Pork knuckle for the tour group, cabbage from a catering kitchen, done – that's how many people picture German food in Berlin. Eat only like that and you meet the city at its most tired.

Yet German cooking is behind some of the best tables in the city. Some have been around for generations, in taverns and beer gardens that have barely changed. Others cook regionally and anew, with game from Brandenburg and fish from the north. These are the places we keep coming back to.

Zur Letzten Instanz – Berlin's oldest tavern

Zur Letzten Instanz has been open on Waisenstraße in Mitte since 1621, which makes it the oldest tavern in the city. The name goes back to a quarrel between two farmers that ended not in court but here at the table – the last instance, literally. Wood-panelled rooms, grown-in patina, no theatrics.

Order the Königsberger Klopse in caper sauce – they show the kitchen's line most clearly: grounded, precise, unfussy. Closed on Sundays. In summer head for the beer garden under the old trees; in winter, book one of the panelled rooms.

Alt Berliner Wirtshaus Henne – one menu, one dish

On Leuschnerdamm in Kreuzberg, one Wirtshaus has committed to a single thing: roast chicken. High ceilings, dark wood, a room that has barely shifted in decades. Above the bar hangs a reply letter from John F. Kennedy, politely declining an invitation from the publican family. The Wall once stood five metres from the door.

Get the roast chicken from milk-fed poultry with potato or cabbage salad and a beer – you eat it with your hands, and the skin really crackles. On weekends a reservation is all but essential. Come early for a seat in the front room, where you can read the Kennedy letter up close.

Prater Gaststätte – Senfeier under the chestnuts

The Prater on Kastanienallee is Berlin's oldest beer garden – beer has been poured here for more than 180 years. In summer half of Prenzlauer Berg sits on long wooden benches under old chestnut trees, a Prater beer from the in-house brew in hand. Indoors the Gaststätte runs all year: warm wood, an old Berlin tavern room, no kitsch.

Order the Senfeier with crushed potatoes – eggs in mustard sauce, East Berlin home cooking that hardly anyone still puts on a menu. In winter there's Grünkohl with Pinkel and Kassler too, and goose in Advent.

Diener Tattersall – the artists' pub of 1954

Since 1954, Diener Tattersall on Grolmanstraße in Charlottenburg has been the city's artists' pub. Franz Diener, a former heavyweight boxer, took over the heritage-listed building, originally a riding school from 1893, and turned it into a meeting place for actors, artists and intellectuals. The portraits on the walls have grown with the guests over the decades. Barbara Kraehkamp has run the house since 2005.

Order the veal schnitzel with pan-fried potatoes or the eggs in mustard sauce – classics nobody here feels the need to explain away. Sourdough bread with rendered lard arrives first, and it isn't an optional extra. Between courses, look for familiar faces in the portraits.

Joseph-Roth-Diele – roast pork in the reading room

The Joseph-Roth-Diele on Potsdamer Straße in Schöneberg is named after Joseph Roth. Roth lived next door, and work on the novel “Das Spinnennest” is said to have begun here. Photographs and work excerpts line the walls, with dark wood and soft lamps: tables to write at or eat at.

Have the Schweinebraten with Bratkartoffeln and a beer from the earthenware Tonkrug; the daily specials include Rinderroulade. Take a table along the walls with the letters – you can see the whole Diele from there. Open Tuesday to Friday only.

Borchardt – the schnitzel as city currency

For decades Borchardt in Mitte has been where politics, film and longtime regulars meet. The dining room is Jugendstil staging, with tall columns under stucco ceilings, and the French-Mediterranean kitchen has collected awards.

Order the Wiener Schnitzel anyway – it hangs over the edge of the plate and has long been a Berlin institution. Sides come separately: add the potato salad, or the schnitzel arrives alone. Book ahead; walk-ins rarely get a table.

Peter Schlemihl – Käsespätzle on Chamissoplatz

Peter Schlemihl sits right on Chamissoplatz in Kreuzberg's Bergmannkiez and is named after the fairy-tale figure by Adalbert von Chamisso. In summer the large window front opens up completely; inside there are wooden benches, and outside the cobblestone street serves as the terrace.

Order the Käsespätzle – classic with Bergkäse, fried onions and chives, or as a variant with Gorgonzola, rocket and walnuts. If you already know them, try the spinach and pretzel dumplings in mushroom sauce.

Jäger & Lustig – Brandenburg game under a GDR ceiling

This beer hall on Grünberger Straße in Friedrichshain spreads 130 seats up and down stairs across several levels and, despite the East Berlin address, feels more like a Black Forest cabin. The ceiling is original GDR-era and under heritage protection. In summer a large beer garden opens.

Order the hunters board for two – venison pâté, smoked eel and Stullen, Brandenburg game on a single board. If you'd rather have fish, take the pike fillet from the Rügen Bodden. There's also a regional beer that is poured exclusively in Berlin.

Fischer & Lustig – Labskaus, refined

Fischer & Lustig, the sister venue to Jäger & Lustig, sits on Poststraße in the Nikolaiviertel, between brick facades and the Spree. The menu reads the North German fish repertoire more modern than the setting suggests. Erik Arndt runs the kitchen, with a style honed at Hamburg's Fischereihafen-Restaurant.

Order the refined Labskaus – with a quail's egg instead of a hen's and matjes in place of rollmops – and a North German beer. No other dish shows as clearly what the kitchen can do.

Jungbluth – modern German cooking with a Bib Gourmand

Jungbluth has been cooking in Steglitz since 2013 and holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Andre Sawahn, one of the two founders, now runs the house solo and keeps the line: modern German cuisine tied to the season, built from the week's market. The menu stays small by design, with three starters, two fish and two meat mains and three desserts.

Order Jungbluth's Wahl – the kitchen picks the courses itself, with optional wine pairing. It's the quickest way to understand the current menu. Vegetarian on request.