Babel is a serious food institution on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg, it's been around for over 10 years serving some of the best Lebanese food in Berlin. It's one of those simple restaurants, which always have been around and I love to dive in to this melting pot once in a while for a mixed platter of Lebanese goodness.
Babel is pretty much always busy and it's also one of those places which are about four times busier in the summer, that's of course rather easy to explain as they have one of Kastanienallee's largest outdoor areas with a good 10 benches allowing the restaurant to triple it's capacity.
“ Especially the falafel is one of the better versions in Berlin.
Food at Babel is simple, either you for a pita sandwich or you get a platter. Halloumi, Shawarma, Kafta, Falafel, Metabel and Hummus can be combined on a plate according to your preferences and it's all served with salad, traditional pickles, radish, a potent garlic sauce and a viciously green chili sauce. The hot sauce deserves some extra attention, I'm a huge fan of intricate spicyness and this one is indeed a refined version. It's actually more of a relish made out of green chilis and the small spoonful that comes with every Babel plate is enough to seriously spice up your meal. It has that raw and rough chili spice which I like a lot and adds to the nice variety of every Babel plate. For the food the falafel, the halloumi and the kafta are the best items and I would stick to those. Especially the falafel is one of the better versions in Berlin.
“ I recommend going for a falafel sandwich with tons of hot sauce. Always does the trick.
One thing I also love about this place are the dudes working this joint, it's been operated by the very same 4-6 guys for a long time now and boy do they know how to operate it. They are an essential part of the Babel experience, at any given time there will be at least 4 of of them putting together sandwiches or platters at an astonishing speed. And when one of them looks up and shouts a quick "Nächster!", you better be quick and claim your spot in the unorganized queue by voicing your presence loudly, because otherwise you will lose it to someone else who is louder.
I recommend every one to try out Babel, it's a great place with a good vibe and simply the food is consistently good, as long as you don't expect too much. The guys also like to raise their prices at an even pace and what used to be a very cheap meal is now really not that affordable anymore. Especially the platters are heavily overpriced. I recommend going for a falafel sandwich with tons of hot sauce. Always does the trick.
