No Fire, No Glory, Friedrichshain

No Fire, No Glory with its unusual but brilliant name is a cafe that takes coffee making and latte art seriously. The quality of their coffee is excellent and they take time to perfect it, these guys are great baristas. They also have coffee tasting days which are very popular and they come up with the best coffee to serve in the cafe. The coffee is always served artistically with barista art. The food of choice is their own speciality which is meat pies and they are gorgeous and of course the ever changing pastry designs are quirky and amusing, mine was a skull and crossbones, keep up to date on their blog with their latest creations. There is also a nice selection of cakes on offer which are freshly made. The overall feeling you get with 'No Fire, No Glory' is that they owners have opened a cafe that they want their customers to come in and have fun in and to put a smile on their faces. They have achieved this for sure every time they serve you a pie with a funny image or a delicious coffee with a beautiful latte art, its well thought through. The decor is unique with its mixes of woods, metals and cool logo design has been well though through, very cool!

http://gloryberlin.blogspot.com/

Address: Jessnerstr. 35 U-bahn: Frankurter Allee

Coffee: 10/10 Cake: 8/10

The T Room, Mitte/Prenzlauer Berg

Tea glorious tea, the drink of kings and queens (and everybody else). The T Room & Gallery is one of those unique cafes you only find in Berlin, quirky, well designed and with a total relaxed feel. The T Room's ethos is 'take your time' and all food served here is home cooked and their is a fine selection of cakes, scones and sweet treats as well as a fine choice of tea and of course coffee, if tea isn't your thing. One thing that stands out above other cafes is the genuinely friendly atmosphere and the owners are very easy to get along with and have a chat with. The T Room is the type of cafe where you would spend hours hanging around. The music played in the cafe is excellent and they also have a Vinyl Station with a fine choice of records that customers can play, now I have never seen this before in a cafe, brilliant! The selection of english reading material is also worth mentioning, there are also future plans to introduce an english book shop in the cafe and english film and tv screenings. The T Room also offer High Tea in the afternoon where for a fixed price you can eat as much scones, cakes, sandwiches and drink as much tea as your heart desires. Another nice touch is that you can come in and order a picnic and take away a nice mix of their sandwiches, treats and tasty crisps. I must also mention that they also have a great gallery space downstairs and put on a wide variety of art shows giving young and upcoming artists a platform for their work. As their website states "Pop by for a cuppa and a friendly chat", I'm glad we did!

www.the-t-room.de

Address: Christinenstr. 27 U-bahn: Senefelder Platz

Tea: 10/10 Cake: 10/10

Schwarze Pumpe, Mitte/Prenzlauer Berg

Tucked between Mitte and Prenlauer Berg is the brilliant cafe, Schwarze Pumpe. As well as been a cafe/bar it also has a nice studio apartment that they rent out and very nice it is too and affordable especially for this area. The food on offer is a fine selection of German treats and they also offer a fabulous Sunday brunch at the very affordable 4.50 euro, a great selection indeed and also very inexpensive. It is also a great night time hang out place and it is never too packed and the crowd are a cool mix of locals, cool but not pretentious. They play a good selection of music and also have some occasional live events. The café's name is an allusion to surface mining in Eastern Germany which was stopped in the years after the reunification. The futuristic barstools made of steel tubes and gauges and the enamel signs with instructions to the workers on the brown walls recall the industrial past. The old floorboards and the even older tables create a very dense and nostalgic atmosphere. This is definitely a cafe with its soul still partly in the old DDR but this is done with great care and you will enjoy the time you spend here.

Address: Chorinerstr 76/Fehrbellinerstr 16 U-bahn: Senefelder Platz

www.schwarzepumpe-berlin.de

Coffee: 8/10