The Markthalle Neun in Berlin is an indoor market in a historic warehouse building filled with culinary vendors, events and food festivals. There’s the weekly farmers market on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Street Food Thursday, a breakfast market once a month . . . They also just hosted the Berlin Coffee Festival in September 2015. Other special markets include Cheese Berlin, Berliner Naschmarkt (an event to nibble on Berlin’s best sweets), Wurst & Bier (sausage and beer) or Destille Berlin (a craft spirits festival).
Fresh, International and Diverse
The weekly market is quite large and has more than enough tempting stands to choose from: fresh, colorful, seasonal, international, vegan, butchers, mongers, bakers, delicacies, flowers, teas, homemade lemonade, craft beer, liquors…all by artisans representing their skills.
Theo Broma Kakao
My favorite stand was Theo Broma Kakao. The owner of this small cacao stand really knows his business. He crafts all the chocolate bars himself and peels roasted cacao beans for anyone who wants a sample: pure, delicate, and intense. Get either just those roasted beans to nibble on, the processed cacao nibs, one of his chocolate bars, a hazelnut cacao spread, hot chocolate without milk, cacao tea or cacao liquor!
Grinbox
Next is Grinbox, the first place in Germany where I found greek yogurts sold in large amounts – I hate buying those little wasteful pre-packed tupperwares! This stand is owned by three Greeks that promote their organic and traditional products: soaps, lotions, olives, cheese and greek delicacies. They were super friendly, funny and helpful.
Kame
I had Japanese lunch at Kame. Not typical sushi, sashimi or miso soup, but Oyaki and Onigirazu. The first is a rice bread roll filled with vegetables, tofu or meat and spices. Onigirazu is a rice ball wrapped in nori (seaweed) that they fill with fish, meat, eggs or tempeh and their special vegan sauce. I chose the carrot-ginger Oyaki and Salmon Onigirazo – both were soft, zangy, comforting little snacks.
Oma Marnie’s
My second choice after Kame was Oma Marnie’s, the traditional New Zealand Pie Bakery. Some savory options included slow cooked beef in pepper goulash sauce, or smoked salmon but they also had vegan and vegetarian alternatives like the black bean chipotle one… and the dessert options were super tempting too! The couple that worked there was funny, friendly and entertaining despite me asking a bunch of questions without ever ordering anything 🙂
and so much more . . .
On the day of the Berlin Coffee Festival I got another sample from a few stands that decided to be part of this event. Like Glut und Späne the fresh fish stand; cold, hot, smoked or raw… That’s what I had ☟
“Vegan feels good”, that’s Sun Day Burgers: Vegan burgers, smoothies, juices, raw desserts and more.
But there were so many more places… like the cute Spanish stand; he could barely speak german and sold jamon, chorizo, blood sausages and traditional Spanish cheeses. Or Apfel on Tour – juices, mixed lemonades, cider, warm crumbles or apple dulce de leche. And their vendor is actually a bike that they use to travel. ↓
Where? Eisenbahnstraße 42-43, 10977 (Kreuzberg)
When?
Weekly Market: Tuesdays (smaller) 12-20, Friday 12-20, Saturday 14-18
Street Food Thursday: 17-22
Breakfast Market: mostly, every third Sunday from 10:00
Berlin Coffee Festival
Now more about the Berlin Coffee Festival. This was actually a three day event. Friday and Saturday there were pop-up events all over town, samples and roasting lessons in selected coffee shops and roasteries. Sunday, all the best coffee shops around Europe came to present their best working baristas in Markthalle IX. The huge hall was completely packed with people and full of lively, fun atmosphere.
Every so often you could listen to talks and discussion. In total there were about 30 different coffee stands – amongst them The Coffee Collective from Copenhagen,
Wildkaffee from Bavaria, Taf from Athens, and Roket from Budapest. Besides the standard coffee drinks they also had things something called selosoda: a sparkling iced coffee soda drink, Prana Chai, coffee cups recycled from coffee lead… and of course regional, international, sweet and savory food vendors too!
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