Eating out

I eat out a lot in Berlin. It is not just that the kitchen in the Guest house is limited to a two-burner hot plate with no oven or microwave. I can still cook a decent dinner when I am at home. But I am home much less.

My friend and colleague Peter an I eat out together at least once a week, and I have meals out with other colleagues too. It is partly because the food in restaurants is comparatively cheap (tonight for about $15 I had a fancy omelette and several glasses of beer to drink -- for essentially the same price I could have had pasta or pizza or some form of meat) or that it is reliably good, but mainly because it is how people socialize. This is not unique to Berlin. I remember eating out more in Chicago and friends in New York also take advantage of the splendid array of restaurants there. After years of living in East Lansing, it merely seems exotic.

It is also not a problem in Germany to get separate bills, which makes collaborative dining much less of a mad rush of calculations at the end. Generally the cash register will do it. If not, the waiters or waitresses will gladly separate items for you. Since tax is included, the math is much simpler.