Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Dining Out in a Bookstore

You know what is really strange? Every time I think about dining out, I always think of Anthony Bourdain's episode of the Layover in NY, and how he wraps up the Upper East Side with the Papaya King (New York's institution of hot dogs and papaya smoothies).

First of all, I am not even going to start my ridiculous fangirling over Anthony Bourdain because he would actually disapprove and I think the whole world wants to be on Bourdain's good side. I also don't want to bore you with memories of going to school near Papaya King and knowing exactly what he's talking about. Instead I want to stress the idea behind why I mentioned this particular moment in television history: the fact that eating out never has to be glamorous for it to be good.

It all started with a train delay and a cup of coffee.


Weird start to the day considering I rarely drink coffee let alone buy it out. It was okay but I much prefer espresso--one whole cup is just too much buzz for me!

The rest of the day was a blur. I think I went to the gym. I think I ate rice cakes. I think I met up with Oli and got lost in Neukölln!


Needless to say it's not a neighborhood I know like the back of my hand.

Oli's friend Piotr was waiting at the bookstore we would be eating in.


We went in and saw a room filled with books and comfy chairs. The way it works is, there's a man at the register in the front. You pay 5 euros and get a plate. When the food is done, you pick whatever you want, buffet style. 5 euros for a huge plate of home cooked goodness. Who can say no to that?


Cheers!


I wish my library were this extensive.


Oli's Jever beer.


Here's an example of a plate. They had meat and veg options for all, along with a ton of bread and cheese. The carrot hash was yummy. The thing I really appreciated was that not only was it made by the owner of the bookstore but the food was not overly salty so people could kind of customize it themselves if they wished.

The three of us chatted about nonsensical things as always. Then another guy joined our conversation and we ended up talking about science fiction novels/films for a veeeery long time.

A few hours later, we left and parted ways with Piotr.


Oli and I heading back to our flat and camwhoring.
 
One of the greatest things about Berlin is that there are always places like this where you don't have to spend a lot of money and you don't have to be a certain type of person to enjoy yourself and make friends. It can be a Papaya King or the basement of a bookstore: just sit back and take in all what the world has to offer.

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