Weltwirtschaft Insiders' tip at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt

When friends suggested the restaurant Weltwirtschaft in the Tiergarten for a cosy evening at the Spree last summer, we were sceptical. We had never heard of the gastronomy in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of the world cultures) and feared a culinary disaster. But luckily we agreed, because this place suddenly became a new favourite. 

Basically, the way to the restaurant's terraces is already an event, when you walk towards the imposing building by Walter Gropius' student Hugh Stubbins with its unusually curved roof on a warm summer evening. After walking up the stairs and on the other side down again, the restaurant and Spree terrace open up. I am suddenly thrilled!

Even more so when we take a seat at one of the tables directly in front of the wide-open glass fronts of the restaurant: the interior, like the building itself, from the 1950s, soft jazz sounds in the background and the Spree only a few metres away from our table. What an atmosphere! I'm still raving about it on the way home late at night.

The food almost becomes a secondary matter. But in the restaurant Weltwirtschaft, the physical well-being is comprehensively taken care of. In the beer garden, or rather on the Spree terrace, there are self-service drinks and meals in addition to coffee and cake: small dishes such as sandwiches with obazder or pesto, Berlin-like meatballs with potato and cucumber salad and a large selection of pizzas.

In the restaurant Weltwirtschaft and on its terrace, the menu offers starters such as salade niçoise or bouillabaisse. Main courses include pasta, pizza and salads, as well as full-blown dishes such as saffron risotto with goat cheese and walnuts, black pudding with mashed potatoes or Wiener schnitzel and veal shank with root vegetables and polenta.

But the food seems a little like an accessory, because this place lives from its special atmosphere. With the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, or as Berliners have always called it "the pregnant oyster", behind you, you look down on the robust architecture of the Federal Chancellery. This is where the Old West and the New Centre meet, as if it had always been this way. Peaceful it is. A perfect place for hot summer days!

Jule Zimmermann

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