Tian Fu, Szechuan Cuisine, Charlottenburg

In London, if I met someone I liked the look of, I would have to bump into them another 5 times before it was ok to suggest going out for a coffee together.  And a further 2 (total of 7), before suggesting a meal.  Everyone’s so busy and have such mad swirling social lives (don’t you know it?) that being enthusiastic is the kiss of death.  (I believe these people sit at home on a Friday evening, with a microwave meal, watching bad TV.)

Berlin is nothing like that, thank goodness.  It is so easy to make friends, make even the slightest effort and you are immediately included.

When I went to the Thyme Super Club (Have you been yet? No? Go).  I sat next to a very interesting Chinese woman who works in advertising.  I invited her along to the pop up diner ‘Pret a Diner‘ and after reading about my failures with Chinese restaurants in Berlin, she invited me out with her girlfriends to one of the 3 Chinese restaurants they regularly go to called  Tian Fu (the other two being Peking Ente and Ming Dynastie across from the Chinese Embassy).

She explained to me that although she is from a part of China that does not eat spicy food, here in Berlin she prefers the Szechuan kitchen (known for its spicy food) because the ingredients are not as exciting or authentic as they would be back home. Read more of this post