Continuing our adventure with vegetarian places, this week we visit Ryong, a beautiful Asian inspired restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg. Fotostrasse never heard about Ryong before, but since we are doing the #52WeeksOfBurgers to try new things we couldn’t resist the peculiarity of this place that not only has vegetarian burgers, and not only bao bun burgers but deep fried bao bun vegetarian burgers!
The restaurant is charming, the decor is quite unusual but well thought of, and the lights set a very cozy mood. We arrived there at a gloomy and rainy Sunday afternoon, and this was all we needed. No waiting or anything and the staff was quite lovely.
Since we got there starving like two wild animals and the reviews said the portions were on the small size, I thought it would be a good idea to order more than just the burgers. So we got the Autumn Leaves (€4) appetizer, a tiny little boat of Chinese cabbage with a kombu seaweed salad on the top. This was a taste explosion that we did not expect, and I am still blown away by it, my dear this is divinely seasoned; spicy, nutty, fresh and intriguing. We also ordered the Ryong Bento (€8,50) that comes with rice, a bunch of vegetables, a bit of tofu and a bit of seitan. This was good, but comparing to the rest was way underwhelming.
When it comes to the burgers I ordered the staff recommended Hulk Burger (€8,50) with a steamed bao bun deep fried with a spinach tempura crust (yes, it was bright green!), tofu in a peanut sauce, pickled vegetables, tomatoes, roasted corn, seasonal herbs and vegetables, homemade garlic mayo, homemade teriyaki, and homemade avocado sauce. I am sadly writing this down now because this burger is not in front of me again; it was by far the best burger we had in Berlin since the beginning of the challenge! The crunchy fried layer gives this a fantastic texture and everything inside is so well seasoned that you don’t even know what the hell you are eating.
Felipe ordered the Rich Christmas (€9,50) with a steamed bao bun deep fried with a chocolate tempura crust, the same tofu marinated in peanut sauce, Christmas spices inspired sauce, salad, apple, coriander, cucumber, pickles, cheese, roasted corn, and the same homemade sauces. This was very delicious as well, mainly because the freshness of the other ingredients balanced that Christmassy vibe. Both burgers come with a small portion of edamame and were moderately sized; we could have ordered just those easily.
Their strength is not on the beer, they have only two, and we got the Tiger beer from Singapore (€ 3,50/0,33l) that was ok. But they do have an impressive amount of wines, sakes, lemonades and more, so choose wisely as you can see on their online menu.
I ordered the Firework dessert (€4) that is a mochi ball with a mung bean filling, coconut cream around it and a drizzle of caramel, if you are not into this classic rice and beans Asian sweets, this will not be for you, but it was excellent for my taste. We also got the Last Temptation (€3) Vietnamese coffee with sweet soy milk cream and roasted sesame seeds. This was slightly sweet and nutty, and I highly recommend.
How good is Ryong? Do they really have the best vegetarian burger in Berlin?
Overall, this was one of our favorite places to eat vegan and vegetarian burgers here in Berlin (I would even say to eat burgers at all), and we rate it a 9/10. But keep in mind you don’t need that much food as we ordered, we are hungry beasts, but a burger and a beer would have been just as amazing. We highly recommend this place.
RYONG IN PRENZLAUER BERG
Torstraße 59, 10119 Berlin
ryong.de
The Hulk Burger was €8,50, the Tiger beer was €3,5 for 330ml, the delicious (but small) Last Temptation coffee was €3 and the dessert was €4.
If you like well seasoned Asian inspired food, this is for you. The food is surprising and amazing. This place could be great for a date and I would see myself spending even more time in there with some wine or something. The staff doesn’t give you that feeling that you need to get the f*ck out and we loved it. You need to go there!
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