Bar entertainment in Europe
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A
Jáma
Jáma (‘the Hollow’), southeast off Vodičkova, is a popular American expat bar with vaulted ceilings plastered with old rock gig posters ranging from Led Zep and REM to Kiss and Shania Twain. There’s a leafy little beer garden out the back shaded by lime and walnut trees, smiling staff serving up Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus and Velkopopvický Kozel on draught, and a menu that includes good burgers, steaks, ribs and chicken wings.
reviewed
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B
Café en Seine
A tidy jazz band for Sunday brunch and some Big Band Swing on Monday nights fill out the musical menu at one of Dublin’s biggest and most wildly extravagant bars. The Belle Epoque décor make it easy to imagine that you’re actually at one of F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s decadent parties.
reviewed
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C
Le Piano Vache
Down the hill from the Panthéon, this bar is covered in old posters above old couches and is drenched in 1970s and ‘80s rock ambience. Effortlessly underground and a real student fave, bands and DJs play mainly rock, plus some goth, reggae and pop.
reviewed
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't Velootje
Push through the heavy, unmarked door and take care not to trip over old bikes, or whack your head on the kero lamps cluttering this tiny, darkened garage as you take a seat at a low wooden picnic table. Lieven De Vos has turned his bicycle workshop into an informal bar, of sorts - ask for a beer and Lieven will bring out whatever he selects; his opening hours are 'whenever I feel like opening until it closes down' (try after 21:00).
There are plans to expand the pub to accommodate Lieven's collection of antique bikes; the expansion is scheduled to be complete in 2010, Het Velootje's 25-year anniversary.
To find the pub, walk north along Oudburg until you see a pile of j…
reviewed
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E
Colle Beretto
On the same square as the fortress-like Palazzo Strozzi, this bar/cafe opts instead for plate glass and beefy bouncers. The terrace is luxuriously fitted out with cushy sofas, while inside, pea-green neon and transparent Kartell chairs scream design. The aperitivo buffet is among the city’s most generous.
reviewed
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Café Bar Inspire
Coventry's Christchurch church was destroyed during World War II, leaving only the spire, which now, slightly sacrilegiously, shelters this bar. This is forgivable as it is very good. It serves an international selection of bottled brews, as well as baguette and salad snacks throughout the day.
reviewed
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Captain Cook Pub
There’s not much to say about the CC except that it enjoys an enviable location diagonally opposite the basilica, the terrace is a delight in the warm weather, there are four beers on tap and the staff are welcoming and friendly. And for us, that’s sufficient.
reviewed
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G
Tolkien's House
This most unusual bar is just up the street from Lotrščak Tower. It's decorated in the style of Tolkien's famous books and has a cosy enclosed terrace where you can drink the best hot chocolate in Zagreb.
reviewed
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H
Real Mccoy
This ‘bootlegger’s bar’ has walls plastered in old newspapers, two-for-one happy-hour specials (5pm to 8pm) and a dance floor crowded with expats. There is live jazz and rock music in the evenings (9pm Wednesday to Sunday) then, after 11pm, the serious drinking begins. The later it gets, the more they drink. The Real McCoy is considered to be the last of Moscow’s old-fashioned debauched and depraved dive bars, where women are invited to dance on the bar (preferably without a shirt on) and men are practically guaranteed to take home a new friend, if they are not too picky.
reviewed
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French House
French House is Soho’s legendary boho boozer (with a good restaurant downstairs) with a history to match: this was the meeting place of the Free French Forces during WWII, and De Gaulle is said to have drunk here often, while Dylan Thomas, Peter O’Toole and Francis Bacon all frequently ended up on the wooden floors. Come here to sip on Ricard, French wine or Kronenbourg and check out the quirky locals.
reviewed
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Freni e Frizioni
Everyone’s favourite hip Trastevere hang-out: in a former life, this bar/café was a garage, hence its name (‘brakes and clutches’). The arty crowd flocks here to slurp well-priced drinks (especially mojitos) and pack the piazza in front. You can eat breakfast here, have lunch, munch brunch at the weekend, and feast on the good-value aperitivo. Hell, you could even move in here.
reviewed
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K
La Dolce Vita
A perennial favourite of the city’s status-conscious youth and nearly young, Dolce Vita has stood up to competition from newer offerings such as Noir and Colle Beretto and remains the best place to show off your prowess in selecting designer labels. As weather permits, crowds spill out of the industrial-style interior onto the adjacent piazza, which would be stunning if it weren’t made to double as a car park.
