A Hamburger at the Grand Hyatt

The Berlin International Film Festival is off and running, so for any of you on the hunt for something good to eat while strolling around Potsdamer Platz - or, rather, exiting a movie theater bleary-eyed and blinking - here's an idea: head to the Hyatt.

The Grand Hyatt, to be exact. There, in the lobby, you'll find a little cluster of comfortable sitting chairs and low tables, with a sort of futuristic-looking fireplace giving off warmth and a quiet little dining room alongside. Collapse into one of the chairs, or if you're feeling alert, ask to sit at a proper dining table. You'll be brought a menu, though I'll admit I barely looked at mine since I already knew what I wanted to order. So you can eschew the menu, I suppose, if you, too, are in the mood for a hamburger (or cheeseburger, if we're splitting hairs). You can just tell your server right away, "the hamburger, please" and because you're in a fancy hotel lobby and sitting in a plush sitting chair and ordering a hamburger at midday (though it's on the menu in the evening, too), you'll feel like you're a modern-day Doris Day or something.

What happens next is that the waiter will bring you a little plate with adorable little jars of mustard, mayonnaise and Heinz ketchup (be still my beating heart!) and this will charm you to pieces or at least make you very, very hungry. Order something to drink, too: at lunchtime, your beverage and a post-prandial coffee or tea is included in the price of lunch (in this case, 13 euros). A deal! At the Grand Hyatt! It will make you feel even more special.

Next, the burger will appear, plated rather grandly on an oval plate balanced by two tiny pickle spears and a tangle of cabbage. Folks, let's cut right to the chase: It is a very good burger. It is beefy, if you can forgive the unimaginative adjective, and substantial. In fact, I split the burger with my friend, and the half-burger was very definitely enough lunch for me (don't forget that it comes with fries). The meat is fresh as can be and cooked just right. It tastes...clean, if you know what I mean. In a good way. It is missing the right amount of seasoning - I will preemptively cross my fingers for you that by the time you have a hamburger at the Hyatt, the chef will have started adding more salt to his patties - but a lot can be corrected with the right amount of ketchup (in my book, at least).  The accompanying fries, delicious ones, will be delivered to your table in a separate bowl and you will eat almost all of them. Okay, fine, all of them, alternatingly dunked in mayonnaise and ketchup and sometimes in a swirl of both.

The staff is very sweet and friendly (they even brought out cookies for the littlest member of our lunch party along with our coffee) and they will let you wile away on the comfortable chairs as you warm yourself next to the fireplace long after lunch is over. The restaurant apparently also serves other classic dishes, like Schnitzel and sole and steak, but - for now, at least - it's my go-to place for a burger.

Grand Hyatt Berlin
Tizian Lounge & Restaurant
Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 2
10785 Berlin
(030) 255 31 527

Comments

[Laurie]

Delightful! I'll be in Berlin in March, so will give it a try.

[Annika]

I was on a hunt for a decent lunch today around Potsdamer Platz. Wish I had known about this.

Thank you for sharing!

[Vanessa]

Beautiful photos - especially the last one. I'd never thought of the Hyatt as a good place to go round Potsdamer Platz and was feeling a bit desperate at the idea of having to eat at one of those mediocre places in the Sony Center. Do you have any Berlinale films planned?

[sarahmilne]

Long-time reader of The Wednesday Chef, long-time schizophrenic inhabitant of both New York and Berlin, first-time commenter checking in here to say:

1) thanks for the tip; I'm always happy to learn about things to eat in the great desert that is Potsdamer Platz;

2) have you tried The Bird, in P'berg? some of the best burgers I have ever eaten anywhere, and the fries are good too; reserve or be prepared to wait, like, forever;

3) if you are ever in the mood for dumplings of the Chinese pork/chive/shrimp variety, you should head directly to Wok Show, also in P'berg. The place is hung with large and extraodinarily ugly paintings, the music selection is atrocious, it’s always at least half empty (non-altruistic subtext of this post: please go! and write it up! I will shrivel away if they go out of business!) and the lighting’s not so great either, but they have Staropramen on tap, and the dumplings are GOOD. They taste like smaller, more delicate, more expensive, and (oh blasphemy) better cousins of the ones at the old Fried Dumpling and Eldridge St. Dumpling House dives. There’s a big menu, but the other things I’ve tried have persuaded me that the proper strategy is really just to go fill up on plate after plate of dumplings. You can take them home, too, in frozen form.

(And finally: I promise I am not one of those Americans who just likes to plug everything that has anything to do with Prenzlauerberg. I live in Kreuzberg and only head up there when absolutely necessary, which is to say: whenever I need shoes or burgers or dumplings. Or the Prater.)

[Leah]

i agree with sarahmilne about the dumplings from Wok Show. this is the place i told you about that my neighbor from Beijing recommends.

[Luisa]

Vanessa - none! At the moment. Ack. Any you can recommend?

Sarah - I have tried the Bird, at my friend Leah's suggestion, and...to be honest...it's not my thing. The burger is too big, too greasy, too raw, I dunno, I could barely work through a quarter of it and then I felt guilty for leaving behind all the food. I know so many people adore the burger there! But it's just not *my* kind of burger. As for Wok Show, I am deeply chagrined not to have made it there yet. It's at the top of my list! Also, so glad you commented. :) I love love love hearing that there are other New York-Berlin schizoids out there.

Leah - eep, yes, I know! I need to go there. Soon, I swear. Maybe we can meet there for dinner when you guys are back from the promised land of freeways and sunshine? xoox

[Vanessa]

To be honest, I'm somewhat overwhelmed by sifting through 28 pages of the programme which is embaressing when you're a huge fim fan and everyone asks if you're going to the festival. A friend recommended one called Les Mains Libres which is on next week but unfortunately I'm going to miss the last 6 days when it's on because of my trip to London.

[Assistant]

This is the first time I comment on your site, but I've been reading your posts for a while now. I admire the passion with which you tell your stories and hope someday I can do the same. Love