Get Lost

Berlin Toilet Burger

When you exit the U-Bahn at Schlesisches Tor station, in Berlin’s uber-cool Kreuzberg area (they’re all uber-cool, right?) and walk across the road, you will find a fairly elementary looking public toilet.

And if it is between the hours of 11am and midnight, any day of the week, you will find a queue of around 50 people lining up at this public toilet.

No, the people of Kreuzberg are not particularly weak-bladdered people, nor is this some sort of secret Berlin nightclub (the latter easily the more likely of the two).

This is Burgermeister, an institution for travellers and Berliners alike since 2006. And I shit you not: The best burger I have ever (and I mean ever) eaten came from this toilet.

According to the original Burgermeister-er, he found the toilet in 2003, disused for several decades, and saw something special in it. I can genuinely say I have never felt the same way about a loo, but then this is why I am an ordinary man, and not the burger magician that the Burgermeister-er is.

This is no gimmick: the long lines are not there purely to capitalise on some sort of deliberately perverse tourism opportunity, to say that they ordered a burger from a toilet. They are there because the burgers are god-damn delicious.

The toilet people make their own buns, make their own meat patties, and produce their own fries – all fresh. This is unusual in itself for a fast-food restaurant, a trait they clearly aren’t scared of.

After a particularly big couple of nights that may well have been a week, a friend and I queued at Burgermeister for what seemed like another week, looking for sustenance and keen to see if this famous burger was worth the hype.

Long story short: it was.

Eating your way around DC’s Western Market

OMG yum. Get in my belly.

get lost’s man on the ground Roberto Serrini took on Washington DC’s Western Market not so long ago…and won. Comprehensively.

The Western Market is a food hall which has only been open for about a year. Set in the colourfully named Foggy Bottom neighbourhood, this is no ordinary food hall.

Here, there’s dozens of vendors but ONLY top of the line culinary experiences.

Think lobster rolls, Bandoola bowls, burgers…you know, all the good stuff.

Check out foodie Roberto’s top tips below:

Make: Colombian Street Food

If you’ve ever been to Colombia, you’ve had aborrajados. And if you didn’t, you weren’t doing it right.

It’s maybe the most delicious thing to come out of Colombia (although Pablo Escobar would say otherwise) and is relatively easy to make.

Colombian-American chef Anita Shepherd aught up with VICE’s food show Munchies to teach Westerners how to make this delicious street food recently.

If you can’t get to Colombia right now, this is the next best thing.

Make Iron Chef quality sushi

Japan have given us many gifts, especially in the world of food, and there’s probably no gift bigger than the gloriously delicious gift of sushi. And legendary Japanese chef Morimoto, of Iron Chef TV show fame, knows a thing or two about making sushi.

While many people would assume sushi to be the national dish of Japan, that title goes to Japanese Curry. In fact, Japan didn’t actually even invent sushi, with the dish originating in Southeast Asia.

Despite this, over the centuries they managed to absolutely perfect it…or so they thought, until Morimoto came along, who perfected it even more.

He recently caught up with VICE’s food show Munchies to teach Westerners how to make Japan’s epic dish.

Find out how – if you can’t get to Tokyo right now, this is the next best thing.

Make a god-damn delicious Pad Thai

It’s the Spag Bol of the South East. There is no meal more synonymous with Thailand than Pad Thai (drool).

get lost doesn’t mind Thai food one bit, and frequently reminisces fondly over a trip to a truly special restaurant on the Thai/Cambodian border not so long ago.

While you’ll never be able to make a Pad Thai like the experts, it’s a relatively simple dish that everyone loves – a safe bet if you are trying to impress on date night.

Jet Tila is a renowned chef, whose family opened the first Thai restaraunt in the United States. He also holds the world record for the largest ever stir fry.

Courtesy of the Food Network, learn how to make a Pad Thai so god-damn delicious, you’ll think you’ve got some heritage there somewhere (you don’t).

Get in my belly.

Pad Thai Sauce:

4 tablespoons (60 ml) Thai fish sauce

4 tablespoons (50 g) sugar

3 tablespoons (45 ml) bottled tamarind paste

1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon (15 ml) unseasoned rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sweet paprika, for color (optional)

2 teaspoons chili sauce, such as Sriracha

Pad Thai:

3 to 4 cups medium-width rice sticks, soaked

Banana leaf, cut into circles, for plating (optional)

2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, such as canola, grapeseed or peanut oil

3 to 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 cup (95 g) Thai-style baked tofu, sliced

1 teaspoon dried shrimp

1/2 cup (95 g) chicken, cut into thin strips, 1-inch lengths

2 large eggs

4 teaspoons packaged salted turnip, minced

8 shrimp, peeled and cleaned

1 cup (240 g) bean sprouts

1/4 cup (50 g) dry-roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed

3 to 4 garlic chives (or scallions), cut into 2-inch lengths on a bias

1 lime, cut for garnish

Hidden Airport Cafe Gem

Let’s face it, airlines aren’t necessarily synonymous with great food. We’ve all picked and prodded at a funny looking dish on a plane before.

So if you can find some good food while you’ve got a stopover in between flights, you’re kicking goals.

