AtayaCaffe | African-Italian cuisine

AtayaCaffe is a vegan African-Italian coffee place in Prenzlauer Berg serving sandwiches, rice and pasta dishes, daily specials as well as cakes. They also have a popular weekend brunch.

The menu at ‘Ataya’ includes sandwiches – ciabatta, bagel or homemade Sardinian piadina – with a variety of fillings (avocado, hummus, grilled veggies, etc.), salads, a breakfast plate, smoothies, and smoothie bowls. There is also a selection of traditional African dishes such as “Mafè” – veggie stew with peanut sauce or “Yassa” – veggies and onions in a mustard sauce.

Additionally, there are Italian dishes including lasagna, minestrone, and gnocchi, but also daily specials such as bowls, pasta dishes or a hummus plate.

They also serve a variety of vegan cakes as well as coffee and tea specialties.

The highlight of ‘Ataya’ probably is the “Afro Italian Vegan Brunch” every Sunday. Here you will find an open buffet filled with African and Italian specialties. For 14€ per person (without drinks) you will get a variety of salads, bread, fruit, veggies, hummus, soup, pasta and rice dishes, and banana bread. There are traditional African dishes with mustard, peanut or couscous, but also Italian specialties such as pasta with pesto.

Contrary to most other vegan brunch buffets, Ataya, due to it’s African and Italian origins, does not offer a lot of sweet options. This is not at all a minus as the savoury offers are more than convincing. The food is very tasty, perfectly seasoned, some dishes a little spicy, others perfectly balanced. And should you still be looking for something sweet, you can always order some cake on the side. 🙂

Aside from brunch, prices are a little above average – a breakfast plate is 13 Euros, a hummus plate for lunch about 10 Euros. Sandwiches cost about 5 to 6 Euros.

The interior of “Ataya Caffe” is reminiscent of Africa and (only a little of) Italy – wooden furniture, colourful tablecloths, pillows and wall decorations. For children, there is a separate corner to read, be creative and play.

It can become a little loud inside during brunch with the café being filled with young and old guests, but nothing uncommon for this kind of events. The lively atmosphere actually matches the colourful location and happy and friendly staff.

Inside, there is space for about 40 people. In summer, there are a couple of tables outside as well for about 25 people.

FYI: The word “Ataya” is a Senegalese tea or tea ceremony.
FYI 2: Ataya turned entirely vegan on 1 May 2018.

We recommend the Sunday brunch buffet.

We visited “AtayaCaffe” in February 2018.