The weather might keep changing, but that hasn't stopped me from eating ice cream every chance I get. Anna Durkes is an ice cream parlour in Kreuzberg opened by a Milanese lawyer turned gelatier. The sleek, sculptural furniture is made by an architect friend of the owner. If we'd been here a bit earlier in the day, I would have snapped up some coffee granita. As it was, the miniature scoop of mint ice cream dipped in chocolate we were offered left little S grinning all evening. We were there the week they opened: the paper bag dangling from the scaffolding outside stopped us in our tracks.
Anna Durkes, Graefestr. 80, Berlin-Kreuzberg (map), open Tues-Sun 1pm-8pm
Monheim on the other hand is said to be Berlin's oldest ice cream parlour. I went for something suitably old-fashioned: a meringue sundae with a scoop of toasted almond, drowned in chocolate fudge sauce. Oh, the pleasures of crackling a crisp meringue into a creamy puddle of melted ice cream, while listening to a pregnant friend share the trials and tribulations of organizing a circumcision in Berlin!
Monheim, Blissestraße 12, Berlin-Wilmersdorf (map), open daily 10am-10pm
I resisted Hokey Pokey when it first opened last summer, because I was in a funk and was tired of change. ("Eispatisserie indeed!" I scoffed!) But I passed it every day on our way home from S's nursery, and once I gave in to temptation, oh, there was no going back. (I have to invent elaborate excuses to explain to S why we have to go there and not to Kleine Eiszeit.)
Now I live across town, and honestly? It's one of the few things I actively miss. I tend to rotate between the eponymous Hokey Pokey (vanilla studded with honeycomb caramel), vanilla and one of their mousse-dense chocolates. S is more adventurous and has tried the rhubarb-crème fraîche, the raspberry yogurt meringue, the peanut butter banana and the poppyseed-marzipan. I'm dying to buy one of their tubs to go too (6 EUR for 550 ml) if I can only figure out a way to keep it cool on the long journey home.
Hokey Pokey, Stargarder Str. 73, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg (map), open daily noon to 11pm
No, I suppose you wouldn't go to Das Lokal just for their ice cream but oh, once you know it's there!
Das Lokal, Linienstraße 160, Berlin-Mitte (map), open Sunday and Monday from 5pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays from noon.
True dog-days of summer have been rare, but on a recent one, we headed straight to Eissalon tanne B after a long, leisurely potter through the Chamissoplatz market. Chocolate, sprinkles, mismatched lawn furniture outside the Marheineke Markthalle, what else to say?
Eissalon tanne B, Marheineke Platz 15, Berlin-Kreuzberg (map), open daily from 11am. Tanne B's main location is a little further east at Eisenbahnstr. 48 on Lausitzer Platz (map).
Lovely compilation. I took Layla for a scoop of ice cream here and it was £3.00. Hmmm.... I demand affordable ice cream, Berlin style!
Posted by: Suzy | 18 June 2012 at 01:35 PM
oh ich liebe eis. werde deine tipps bei meinem nächsten berlin besuch ausprobieren. kennst du "die eismacher" in kreuzberg? auch sehr lecker =)
Posted by: sencillez | 01 July 2012 at 06:42 PM
My favourite locally is Fraulein Frost, they have a great selection of flavours, including an adult friendly cucumber & mint sorbet.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fr%C3%A4ulein-Frost/116043595096061
Posted by: Katie H | 25 July 2012 at 06:21 PM
While reading your blog, it seems that an ice cream is so tasty, I really want to try that flavor.
Posted by: Perth scaffolding | 18 March 2013 at 09:52 AM