I'm currently obsessed with the wakame salad at Sasaya in Prenzlauer Berg. It's perfect: slippery and chewy, with just the right balance of sweet and sour. There are even a few tiny shreds of hot pepper mixed in to hit the spot.
I had a quiet lunch there today, eavesdropping on a pair of middle-aged hipsters in hoodies and expensive jeans discussing apartment rents in Prenzlauer Berg and Pankow. "1500 for 120 square meters, that seems about right", one of them said. I wondered if they'd ever set foot in Steglitz or Spandau, or Charlottenburg for that matter.
The sushi was fine - the maki a little sloppily rolled - and just the right amount for lunch, though I forgot to ask them to replace the tamago with something else. I've basically decided that until I find another Japanese-run sushi restaurant, Sasaya's the only place I'll eat sushi at in Berlin. I just can't handle another Viet-Thai sushi joint where the shrimp taste like chlorine, among other indignities.
To remember for next time, the lunch menu had grilled mackerel with tsukemono and rice that sounded delicious.
Sasaya
Lychener Strasse 50
10437 Berlin
(030) 447 17 721