Click to view gallery

Hub and Spoke is a hidden glass-house cafe located next to terminal 2 at Singapore’s Changi airport, one of the major transport hubs in Asia. The cafe’s name is actually a play on words – the hub representing Changi airport, the spokes the cities it connects.

They do both local and western foods – if you’ve got a hankering for something in particular, chances are they’ll have it – and are just as good at laksa and Nasi Lemak as they are at a rib-eye steak. Plus, of course, coffee to beat that jet lag.

They are pet-friendly, and there’s even little grassy spot outside to chill out on – an absolute luxury at an airport.

If you’ve got a stopover at Changi, or if you’re in Singapore for longer, this is the spot.

Best of the Otways

There’s plenty growing and going on in the Otways.

I mean sure, Victoria’s south-west has a diverse area of waterfalls, beaches, a rocky coastline and rainforests, plus mountain biking and surfing and plenty of swimming spots. But there’s a lot too eat too.

With plenty of farms and wineries, there’s no shortage of local produce for the thriving food scene to source from.

We’ve compiled five of the best local food and drink experiences that will leave you either very full, or very tipsy (or both):

1. GO BERRY PICKING

The onset of summer means the onset of the berry season. Stop in at Pennyroyal Raspberry Farm and Cidery to pick a few ripe berries, and take them home with you. There’s raspberries blueberries, strawberries, currants, jostaberries, gooseberries and more, not all of which we’re familiar with. Treat yo self with an award-winning cider or berry gin afterward. You’ve earnt it.

2. FINE DINE

O.K so Brae isn’t much of a secret. The Birregurra restaraunt is regularly ranked among the very, very (repeat: very) best in the entire world. There are also six luxury guest suites you can stay in, while local Otways produce features very heavily in the menu. If you haven’t been, you’ve just gotta go.

3. GRAB A VINO

The Otways is littered with wineries. Blake’s Estate is less than a half-marathon away from the famous seaside town of Lorne, specialising in a Pinot Noir. Other worthy stop-ins include Brown Magpie, Dinny Goonan, Gosling Creek, Yeowarra Hill or Otway Estate. Spring is a great time to be at a winery but lets be honest, it’s always a good time to be at a winery.

4. GRAB A FROFFIE

They say all tracks in the Cape Otways National Park lead back to Forrest Brewing Company. Cartographically speaking we’re not sure how true that it is, but the great range of ales these independents produce is much easier to verify. Hard to find outside of Forrest, this microbrewery in a micro town is a great place to stop after a day of mountain-biking.

5. INDULGE IN CHOCOLATE

Just up the road from the brewery in the punching-above-it’s-weight town of Forrest is Platypi Chocolate. Set in an idyllic location, all chocolates are hand made on-site, which is pretty cool. An indulgence.

Get on the trail.

Australia’s Best Sandwiches

What happens when two chefs that have worked in a swathe of iconic Melbourne restaurants decide to open a café that serves only sandwiches?

You get some darn good sandwiches, is what.

Hector’s Deli is fast becoming a legendary fixture of Melbourne’s inner-east. While its owners have worked at fine dining royalty like Attica, Stokehouse and more, here they have managed to maintain a focus on keeping things simple; an uncomplicated menu features no more than five or six sandwiches at any time, comprising of fairly standard combinations (HCT, schnitzel, fried mushroom).

Yet these sangas consist of fresh ingredients and are meticulously sculpted, so much that this café’s unusually residential setting often has queues snaking through the streets.

Get in early.

*Hector’s were bringing their delicious sangas to a new location in Coventry Street, South Melbourne, mid-year, only to be thwarted by the pandemic.

After some sleuthing on their Instagram it appears this is now scheduled for (COVID dependent) early October.

The World’s Northernmost Food Festival

Svalbard, the archipelago between Norway and the North Pole, is the world’s northernmost a-lot-of-things. The world’s northernmost food and drink festival, Taste Svalbard, is one of these.

That description goes only some way to describing the uniqueness of this festival, held in Longyearbyen every year. With its location, Svalbard was always going to do their own thing when it came to cuisine.

Fresh and sustainably sourced fish, arctic cheese and beers from local breweries are all on the menu, and there’s also traditional local meals like reindeer soup and moose burger, both of which this writer will be reserving judgement on for now. There’s workshops, stalls, lectures and tastings as well.

While the food from this part of the world has a reputation for being delicious, there surely isn’t a food or drink festival set in more extraordinary surrounds. And as it’s held in October each year, on the cusp of winter, you can expect the Northern Lights to be doing their thing.

Soak in a pyramid view

The views all around you at 9 Pyramids Lounge have been almost the same for 4,500 years, when the Pyramids of Giza were built to house royalty as they journeyed from earth to their place of eternal rest. Of course, the nine monumental tombs are now one of the most famous sights in the world and attract travellers from right across the globe.

When you think about it, it’s surprising it has taken this long for an entrepreneurial soul to figure out hungry, tired tourists might like a place to rest. Now this open-air restaurant, with its shaded areas and places to sit, all with epic views of one of the seven wonders of the world, offers a spot to take a load off.

It opens early, so stop for a spectacular sunrise breakfast, settle in for some lunch or simply relax after a day exploring. There are yoga and wellness sessions, too, because how could you not feel zen looking at all that?

WHICH LETTER DOES YOUR DESTINATION START WITH?

highlightCategory: Eat