Café Einstein Stammhaus

For a taste of Old World decadence visit this Nollendorfplatz institution set in a neo-Renaissance villa built in the 1870s by a wealthy industrialist. Its heyday saw it used as a gambling den for Weimar-era high society but it’s Jewish owners were soon arrested by the incoming Nazi regime. Supposedly gifted by Goebbels to one of his many film-star mistresses, it then continued its illicit history as an illegal club for carousing SS officers. It carries the ignoble distinction of being one of the few original buildings to have survived wartime carpet bombing. Red leather banquettes, parquet flooring and the crack of wooden chairs all contribute to the old Viennese café experience at Einstein. Come for a bracing breakfast of herb omelette with feta cheese and spinach, €8.50, or in the afternoon enjoy a classic apple strudel, €5.80, and a Weiner Melange (a creamy Austrian coffee), all served with a flourish by the charming uniformed waiters.