I have written about Knofi before, in the seven most suitable and different Valentine’s day restaurants in Berlin. But now I have finally gotten around to writing a full-blown review on Knofi, a little restaurant/ place that I love. Let me start it off with the basics. Knofi is a small food shop and restaurant that can be found on the Bergmannstraße and the Oranienstraße in Kreuzberg. It serves oriental Turkish food, delicacy-style. You can shop at Knofi for small bites, nibbles, bread and even pie that you want to take home. Or – as I love doing – you can sit down and order a platter or a dish filled with lots of delicious Knofi food. And that is exactly what I did with my best friend to show her the ways of eating in Berlin for great budget prices.
Classical Oriental Food meets Mediterranean Yums
If you are up for catching a table at Knofi, you will sit on one of the small tables on the sidewalk or pick up a bar-like table in height next to the window. (In the colder days, you can sit inside where they have a couple of very normal and classical tables.) It is cute and has a home-made ring to it, as even the seating arrangements are not something you will find in an upscale restaurant. Nevertheless – it is definitely worth the effort. The menu at Knofi is small and consists of a various different small dishes (think tapas, only better) that you can combine with bread or other dishes to make up the meal of your dreams. However, Knofi also offers three different “Tellers” (plates) that are a main course sized collection of their delicacies. My favourite is the classic Knofi teller, which consists of stuffed wineleaves, houmous, stuffed eggplant, cheeses (goat & cow), tzatziki, falafel-esque vegetable balls, chili-peanut paste and much, much more. Complemented with enough freshly baked Turkish bread to fill your tummy. I personally really adore dishes like these, where I can get to vary with lots of different ingredients and get a whole different flavour at each bite – I guess I get bored with flavours quite quickly, which is a shame. That is why I love bread-dipping dishes.
But in case you are not such a fan of dipping bread into sauces as I am, Knofi also offers classical hot dishes such as the popular lamb Tajine (a typical oriental dish with softly cooked lamb) and finger-licking desserts such as the earlier mentioned pies as well as a scrumptious home-made tiramisu. You can also get your freshly baked bread here and take it home for whatever exciting purpose you may have. 
Knofi is a fabulous location if you want a yummy, budget and cosy meal. The Knofi platter will only cost you 6 euros, whereas something like a lamb tajine you can get for 5 euros and 80 cents and desserts go for 2 euros. Be sure to try out at least one of the pies! Every day they offer at least six different kinds of freshly home-made pies that will make your tongue have an orgasm – seriously. All in all, Knofi is the perfect place for a bite with a friend – or also a great idea to get some food from if you are entertaining people at home. You can get everything for take-away and present it in your own living room as if you are a real chef de cuisine…
What makes this restaurant fabulous?
- The food is fresh, home-made and makes you lick your fingers. You can combine and vary many different flavours and dishes and go home well satisfied for less than 10 euros. (They also do nice wines and beers to drink with your nice noms.)
- The atmosphere is chilled, relaxed and very casual. You could probably have dinner here in your pyjamas and no one would notice.
- The prices are great – it is definitely a budget location, especially considering its location in the hip streets of Kreuzberg.
What makes this restaurant less fabulous?
- The only downside I could come up with is that it is quite small and the tables are kind of semi-improvised. You need to be a bit flexible and easy-going for a dinner here. Otherwise, just take it home.
Beware! The Knofi location on the Oranienstraße is a lot smaller than the Bergmannstraße – they do not really accomodate seating and tables. If you want to have dinner at Knofi, then go to the Bergmannstraße. Also, there are two Knofi locations on the Bergmannstraße (opposite of each other). The one (number 11) is the restaurant/ café where you can eat pie and plates. On the other side of the road (number 98) you find the Knofi shop, where you can shop more extensively for delicacy stuff.
Where to go?
[googleMap name="Knofi Café" width="400" height="400" mousewheel="false" typecontrol="false" directions_to="false"]Bergmannstraße 11 10961 Berlin[/googleMap]
Knofi Café
Bergmannstraße 11
10961 Berlin
030 – 695 64 359
