Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie (for beers)?

November 2, 2009 4:13 AM

Give me your recommendations for good bars in Berlin and Hamburg-with a few provisos!

We are going to be in Berlin and Hamburg this week and we already have our sightseeing itineraries worked out. We would like to complement this by going to some great bars when we are there. Five people are going.

A few considerations that I hope you can take into account:

-ideally we would like to go to areas that have a concentration of bars/nightlife. A great bar in an isolated area may be great in it's own right, but being in a group, we would like to be in areas where we can bar-hop and move from one place to the next if the current one's not to our taste.

-we would like the bars to be quite lively.

-we like good dive bars, a little bit scuzzy is good.

-we would rather listen to rock music/electro than hard techno.

-we would like to drink nice beer.

-somewhere that sells great food is good.

-hipsterish is both good and bad. If you know a good hipster bar, please tell me, if you know one to avoid, please tell me.

-any other info such as subway stations, best times to visit an area, anything else that you can think of would be most appreciated.

I've been to Berlin before, read a few of the Berlin websites and previous threads but anything you have to add would be great.

Thanks

posted by ClanvidHorse to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

We enjoyed the Brauhaus Lemke, when we were in Berlin, there is more than one but we preferred the one at Hackescher Markt, it is a touristy area so has other food and drinking places nearby.
posted by biffa at 4:53 AM on November 2

Berlin: Anywhere on the right of Wiener Strasse as you go down from Görlitzer station (ie not Morena or Hannibal) most places on Oranienstrasse except the place with the huge glass window and crest-thingy further up (this is not Oranienburgerstrasse. O-burgerstrasse and Hackescher Markt are god-awful tourist traps). White Trash/Cafe Burger are also touristy but more fun. Avoid Weserstrasse, which is the newly gentrifying art student strip (except for Silver Futures) and also Schlesische Strasse and Simon-Dach Strasse
posted by runincircles at 6:03 AM on November 2

Thanks for both responses so far. We want to mix it with the locals so avoiding tourist traps would be ideal. My idea of hell is drinking in a Hard Rock Cafe.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 6:07 AM on November 2

also: Volkerfreundschaft right at Senefelder Platz U-bahn is nice as are BAIZ, christinenstr corner of Torstrasse, Morgenrot on Kastanienallee, Kato under Schlesisches Tor, Lokal at Rosenthalerstr. 71, and Schokoladen on Ackerstrasse (both Rosenthaler Platz U-bahn.)
posted by runincircles at 6:13 AM on November 2

Hamburg:
My comment in a previous post is still relevant.

Berlin:
Erdbeer Bar

White Trash Fast Food
posted by chillmost at 6:21 AM on November 2

Kumpelnest 3000 the area around this (an armpit of an area, frankly, is coming up - Kumpelnest 3000 is famous for being, well, nuts.

A little south of there (and just a little ways from Akazien strasse) there's also Zulu bar, a striaght-up New York-esque bar which is across the street from "Neues Ufer" (where Bowie 'used to hang out').

I once had a few too many at the Pony Bar, up the street from Monsieur Vong (great food).

I drink at a horrible bar in Friedenau I will not mention - which is to say, avoid Friedenau. Have fun.
posted by From Bklyn at 7:38 AM on November 2

I ate at Monsieur Vong last time I was in town From Bklyn. I agree, great food. So I know where the Pony Bar is too.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 1:55 PM on November 2