Berlin ! What a city with its big wide avenues and huge park in the centre (Tear Garden). Now this year was not the first time that I gone to Berlin as I had been there twice before so I know the city already quite well. But unlike on this occasion I had never really done the tourist thing, as I was much younger when I had last been and done the night club thing and not much during the day really. So this time I took the open top bus and went on my visit of the city as a proper tourist. I must say I only had two full days to do anything (well one and a half as the first day i took my time to wake up and get ready to face the world after a week at the office).
What I like about Berlin is the fact that you have the feeling that you live in a city where space is not an issue as everything is so big (not American style but by European standards the roads etc. give the impression of space). Having driven around the city on previous occasions I can tell you that it’s one of the few European capital cities where driving is a pleasure. I am not going to explain all the monuments I saw as that would be boring and the photos I took will do the talking. However I will chat about the two-three great restaurants that I went to. Germany is not a country famed for its cooking but I have never eaten badly when I have been to Germany be it in Bonn, Koln or Berlin for that matter. And this trip did not fail to impress me either and the bars we visited were great too. PS. It does help to have your best mate as Head Concierge in Berlin to get the inside track into Berlin life and I wasn’t disappointed trust me. You eat well and restaurants here are much cheaper than in Paris or London for the same quality.
So lets start of the Bars as one needs to have a drink prior to eating out and then in Part two I will be chatting about the restaurants and to end it all off a couple of photos of the city :
Hefner Bar Berlin : Small chilled out cocktail bar lounge, where the service is great and Cocktails are not too bad at all really. For those that follow my blog you will know that I test all bars by choosing one drink as a tester and that is the simple yet delicious Caipirinha. Below are the results of the test and photos of the beverage :
Test results:
Atmosphere : 6.5/10
Service : 7.5/10
Décor : 7.5/10
Quality of Cocktails : 7/10
Choice of Cocktails and Spirits : 6.5 /10
Value for money : 8/10
Overall Score :7.1 /10
Hefner Cocktail Club, Savingnyplatz , Ecke Kantstrabe 146, 10623 Berlin +49 30 31 017520
Butchers Bar Berlin : Now a lot of you may know the concept behind the butchers bar in New York, well they have done the same here in Berlin. Now I was taken by surprise as I had no idea how this bar works. My mates told me we were going to go to this cool bar, only problem is when you get to the address that is on the card you are faced with a keebab shop. The concept is actually rather cool when you figure out that you have to enter the keebab shop and enter the bar through the back like an abattoir for a butchery. You get to a red English style phone booth and then you lift up the receiver and this rings the bell in the bar and the doorman tell you yes or no depending on the amount of people in the bar. No windows just a dark bar, with the walls covered in thick velvet cloth, bottles hanging on strings at the bar and a heavily tattooed lady serving you drinks or the short barman doing his things with his head just looking overt he counter. The drinks here were great and I loved the cosy chilled out atmosphere and the underground feeling as no one on the street would imagine that you were there having a drink behind the keebab shop. Once again the Caipirinha was tested and enjoyed thoroughly.
Test results:
Atmosphere : 8/10
Service : 9/10
Décor : 8.5/10
Quality of Cocktails : 9/10
Choice of Cocktails and Spirits : 7 /10
Value for money : 9/10
Overall Score : 8.4 /10
Butcher Cocktail Club, Butcher´s Bar, Torstr. 116, 10119 Berlin (Mitte), +49 (0)17664328330
So that’s it for now Part two coming up for the all the foodies …
Simixion 