Madang

I waited 20 minutes for a tea and left after waiting 50 minutes for a noodle bowl that never arrived. The place was not busy, so it was unclear what was taking them so long. I am running the Berlin marathon in a couple days, am staying 1 hour by public transport from the city center and didn't want to get back excessively late.

The food was overpriced for Berlin. And it also did not taste the best. The meat quality was kind of disappointing.

Service was friendly and helpful. Overall we had a nice experience here but there are better places to get Korean food.
The stone bowls were good but there was hardly and beef in them. So I guess pay the 2€ extra for more meat.
We also had the glass noodles with chicken which were not very flavorful. On the plus side: the rice tasted very nice!
Also it was a nice atmosphere to sit outside on the terrace. Maybe try a different Korean place first.

Amazing family owned local restaurant with healthy gluten- free and vegan options if you need them (as I do). Great service. Delicious food. You must try this place.

I had such a fine dining experience here, that I did not want to wait to write a review. DISCLAIMER: this review will probably sound biased because 1) I'm Asian, and 2) I have not had Asian food, rice or vegetables since I left LA three weeks ago. Also, this might be a long review because I am STILL pleased with my experience tonight.

Okay, so I have been craving rice and vegetables since I got to Europe three weeks ago. Sushi just was not cutting it for me, and I spent long hours searching up what restaurants seemed good, and coordinated it with my work schedule (I currently work in Potsdam, quite a commute!). I ran upon Madang while I was on Yelp and looking at yamyam instead.

Madang seemed really close to my apartment in Tempelhof, so I decided today to go try it out. At first, I was really nervous because I have been pretty disappointed with the Vietnamese restaurants here in the past, that I did not want to be disappointed with Korean food, one of my favourite cuisines.

When I got off the U-Bahn and found Madang, I was relieved to see it was owned by Korean people, and that there were Asian people eating -- VERY good sign! I decided to walk in and dine inside. I was greeted by a lady wearing a traditional Korean outfit, which I thought was pretty cool with the decor too. I ordered the bibimbap, and it was a hot day so I did not want it in the hot stone pot with the egg, but the lady convinced me anyway, so I did.

When it came out, I was expecting it to be burning hot, like back in California, but it actually was hot enough for the egg to cook but cool enough for me to start digging in immediately! It also came with seaweed soup, beans and hot sauce.

The bibimbap is definitely NOT the best nor close to California quality, but because I have little expectations in Berlin, I was satisfied! It could have used more meat though... I also did not think the hot sauce was hot enough...I put the whole thing in there, barely tasted spice. I guess I will ask for more next time. The seaweed soup was good, I avoided the beans, and the kimchi was...alright, kind of like kimchi you get at some ramen places.

Anyway, if this was in California, I would give it 2.5 stars, but because I'm in Berlin AND because the servers were so nice (even let me take pictures of my stuffed blue fly inside and complimented it!), I will give this place four stars. They made me feel secure eating by myself too, haha. And I also got watermelon after my bill! Yay! (:

The quality of the food is good but it's slightly pricey for what it's worth. My friend and I ordered the classic bibimbap and seafood sundubu (soft tofu soup). We also got makgeoli so we spent a good amount of money (I think ~€18 each). The soft tofu soup was quite good, as was the bibimbap. I don't know if I'll return because I would rather explore other places that may be cheaper.

Also, they give a couple banchan with the main dishes but you can also order the banchan separately. It's weird because I don't ever think banchan should cost money!!!!! That is a rule in Korea. Come on now!!!!

The place is on the smaller side. There are no built in grills so they use a portable gas stove with a grill plate which is okay. Although there are no air vents so it does get a little smokey depending on what type of meat you or your neighbors get. There were 6 Korean side dishes with rice that came with our meal. Lettuce, soy bean paste, and oil salt dip as well. We got the pork grill plate for two. There is traditional seating in the back which was cool to see. They show you how to grill the meat and prepare it a bit when it is done as well. They were a little busy so service had a slow start but they were attentive once the food got there.


