Bar entertainment in Germany
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Melody Bar
After 10pm you may have to shoehorn your way into this jewel of a cocktail bar that’s an island of sophistication amid the boisterous Altstadt thirst parlours. The drinks are excellent, the owner couple gracious, the crowd mixed and the house dog a cute pooch.
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Floating Lounge
The best time for a cold one at this retro lounge on the Eastern Comfort Hostelboat is at sunset when the sun paints the Oberbaumbrücke (bridge) a fiery red. Very romantic, very Berlin. On Wednesday nights, the Floating Lounge hosts the Boat Party, which brings together an easy-going, all-ages, international crowd keen on practicing their English skills with a merry band of English-speaking expats and visitors. It’s a fun way to meet locals and visitors over a beer and bratwurst. The party attracts lots of regulars, but don’t be shy – people are eager to welcome newcomers. Admission is €1, which is added to your first drink. Also check MC Charles’ website,…
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Kuschlowski
When fierce winter winds blow in from the east, it's the perfect time to hole up by the crackling fireplace in this ex-bordello amid retro furniture and home-made lamps. The polyethnic crowd is united by a penchant for stiff drinks, especially the many Russian vodka varieties.
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Lago Bay
Lago Bay is wedged between Hamburg del Mar (which looks like a pirates' cove with its famous St Pauli skull-and-crossbones flags) and Hamburg City Beach Club (with its Moroccan lounge). Refreshingly, you can actually swim at this chic retreat. Sun-loungers are arranged around the outdoor pool, while free exercise classes will help you keep fit, er, between cocktails.
S-Bahn Königstrasse will get you here, or catch bus 112 to Hafentreppe/Fischmarkt and walk for five minutes straight ahead or west from Hafentreppe; downhill from Fischmarkt to the riverbank and then right or west.
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Künstliche Beatmung
You won’t need artificial respiration (the name of this bar), but the deliriously retro look may well take your breath away. The psychedelic wallpaper could cause ’60s flashbacks while the white-ribbed tunnel will make you feel like Jonah inside the whale. Thursday nights, when hobby DJs hit the decks, can be hit or miss but come Friday and Saturday seasoned pros heat up the crowd with minimal, electro and funk.
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Newton Bar
At this glamour vixen on Gendarmenmarkt you can swirl your whisky with the posh set with an entire wall of Helmut Newton’s high-heeled nudes stimulating the imagination. On your way to the upstairs humidor and smoking lounge (in winter only), you’ll even pass a signed photograph of the master himself. In fine weather, sit outside and see if you and your stogey can stop that cutie on the footpath.
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Eschschloraque
This trashy-chic bar is a rare bulwark against Mitte’s creeping yuppification. Find it past the trash cans at the end of the courtyard of Haus Schwarzenberg, one of the few unrenovated houses left around here. We love the surreal monster decor by the Dead Chickens art collective, the comfy sofas, the strong cocktails and the eccentric live music – if only the staff laid off the snootiness.
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Reingold
This 1930s-style glamour lounge draws talkative sophisticates, grateful for the mellow lighting and low sound levels. Video projections, photography exhibits and a wall-sized portrait of Klaus and Erika Mann – a mosaic of pages from Klaus’ novel Mephisto – add an artsy touch, while tapas options provide sustenance. There are DJ nights at weekends and a terrace in summer.
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2raumlounge
This is the jiving lynchpin of the Auf den Höfen scene. Sitting in the space-age orange chairs, you can gaze at the regularly changing art on the walls and even buy a piece if you feel inclined to do so. Though the crowd is largely mid-20s, a few older regulars dig in here, especially when football team Werder Bremen is playing - Werder matches are always screened here. Thursday is student night.
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Victoriabar
Original art decorates this discreet cocktail lounge favoured by a grown-up crowd that’s like a two-inch heel – chic but sensible. Try the Ramos Gin Fizz, bar owner Stefan Weber’s favourite libation. Budget boozers invade for happy hour before 9.30pm. It's about 750m south of the Kulturforum via Potsdamer Strasse.
reviewed
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Shōchū
Banter quietly away in this dimly lit deluxe drinking den specialised in cocktails based on shōchū, a traditional Japanese spirit. Look on as bartenders whip up libational flights of fancy infused with saffron, bergamot, jasmine and other tantalizing aromas.
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Becketts Kopf
Beyond Samuel Beckett's head in the window, the art of cocktail-making is taken very seriously. Settle into a heavy, wine-coloured armchair in the warmly lit room and look on as the barkeeps whip high-calibre spirits, fresh juices and secret ingredients into classic and creative concoctions intended to appeal to all the senses.