reviewed
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L
Bar del Fico
At the time of writing Bar del Fico was undergoing some works to shore up its façade. By the time you read this, fingers crossed, this long-standing favourite of the capital's bohemians will have reopened and you can return to while away days and nights at its fig-tree-shaded tables. The elderly chess players never left: they carried on their games in the cobbled street beside the building site.
reviewed
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Auld Dubliner
Predominantly patronised by tourists, ‘the Auld Foreigner’, as locals have dubbed it, has a carefully manicured ‘old-world’ charm that has been preserved – or refined – after a couple of renovations. It’s a reliable place for a singsong and a laugh, as long as you don’t mind taking 15 minutes to get to and from the jax (toilet).
reviewed
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N
Bar Torra
Housed inside a fortified Venetian tower at the beginning of the city walls, this was one of the first private cafes in Albania, opened by a team of local artists. After you've had a peek at the tourist information section inside, and at the view from the top, you can drink a local brew in the cosy barred nooks of the old tower. The ceiling is strangely reminiscent of Hoxha's bunkers.
reviewed
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O
El Mojito
El Mojito is a modern temple to one of the favourite drinks of madrileños. In fact, it doesn’t really serve much else, but the price is right (€6) and the crowd is oh-so-cool and all dressed in black; the music (often live on Thursdays) is as Cuban as the mojitos. Space is always at a premium (the wall-to-ceiling mirrors make it look larger than it is).
reviewed
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Strandbar Herrmann
You’d swear you’re by the sea at this hopping canalside beach bar, with beach chairs, sand and hordes of Viennese livin’ it up on hot summer evenings. Films occasionally feature, blankets are available and if you get bored of lounging, have a go at a game of boules. Cool trivia: it’s located on Herrmannpark, named after picture postcard inventor Emanuel Herrmann (1839–1902).
reviewed
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Sportland
Non-stop sports on three giant screens and countless smaller plasma TVs around the bar. You will undoubtedly be able to catch your team's big game here, no matter who your team might be. Otherwise, there is no reason to frequent this casino-bar, unless you enjoy glaring lights, blaring slot machines and greasy food. The Rbl500-cover charge gets subtracted from your bill.
reviewed
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Les Affiches
Once the boho-favourite ‘Stardust’, but the name-and-management change doesn’t seem to have made much difference. The hep cats in cool hats are postcard-home handsome and hang out in the cobbled street as well as in the cramped red-and-black rooms inside, and there’s occasional live music at aperitivo o’clock (early evening).
reviewed
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Market Bar
This fashionable watering hole is run by the same guys as the Globe around the corner. Little would you know this beautiful, airy Victorian space was a sausage factory in a former life.
reviewed
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Zvonařká
Sitting at the far end of a quiet residential street where Vinohrady spills over into the Nusle valley, Zvonařká has a stylish, minimalist interior, but its biggest attraction is outdoors – a broad, tree-shaded terrace overhanging a steep hill, with expansive views across the valley to Vyšehrad, a great place for a beer on a summer evening.
reviewed
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Pavilhão Chinês
Pavilhão Chinês is an old curiosity shop of a bar with oil paintings and model spitfires dangling from the ceiling, and cabinets brimming with glittering Venetian masks and Action Men. Play pool or bag a comfy armchair to nurse a port or beer. Prices are higher than elsewhere, but such classy kitsch doesn’t come cheap.
reviewed
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Instant
Love, love, love this new ‘rubble bar’ on Pest’s most vibrant nightlife strip and so do all our friends. It’s got four bars on two levels with bopping, relaxing and chilling. If you want a taste of things to come and can’t wait till lunchtime, head for the ground-floor coffee shop (open from 8am to 10pm).
reviewed
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Palau de Dalmases - Espai Barroc
Perhaps the most pretentious bar in town, this 'baroque space' occupies the ground floor of a handsome 15th-century palace. Like a Peter Greenaway set, it is often the stage for a little light baroque music or operetta - the perfect accompaniment to your outlandishly priced goblets of wine.
reviewed
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Oibò
By day, it’s a neighbourhood bar where locals get their croissant and cappuccinos. But by night, Oibò becomes Via de’ Benci’s top hot spot, attracting a young-skewing crowd who down fruity cocktails and, despite space restraints, gyrate to house and pop sounds spun by resident DJs.
reviewed
