Restaurants in Berlin

The chefs at Seasons Grille and Bar fry up early-morning egg dishes and sear steaks in the evening, drawing on fresh local ingredients to create an inventive menu of signature dishes. Early risers brandish forks at three-egg omelets and host mock United Nations meet-and-greets with french toast. Dinnertime diners coax taste buds into deep-sea diving with the seafood celebration's scallops, Maine shrimp, and mussels sautéed in a garlic vermouth broth, or the haddock provencal crisped up in sundried tomato olive tapenade. Pan-fried boneless chicken hides beneath a blanket of bubbly mozzarella, clutching linguini and tomato for security on the parmesan plate, and shrimp scampi flatbread pizza fuels conversation about news on a flat-screen TV. As patrons chow down, an exposed stone fireplace warms bodies and hearts simultaneously by using Chicken Soup for the Soul as kindling.

Maurice André had always been one for a show. He insisted on wearing stark white gloves to carve Chateaubriand for his regular patrons during the decadent New Year’s Eve feasts he held at his namesake restaurant. The Paris native had always loved hosting parties, and in 1975 he bought a 200-year-old clapboard house with ample space to stock his wine cellar and serve the traditional French fare he had grown up chewing.

Today, the rustic space still resonates with Maurice’s jovial spirit and passion for fine dining–artwork covers the walls and linens cover tables and the occasional face during post-meal rounds of peek-a-boo. Though Corey Sumner–the current chef–exercises his culinary creativity with dishes such as the Cajun-spiced Scallops New Orleans, he pays homage to Maurice’s vision with plates of authentically prepared duck and fish.

Kon Asian Bistro's chefs embrace the cuisines of Japan, China, and Thailand as they create a contemporary, pan-regional menu that includes fresh sushi and hearty, spice-laden entrees. As the hibachi chefs shuffle cuts of chicken, swordfish, or filet mignon across iron tabletop grills, searing diners' food and unwanted junk mail directly in front of them, the sushi chefs roll a combination of familiar and inventive maki behind their bar. The kitchen also forges its own menu of traditional pan-Asian fare, including General Tso's chicken and tropical mango shrimp with basil and thai sweet-chili sauce.

Large front windows cast natural light on the dining room's red and green walls, whose saturated pigments echo the rich colors of the spices that permeate each dish. Before pieces of tender chicken line up on skewers, they marinate in yogurt, cook over red-hot charcoal in the tandoor, and get passed under the trunk of the resident elephant statue for inspection. Fresh-baked naan breads transport hints of garlic and honey to scoopable stews, speckled with cubes of house-made paneer or infused with cinnamon and saffron.