Aroma

You’ll find Berlin’s little Chinatown in Charlottenburg’s Kantstrasse, where a number of Chinese supermarkets, cafes and restaurants serve up various Asian cuisines. If hankering for a dim sum fix, head to Aroma, easily the best in town, where you can have it in its traditional genteel tea-time style of yum cha or as part of a full dinner with more substantial plates. The restaurant itself will win no awards for ambience, all the conventions gladly met: red carpets, dour-faced male waiters and some billowy koi carp floating in a fish tank. Sadly, there is no trolley creaking around as is Hong Kong custom, but the menu is extensive and unlike a lot of places, the dim sum are made fresh to order. Go with classics such as Har Gao (steamed shrimp dumplings), fried turnip cakes or Cheong Fun, pillowy rice noodle rolls stuffed with prawn or beef. For the more adventurous there are Phoenix Claws (steamed spicy chicken’s feet) or the glutinous Lo Ma Gai (mashed rice with meat in a lotus leaf), as well as a further menu with Peking duck and pancakes, stir-fried Chinese broccoli or barbecued pork to really get the lazy susan groaning.