Deirdre G.
Yelp
(Bursts through the Berlin Wall like the Kool-Aid Man)
Guys. Guys. Y'all have to go here if you ever find yourself in Berlin.
I discovered this place while on Sandemans NewEurope Berlin Alternative Tour, and I loved it so much that I decided I wanted to take my dad there that evening for dinner for our last night in the city. We'd had our fill of currywurst, potatoes, and sauerkraut, so I figured that something different would be memorable on our trip.
Yaam stands for "Young African Artists Market", so naturally there are a lot of African expats that hang out here, but because the neighborhood has become more gentrified, it's a popular spot among millenials for cheap exotic eats and dancing, as well.
When I arrived that afternoon with my tour group, we took a 20 minute break here. During this time, I spent it mostly watching a group of African dancers that had met on the small stage on the beach side of the market, taking pictures of the murals that adorned the outside walls of the central venue, and people watching with an ice-cold Afri-cola. It was just so fun and funky that I asked my tour guide to show us where exactly we were on a map and how late it was open.
When I got back to our hotel in Moabit, I easily convinced my dad to come here, so we took the S-Bahn from Bellevue to Ostbanhof and made our way there on foot. We ate stew from one of the African food huts and drank beer at the bar in the back while relaxing on two of the over-sized beach chairs. Sadly, there were no live performances on the stage that night, but there was dancing going on at the bar.
I'm really glad we made the trek out here, because it was the perfect way to end our trip!