A south-German Fräulein travels from her small dorf to the big city, bringing with her childhood memories of homemade and regionally-sourced food, to find her first true love: the perfect bio burger. Fräulein Burger’s story is like a modern-day Grimm’s fairytale.

Walking into Fräulein Burger, you realise it’s what would happen if Cath Kidson and Laura Ashley mated and gave birth to a burger joint. All red and white checked textiles and little flower arrangements. It’s ‘cutesy’ incarnate. The background music matches the theme too, playing some kind of whimsical soft-jazz elevator muzak that sounds like the type you’d imagine they played in a 1950s American furniture showroom, and almost had me tugging on Philip’s arm begging him to buy me one of those new-fangled Microwave Ovens the girls at the hair salon won’t stop talking about.

The ethos of the place is clear – printed on menus, blackboard and flyers all around the restaurant: “Alles Bio”. Whereas some places offer the chance to upgrade your burger’s fleisch to bio-fleisch for some (generally) ridiculous extra cost, Fräulein Burger goes one step further to ensure that every single aspect of their food is bio, free-range, regionally and ethically sourced, and, where possible, homemade. They make concessions for all tastes and diets, offering lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan meals and alternatives. Sure this extra work and care adds to the price of the food there – but not by a lot – and, for those who are conscious about the food they eat, it’s a small price to pay.

The menu is small but effective. Compared to our last review on Zsa Zsa Burger, where we were offered so many great options that deciding which burger to have became a problem, one look at Fräulein Burger’s menu is enough for you to know exactly which one you want. It contains a handful of classic burgers, plus a lamb burger, a vegetarian burger and a vegan one. There is also a ‘Burger Des Monats’ burger which changes monthly. Burgers start at €3.20 and go up to €8.90 for the mighty Fräulein Burger (boasting a 250g beef patty). They also offer an alternative to pommes in the form of Gemüse Stäbchen, made from an assortment of fried vegetables.

We ordered the Fräulein Burger, which comes with cheddar cheese, bacon, salad and Fräulein’s own burger sauce, and the Burger Des Monats, which (for April) comes with sautéed spinach, caramelised onions, bacon, onion rings and blue cheese (sounds good, right?).

Soon, our smiling Fräulein placed our burgers in front of us and we popped the caps on our mid-day bio biers. The 250g patty in the Fräulein Burger is a serious lump of meat that stands tall in the bun and dwarfed the 125g Burger Des Monats (which itself is not small). Along with our surroundings, the burgers certainly have a feminine quality to them. They are soft, light and dainty, and actually taste healthy. As the Fräulein behind Fräulein Burger told us, “as I am Fräulein Burger, there’s a little ‘Fräulein’ in every burger!”, and you can sure taste it.

Along with their neighbour Shiso Burger, Fräulein Burger offers excellent lunchtime burgers which satisfy without leaving you needing a nap afterwards.

We’ve noticed that as the quality of the meat used in Berlin’s burger joints steadily improves, it’s becoming the norm for burgers to be served medium rare. Fräulein Burger takes this to another level, serving their burgers’ patties so rare their insides match the restaurant’s pink interior decor. Their meat is more roughly ground than typical hackfleisch and, served as rare as it is, has a soft texture reminiscent of steak tartare. This leads to the burgers seeming more like incredibly decadent beef sandwiches compared to the burgers you’re used to.

Fräulein Burger, which is, incidentally, one of the last restaurants in Berlin you can call the waitress “Fräulein” without having them spit in your food, runs the Fräulein Burger Club, which offers free membership and members receive vouchers throughout the year – including a birthday burger treat.

BLY’s top tips for eating at Fräulein Burger

• Try the bio-bier – it’s from a small local company and tastes great.
• Check out the blackboard for the Burger Des Monats.
• If you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies, let them know – they have many different options to cater for tastes (including the interestingly-titled “Soyannaise” mayonnaise replacement).

The verdict

Andy says: “A really cute and unique little place; I can see Fräulein Burger quickly becoming some people’s favourite burger joint. Great service, good food and a nice feeling afterwards – that you’ve eaten responsibly and haven’t over-eaten. I do, however, like my burgers with a bit more chest-hair.”

Phil says: “I love the Fräulein ‘100% approach’: 100% local 100% organic 100% homemade. While some may say the burgers are not burgery enough, you still get your full meat experience and a great overall meal with excellent and friendly service. One thing I always miss is that ice cream or chocolate cake slice at the end. I hope one day the Fräulein will make these as well!”

Berlin Loves You Rating: 7.5/10

This review is part of our series on Berlin’s best burger joints. Read our opinion on what makes a good burger.

Fräulein Burger
Koppenplatz 1
10115 Berlin
Tel. 030 46720908
mail@fraeuleinburger.de
www.fraeuleinburger.de