A few weeks ago now my parents were visiting and due to catch their flight home to London after a wonderful, busy, ‘do all the best bits’, ‘eat ALL the best food Berlin has to offer’ trip.

We pretty much achieved this within the four days they were here and coming from a family of the food obsessed, it was extremely important that their last meal of the trip was a good one.

I chose to take them to Kokolores, a cosy and quintessentially Berlin restaurant just five minutes from where I live in Neukölln.

It was one of the few restaurants in my area that I’d yet to visit and on the recommendations of a few friends, I was looking forward to it. Of course the fact it was five minutes from my house was another deciding factor, but yes, I was looking forward to it.

We were off to a good start when I called just an hour before we needed the table and were able to reserve a spot. Granted, I was reserving for 6 o' clock on a Tuesday- as soon as they opened, but it pleased me. Considering my parents had this flight to catch and Berlin has of late adopted the kind of approach that includes a ‘what do you meaaan you haven't booked a table, bitch’, I was happy.

Kokolores offers Polish-German fare and pleasingly the menu seems to change daily indicating it is decided in accordance to what they have found at the market and so on that day. I hear Gordon Ramsay and all the others screaming the usual, ‘ its gotta be SEASONAL, LOCAL, RUSTIC…’ in my ear, but they speak the truth, it's a good thing.

The server was extremely friendly and accommodating. We weren’t exactly difficult but the way he handled the fact we were still waiting on a person who ended up being pretty darn late with such ease, wasn’t typical of Berlin restaurants in my honest opinion. Sorry Berlin. I do love you.

My parents and I shared a main as a starter while we waited for our missing person and it was gorgeous. 

A crepe made with beetroot so it became a glorious pink, stuffed with roasted vegetables, pesto and goats cheese served with a giant and beautifully dressed salad abundant with unusual sprouty things which I adore. This is exactly my kind of food.  My unhealthy obsession with goats cheese was fulfilled.

For the mains, my parents had steaks, salad and roast potatoes. This should have been served with a potato and celeriac mash (which I would have loved) but as I am with goats cheese, my father is with fried potatoes.

My boyfriend (the latecomer) and I chose the pumpkin and ricotta cheese maultaschen which was again served, to my delight, with the wonderful salad and a pot of sour cream.

The steaks were impressive and cooked to perfection, however the maultaschen was a little disappointing. Wonderful in theory, but they tasted very floury and under done. The salad and sour cream were their saviour.

Prices were extremely fair, mains between 6-9 euro on average and affordable drinks.

The restaurant had a great ambience, fresh flowers, moody Berlin lighting and quirky tables made from old front doors. All you would expect from a Neukölln eaterie.

Just a few days ago I bumped into a friend of a friend and we partook in some typical, non-sensical chit-chat until she exclaimed that she must be off! as she had to go and collect her 6 euro loaf of bread. 6 euros for a loaf of bread? I asked, from wherever are you going for that? It turned out that she had just days before enjoyed a bowl of soup at Kokolores, accompanied by slices of exquisite, freshly baked bread, of which she just had to have more of. She asked the waiter if she could possibly buy a loaf and the kitchen offered to bake her one for the 6 euros. This may seem a little steep for one loaf of bread, but she assured me that this bread was worth its weight in gold, and off she popped to collect her loaf. Something to note, I am not proclaiming that Kokolores will be happy to bake bread for all, but this chance meeting just strengthened my opinion that they are fantastic hosts.

Great service, good food, lovely atmosphere, I’d recommend a visit.

*Sadly Kokolores is no more and has since closed down. It will forever live in our food memories.

Kokolores, Weichselstraße 3, Berlin- Neukölln

U-bahn- Rathaus Neukölln

http://kokolores-neukoelln.de/