Der Ort ist auf der kleineren Seite. Es gibt keine eingebauten Grills, also verwenden sie einen tragbaren Gasherd mit einer Grillplatte, die in Ordnung ist. Obwohl es keine Lüftungsschlitze gibt, wird es ein wenig rauchig, je nachdem, welche Art von Fleisch Sie oder Ihre Nachbarn bekommen. Es gab 6 koreanische Beilagen mit Reis, die mit unserer Mahlzeit kamen. Salat, Sojabohnenpaste und Ölsalz tauchen ebenfalls auf. Wir haben die Schweinegrillplatte für zwei Personen bekommen. Es gibt traditionelle Sitzgelegenheiten auf der Rückseite, was cool zu sehen war. Sie zeigen dir, wie du das Fleisch grillen kannst und bereitest es ein bisschen zu, wenn es auch fertig ist. Sie waren etwas beschäftigt, so dass der Service einen langsamen Start hatte, aber sie waren aufmerksam, sobald das Essen dort ankam.

Oh how I missed Asian food... I was tired of Portugal's one kind of cuisine and decided my trip to Berlin was going to be my chance for tasty ethnic foods. I had a mediocre Thai food experience on my first night which made me wary of Berlin Asian food but Madang was the real deal!

I wished my bf was with me so we could have ordered the bbq but, since I was alone I ordered the beef bibimbop and a Korean pancake. It was delicious! The bibimbop was sizzling and spicy, the egg was runny, and there was a nice crunchy crust to the rice. Even the side dishes were prepared with care--the kimchee was perfectly spicy and the fermented beans (which I usually skip because the flavor is overpowering) were much better than normal.

The service was nice and friendly and they have English menus. I only have one complaint about the whole meal. I ordered the pancake because I was starving. So I thought they would bring it out as an appetizer rather than with my bibimbop. But this was a small oversight.

Delicious!!!! Wonderful food! A must try! They also have floor seating as an option. Make a reservation!

I wanted to find a good Asian restaurant in the area as we were off to an English Comedy event nearby and as it was by bf's birthday I also didn't want to eat the standard Asian fare that is usually on offer.

I went by a few days beforehand to check it out but it was closed but luckily they had a menu outside so based solely on what was described I thought okay this sounds good, let's hope it is! I phoned and made a reservation good job too!

We arrived at 18:30, it was empty but every single table was reserved and by 19:00 it was full. Not sure how it is on weekdays but I would definitely recommend that you make a reservation anyway!

I have to say it exceeded my expectations! The staff are very polite and efficient... And the food, that was just simply delicious!

We were four people sharing 2 starters & 2 mains:

S1: Madang Gimbab. €4, 50 gets you 10 pieces of seaweed to fill with a choice of rice, beef, vegetables and thinly sliced egg roll.

S2: Chiljeonpan. 4 mini pancakes for €3, 50 with a very tasty mustard dipping
.
M1: Dakgalbi (Hotpot #T5) Sooooooo good!!! Tender pieces of chicken and vegetables come in a spicy broth which are then chopped and mixed up for you at the table. When it's all prepared it takes on a thick stew consistency. Just writing about it is making me dream about having it again!

M2: Samgyopsal, a table grilling dish consisting of Sliced of pork belly grilled then wrapped in Lettuce leaves.

All this was complimented by a selection of Banchan (side dishes) like: Kimchi, beans in soya sauce, pickled and marinated vegetables, moo-chae (radish) and Ssamjang paste.

For dessert we had Yakgwa (a very traditional dessert that was once considered a medicinal confection make from honey, sesame oil and wheat flour) and Chapssalduk (mochi style rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste).

To round off our meal we were given complimentary apple slices and the birthday boy got a shot of Soju!

This has to be one of the most satisfying and excellent Korean meals I have ever had...to date! Must go back soon and try out some of the other offerings.

If you have never tried Korean food before I would recommend coming here. Most impressive for such a small and unassuming establishment.

Oh if you are thinking of a romantic or private tête-à-tête with your partner you should be warned that with the table grill dishes the staff prepare it for you and will stay there until all the meat is cooked! Probably because they come on little stoves and not set into tables like in other places :)

It took me two visits to come up with an opinion about this place. It is very original and the food there is also quite unique. Though in my opinion unique does not mean very good. It is ok-isch.

Starters were very small and had little taste. The main dish - grill plate, was big enough for two people, accompanied by various side dishes. And again, I was expecting much more taste. It was plain. We did not touch the desserts as the selection was very limited.

So all in all I am not a fan of this place. I would describe it with one sentence, taking into account all the cooking that takes place in front of your eyes: much a do about nothing"...