever the chef has handy, mixed
with thick peanut-shrimp paste sauce; and
all manner of dumplings, stuffed breads,
and
satays,
grilled skewers of meat and
seafood served with peanut sauce. Each
dish will cost only a couple of dollars.
The bible of every Singapore foodie is
the guidebook
Makansutra
by K. F. Seetoh
(Makansutra Publishing), which will tell
you which stalls at which hawker center
have the best examples of each food. As
soon as you walk into a center, claim a
seat at a communal table (local trick: put a
