Taverne Neféli is no ordinary tavern: More akin to a classy wine bar, this restaurant is serving up delicious Greek delicacies and wines good enough to make you nostalgic for a Mediterranean vacation you never even went on. Get ready to say opa for one of Charlottenburg’s top spots for Greek cuisine!
Sip and savour
Although Berlin’s food scene is diverse and vibrant, good Greek food is hard (albeit not impossible) to come by – but when Kiriakos Sarantou opened Neféli, that gap in the market finally got a little smaller. With just over a dozen seats (not including the four at the bar), the wine bar-slash-restaurant offers an atmosphere that’s both intimate and upscale – perfect for sampling its extensive selection of delicious yet wallet-friendly wines.
Sarantou functions both as host and sommelier, even cultivating his own orange wine on the island of Samos. Naturally, he curated the restaurant’s wine list himself, including his favourites from Crete to Peloponnese.
Meze to mullet: classy cuisine
But there’s more on the menu: The restaurant serves Greek specialties with a sophisticated spin alongside its wines. Start with a dry, sparkling Amalia Brut from Peloponnese and whet your appetite with some meze, including tzatziki, creamy tirokafteri made from sheep’s cheese and black beluga-lentil salad served with ginger, coriander, classic Mediterranean herbs and Cretan olive oil.
For the main course, try one of their specials, like mullet with a side of Greek potato salad. You also can’t go wrong with their deliciously delicate octopus and fava smoked according to a recipe developed by a friend of the restaurant – who just so happens to be one of Santorin’s best chefs.
But whatever you order, Taverne Neféli’s upscale atmosphere and mouth-watering menu make it the perfect spot for fine Greek wine-ing and dining. Dig in – or as they say in Greece, kalí óreksi!
- Taverne Neféli Suarezstr. 49, Charlottenburg, details.
This article was adapted from the German by Seraina Birdsey.
