Brio - Berlin

Very good Italian style tapas, nice reasonably priced wine list, lovely atmosphere and friendly staff.

The food is kind of Italian tapas: you can order a few plates and share it with all. 3 plates per person will do. The pulpo is very good as are the starters. Wine choice is very decent as well. It only fills after 21.00 and people stay a bit longer. Service is friendly. but it is not one of the quickest places. Conclusion: go there for a good dinner with friends.

Nothing much to add to the title besides the fact, that wine and service was great, too. We had a blast and hope to come back soon!

A German take on Tapas, we had four dishes to share all of which were delicious, particularly the octopus. Everything was freshly cooked and very tasty. Homemade bread sticks to nibble on before the mains arrived was a nice touch. Our waitress was friendly and helpful and by the time we left the place was packed - need I say more?

Day 2 Dinner 2 at #EatalianFoodWeekBerlin, in KreuzbergMa dove sto, a Roma? Testaccio? I'm at Brio, my second Kreuzberg destination of day 2, and I feel comfortable instantly, even before the first bite! It so much reminds me of my best trattoria experiences in Rome, and indeed, that's where the owners come from. Brio manages to convey the Roman flair entirely. It has a warm, welcoming dining room, wooden floors wooden ceilings wooden panels - all painted in a friendly light grey. In addition, on the plain white walls there's a B&W photography exhibit on display these days. Also good: The place is well lit, meaning I'll be able to see what I eat. And take pics.The #FoodWeek's menu offers a choice between a sea menu and a seasonal harvest menu, the latter teasing me with a nido croccante - truffeled pasta from Umbria followed by pumpkin tortellini. Both options tempting, I side with the fish and seafood version for tonight. The starter is a wonderful re-design of ricotta gnocchi along with cime di rapa, my alltime favorite broccoli, on a light lemon sauce. A pink gambero, placed on top, is smiling at me: eat me, I'm all yours :-). What more do I want? I love the delicately balanced flavors of the composition. The gnocchi are small and cooked just to keep a chewy bite - not the mushy kind that dissolves in your mouth right away. The ricotta makes them taste even lighter, and the broccoli have preserved their springy green color as if from a Thai open street kitchen. Next up, that's the main course, is a grilled octopus with potatoes, capers, olives and celery - a vegetable side dish I love in its own right, not matter what you put on top of it. And wow. Served on a small square plate, the octopus, in a kind of yoga pose, sits on top of a tiny square tower of vegetables, potato cubes and celery pieces, somehow holding together with all the other ingredients, more known for their naturally round shapes. I marvel at this piece of kitchen architecture....The wine suggestion is a cuvée of three typical grapes of Marche - pecorino, verdicchio, passerina. It's good, yet I switch to a Pecorino for the second course (thanks, Denis, for treating me!). For dessert, the dedicated Brio team pleases me with a delicious "Lebkuchen" flavored Creme Brulée. And with a lovely Amaro to finish.Take home thoughts? I should go back on Sunday and sample some more A glance at the daily menu is mouthwatering, promising more Roman specialities - like several carciofi variations. Also, it strikes me that women may be the better hosts? Cooks? Food entrepreneurs? I mean, it's late, it's mid-week, I walk in without a reservation, get seated while the place is still quite busy, and yet everyone is friendly and acoglienti.B_r_i_o, as I'm told another customer observed, is actually as much out of Berlin as it is out of Rome. If you throw in just a few more letters - what do you get?