Sala da Mangiare

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Hello lovely people, how are you doing? I woke up today kind of tired today…for the past two nights I’ve not been able to sleep so good…so I’m kinda sleepy and lazy, but here I am, writing a post to see if I can shake it all away! On Monday, Rafael and I celebrated 2 years of marriage! Can’t believe how time is going by so quickly…8 years has already passed since we met at a samba bar in Campinas, Brazil…and so much has changed since that! We always like to go out for dinner to celebrate and talk while eating (so much eating, as always…hahahha). But this year, I also wanted to do something else, there is a jazz bar one block away from us called Sowieso. It’s been quite a while since I wanted to go there and see some live jazz music, so I said to myself this was a perfect situation! Rafael was having doubts about this place since forever, but I said let’s go and check it out, it may be nice! Guys, I’ve never ever been so wrong in my life! Last Friday was a mix of Portuguese/Berliner jazz, and I thought it would be fun….I swear…we lasted maybe 30 minutes there after the band started playing, it was like I was in my worst nightmare, or if I dare say, purgatory’s soundtrack! I am not kidding! I left the bar so mad, that I started crying in the street. I know…a bit dramatic, maybe? hahaha This has never happened to me before…Now, I may not be a musician, and I don’t understand a lot about music, but I do admire a good melody and arrangement in a song. But when six people start playing their instruments totally uncoordinated (at least that was what it seemed to us) 5 feet away from you, making a lot of weird noises (and faces…haha)…the only alternative we had was to bolt! If there had been an indication on the program that had said, experimental jazz music, I would have never gone to see the band. I know that a lot of people must enjoy these kind of performances (apparently the whole bar was in a trance, even the 70 year old lady sitting next to me was very focused on the band), but this is not our style. What really got me irritated and sad was the fact that one more place I can cross off my list that I’ll never go to anymore here in Berlin. If it’s not the weird music, it’s the fact that people can smoke in bars here (a thing that I really, really hate…I can’t stand smoke!). Of course I don’t know all Berliner bars, but what I do enjoy here are Irish pubs, especially the one that we went to for NYE, Irish Times….just keep them pint of Guinness coming and I’ll be happy all night! hahahaha

I don’t want to complain anymore, so let’s skip to Saturday night! It’s true when they say, when bad things happen, good things come…and this time it came really fast, the next day, at Sala da Mangiare! haha an Italian restaurant also close to our apartment, I have passed by it a couple of times during the day (when they are closed), and after reading about it on the Oooh, Berlin! guide winter edition, I decided it was time to make a reservation…I sent an e-mail (because I don’t like talking on the phone…haha) requesting a table for two, Saturday at 8 pm…but they never responded back, so maybe the phone would’ve been more efficient…haha The restaurant opens from Tuesday to Saturday, from 7 pm to 11 pm. We got there maybe around 7:30, and there where already people there, but we still managed to get a table. Like all little restaurants, this one can maybe fit around 30 people, so I think going early is the trick, in case you have not made a reservation.

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Focaccino

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Wednesday was Rafael’s birthday (yes folks, we are all getting old around here…haha), what better reason to pick a nice restaurant and empty a little bit more our bank account to celebrate one more year of his life?! This year, I chose the restaurant and didn’t tell him which one it was, or what type of food they serve. I wanted it to be a surprise, a good one I hoped….and it turned out to be the best restaurant that we know here in Berlin (until now). Ok, so we don’t know a lot of restaurants here, but we already had bad experiences. I think that I already talked about this on the blog, how hard it is to find a good and clean restaurant here in Berlin (affordable to our pockets). Call us picky, but we like clean plates, glasses, silverware and napkins! People here most of the times don’t see the use of napkins, and I’m like whaaaat?! you crazy?! I always eat with a napkin by my side, but maybe this is a cultural thing…I don’t know…so I was definitely nervous to try and pick a nice restaurant, and photos on the internet can fool you for sure! I ended up on the Tripadvisor website, I remember that we found some great restaurants through them while we were in France, but we also got one bad experience, but in my opinion, they are almost always right. So I decided to trust them once more and booked a table at an Italian Sicilian restaurant called Focaccino, located in the neighbourhood of Charlottenburg.

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Cheers to 28!

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So, yesterday I turned 28 years old! Cannot stop thinking that it’s closer and closer to 30 😮 but what can we do right?! Time passes by so quickly, the only thing we can do about it is enjoy it as much as possible, am I right?! I definitely don’t feel 28, despite the fact that hangovers are getting much easier to suffer from as each year goes by. It’s like, ok body I understand you, you’re not processing alcohol as fast as you used to, especially when it comes to beer. But on the bright side, every time we go out for drinks, I find myself drinking less (it’s a good thing, no?! lol) and switching to spritz, cocktails or wine.

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Cocolo Ramen

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I find it quite difficult to write about my favourites places to eat here in Berlin, there are so many options of restaurants here…some very good, some, not so much. As a food lover, a good home cook (at least I think I am…ha!) and raised by a family who works in the business,  I am not so easy to be impressed. Usually in Brazil, the best places are the most expensive, but since I came to Berlin, I have learned that is not a rule. You can find amazing places, with amazing food with very affordable prices.

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Breakfast Market

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Rainy days here in Berlin, but yesterday that did not stop us from waking up early to go have brunch at the Breakfast Market. We discovered this event a few months ago, it happens every third Sunday of each month at the Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg. But yesterday was our first time there, we always forgot the right date, once we went there and found out it was closed…. sadly, we returned with our bellies empty…to our luck, the opposite happened yesterday! 😀

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4 Years

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This past week was a really important week for us, on September 16th we celebrated 4 years together! Hooray 😀 We celebrated with two date nights: in and out. On Wednesday, Rafael made this incredible bruschetta with prosciutto, figs and camembert cheese, the most perfect combination if you ask me! And of course we opened a bottle of red wine and enjoyed the company of Dexter Morgan while we were at it! We started watching Dexter on Netflix three weeks ago, and we are so hooked up, we just finished the third season. It’s amazing how his character is so well built, you get so involved in his life that you start cheering for him, although he is a serial killer…it only happens in fiction! hahahaha

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Cafe Einstein Stammhaus

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We are very lucky to have such a nice landlord, based on my past experiences, he is one of the best! When we moved in the apartment, he wrote us an e-mail about the nice and cool things to do around the neighborhood. We’ve gone to street markets, we went to eat burgers at a place as he describes “the best burger” and let me tell you, he wasn’t wrong about that! One time we asked him were could we eat a good ol’ Apfelstrudel, and I think he didn’t even think twice before saying: “At Cafe Einstein Stammhaus“. So these days Rafael and I were walking around Berlin, I got a little hungry and remembered the Cafe, it’s not very close to our home, but it was totally worth it 🙂

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Hofbräu München

IMG_0799As I already said, Berlin has a lot of places to eat, each corner you turn, BAM! there it is!

But what’s funny is that it’s not easy to find german food (unless its currywurst). As a tourist I was expecting that my main meal would be sausages, pork, potatoes and sauerkraut. Because I would usually eat that at a typical German restaurant in Sao Paulo. Boy was I wrong! I find myself eating a lot of italian, asian and arab food. Since I got here I was really craving a typical german meal, which was satisfied at Hofbräu München.

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Wine and Dine

On Wednesday my boyfriend and I went out for my birthday dinner, I’m celebrating early because this year it will fall on mother’s day, tell me about a tough competition..hahaha.. We went to Serafina an italian restaurant, first time there. The place is cute and comforting, soft lounge music, dim light and each table has a little glowing candle, good to go in couples, friends and families. Continue reading