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Sanatorium 23
This Zen-meets-pop-art-in-hospital lounge is likely to cure whatever ails you. At first, though, risk chemistry class flashbacks when facing the drinks menu set up like a periodic table: ordering an He gets you Hemingway sour, Ps a prosecco and Mi a mojito. From Thursday to Saturday DJs turn the place into an electro party zone after 9pm.
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Greenwich
So hip it doesn’t even bother with a sign, this highfalutin fixture on the cocktail circuit is another Midas-touch venture by Heinz Gindullis, the man behind Cookies. You’ll have plenty of time to study the mamba-green bar and sofas, illuminated aquariums and eye-candy crowd while you’re waiting for your expert cocktail.
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Pub Crawl
New Munich's (in)famous Pub Crawl makes stops in five bars and clubs, includes free vodka shots and meets at the corner of Münzstrasse and Orlandostrasse.
The Beer Tour (around €16) leaves earlier at 14:30 and takes a more, ahem, academic approach, but includes a free litre of beer and entry to the Pub Crawl…
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Orient Lounge
Heed the call of the kasbah at this classy nightspot infused with ambient Arabic sounds and the sweet aroma of apple and honey. Find your favourite cushion in the sultry shisha (water pipe) lounge or reserve a private niche to sip your cocktails behind a tinkling pearl curtain. The entrance is through the Rote Harfe pub.
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Zum Flaucher
This congenial restaurant-cum-beer garden in the Isar River meadows feels a like a micro-vacation from the city bustle. The spare ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, kids can wear themselves out on the imaginative playground and soccer fans descend for big matches beamed onto a giant screen. Take the U3 to Brudermühlstrasse.
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Netzer & Overrath
This alt-flavoured double-pub is named for two members of the German national soccer team that won the FIFA World Cup in 1974. Overrath is the quieter one, more a daytime place where for reading, sipping coffee or snacking. After dark Netzer puts 'fun' in 'funky' with loud rock, Britpop, cold beer and a Fussball table.
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Gainsbourg
The spirit of namesake crooner Serge Gainsbourg seems to waft through this West Berlin institution, now in larger digs beneath the S-Bahn arches. Round tables, candle light and chansons all exude a cosy Paris vibe that speaks to a crowd probably old enough to have made out to Je t’aime, Serge’s steamy 1969 duet with Jane Birkin. Classic cocktails. Gauloises cigarettes optional.
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Luzia
Tarted up nicely with vintage furniture, baroque wallpaper and whimsical wall art by Berlin-based street artist Chin Chin, Luzia draws its crowd from eastern Kreuzberg's more sophisticated urban dwellers. Some punters have derided it as Mitte-goes-Kreuzberg, but it’s still a comfy spot with lighting that gives even pasty-faced hipsters a glow. Smoker's lounge.
reviewed
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Ambulance Bar
No first aid required: the Ambulance Bar is a healthily hip modern lounge that’s refreshingly untacky, despite being stuck in tourist central. Red lights make everyone look good, and nightly ‘DJ pleasures’ kick in after 10pm. Cocktails are competently mixed but don’t expect any bargains.
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Greifbar
Men-Film-Cruising: Greifbar’s motto says it all. This Prenzlauer Berg staple draws a mixed crowd of jeans, sneakers, leather and skin sniffing each other out below the big-screen video in the comfortable bar before retiring to the sweaty play zone in the back. Beers are half-price on Mondays.
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Morizz
This mod Art Deco-style lounge with red leather armchairs and mirrors for posing and preening goes for a more moneyed clientele and even gets the occasional local celebrity drop-in. The service is impeccable, the food's good and the wine and whisky list keeps everyone happily pickled. Packed on weekends.
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Fc Magnet Mitte
In the club home of the eponymous football club, this stylish bar is a civilised spot to relive the 2006 soccer World Cup euphoria. A flirty crowd sips cocktails, plays table football or cheers on its favourite team on the big screen, all under the watchful eye of the 'Kaiser' Franz Beckenbauer himself.
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Monarch Bar
Behind a long steamed-up window front, eye level with the elevated U-Bahn tracks, Monarch is an ingenious blend of trashy sophistication, an international crowd and danceable tunes beyond the mainstream. Enter via the signless steel door adjacent to the doner kebab shop east of the Kaiser’s supermarket. Smoking OK.
reviewed