For a long time, I didn't want to tell a single soul about Özge Grill, a little hole-in-the-wall Turkish spot around the corner from our apartment. I wanted it to stay my little secret. At first glance, it looks like every other Dönerbude in the city. The second glance, however, might tip you off - there's a wood-burning oven at the back. The cooks use it to make small rounds of bread that they serve with any of the meat platters and other dishes, pizza (which looks awful and is only ever ordered by Germans who come in and ignore the rest of the menu, infuriating me) and pide - long, hand-stretched slippers of dough filled with feta and spinach (my favorite) or ground meat.
To say that the feta-spinach pide is worth a trip across town no matter where you live would not be overstating it. This is seriously delicious stuff. The casing blisters and crackles in the heat of the oven and the crumbles of feta melt and yield. I sprinkle it liberally with the hot Turkish pepper placed on each table, but you could leave that off if you wanted something milder. It's my very favorite cheap lunch and it never fails to deliver.
In addition, if you're lucky, in the glass case holding the raw meats that they grill and serve with rice and salad, there are usually a few earthenware dishes of soft, stewed vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, peppers). The stew is fabulous - clearly home-made and especially delicious when eaten with some of the bread, hot from the oven.
Özge Grill feels like my special little secret, but it's time to share.
Özge Grill
Nehringstrasse 4
14059 Berlin
Tel: (030) 326 03 665