Monsieur Vuong

Monsieur Vuong is one of the restaurants that made Vietnamese food a fixture of eating out in Berlin. Its founder, Dat Vuong, came to Germany as a child, and in 1999 he opened a tiny Indochina café in the historic Scheunenviertel. The restaurant on Alte Schönhauser Strasse grew from there and has remained a favourite with locals and visitors in Mitte for more than two decades.

The menu is short and focused, which helps keep the kitchen quick. The signature pho, a fragrant noodle soup, is the dish most people come for, and the glass noodle salads are light, fresh and full of herbs. Alongside these permanent dishes there are market-fresh specials that change twice a week, so regulars always find something new. Drinks include fresh juices, teas and Vietnamese coffee.

The room is simple and lively, with closely set tables and a steady turnover. It is a good choice for a fast, affordable lunch while exploring the boutiques of the Scheunenviertel, for a relaxed dinner before a drink nearby, or for solo diners who want a quality meal without fuss. Families will find plenty of mild, familiar dishes.

Monsieur Vuong is open every day from 12 noon, until 10pm from Sunday to Thursday and until 10.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Walk-ins are always welcome, and table reservations can also be made through the restaurant's online booking link. At peak lunch and dinner times you may need to wait briefly for a table, but service is quick.

Vietnamese restaurants are a familiar part of Berlin life, partly because of the large Vietnamese community that settled in East Germany as contract workers before reunification, and the city has many places to try the cuisine. Monsieur Vuong stands out for its consistency and its central location, and it is a good place to start if you are new to Vietnamese food. If you have time for only one dish, order the pho; if you are back a few days later, try one of the specials, since they will probably have changed.

The restaurant is a short walk from Weinmeisterstrasse station on the U8 and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz on the U2. Alte Schönhauser Strasse and the surrounding streets are lined with fashion and design shops, and the Hackesche Höfe, the Volksbühne theatre and the cafés around Rosenthaler Platz, including Zeit für Brot and Father Carpenter, are all within a few minutes on foot.