Bon Appetit

top

• Schweizweit read more ›
  (20 Grosse Rainstrasse. Tel. 040 3990 7000)
  Indulge in a medley of Swiss fare - including fondue, hearty soups and cheese platters - at this Ottensen outpost, the city's only Swiss restaurant.
• Mö-Grill read more ›
  (1 Am Mönkebergbrunnen. )
  Elbow your way past the bespoke-clad business crowd for the city's finest grilled sausages, available at two spotless takeaway stalls opposite one another on Mönkebergstrasse.
• Lust auf Italien read more ›
  (133 Grosse Elbstrasse. Tel. 040 382 811)
  Score a seat at the communal wooden benches of this bustling harbourside restaurant and you'll be rewarded with big portions of quality southern Italian fare.
• Dips 'n Stix read more ›
  (24-25 Spielbudenplatz. Tel. 040 3177 8884)
  Nibble at everything from Spanish tapas and vegetable tempura at this, Germany's first finger-food restaurant, in the Schmidt Theater & Schmidts Tivoli.
• Curry Pirates read more ›
  (23 Mozartstrasse. Tel. 040 2878 0661)
  This tiny imbiss (fast food places) is a must for devotees of currywurst-sliced sausage drenched with curry powder and spiced ketchup, prepared to perfection.
• Alsterhaus read more ›
  (16-20 Jungfernstieg. Tel. 040 359 010)
  The up-market top-level food hall of Hamburg's premier department store features not only a stylish Champagne Bar but also fresh, made-to-order buffet meals, served beneath a wondrous painted-glass ceiling.

• Strohlampe read more ›
  (111 Alsterdorfer Strasse. Tel. 040 513 3479 )
  With its worn stucco interior and whimsical fairy lights, Strohlampe, in Winterhude, serves good Spanish cuisine (try the steak with French fries) at reasonable prices.
• Sashimi-Sushi read more ›
  (Hauptbahnhof. Tel. 040 3097 1697)
  In the food court of the city's main train terminal, sushi lovers gather for fastidiously prepared Japanese specialities, which are fresh and delicious.
• La Scala read more ›
  (54 Falkenried. Tel. 040 420 6295)
  Enjoy a market-fresh menu of superb Italian rations, theatrically paraded before patrons by chef Mario Zini at this worn but timeless eatery.
• Panthera Rodizio read more ›
  (3 Ditmar-Koel-Strasse. Tel. 040 378 6370)
  Featuring heaping dishes of everything from rice and beans to an endless selection of meats, including rump, fillet steak and rib eye, this Brazilian restaurant is a perennial Latin favourite.
• Cafe Fees read more ›
  (24 Holstenwall. Tel. 040 317 4766)
  The greenhouse-like atrium of the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte features a flora-filled café and restaurant with daily lunch specialities and a much-praised Sunday brunch.
• Mangold Lokal read more ›
  (30 Ölmühle. Tel. 040 2786 0248)
  The quirky, mostly vegetarian menu of this modernist soup-and-sandwich eatery ideally caters to Karoviertel's boho-glamorous denizens and mirrors this quarters' unconformist vibe.

• La Bruschetta read more ›
  (35 Dorotheenstrasse. Tel. 040 276 661)
  Under the watchful eye of long-time restaurateur Sandro Convertino, guests enjoy fresh seasonal Italian specialities at this timeless bolthole.
• Maral read more ›
  (22 Eppendorfer Baum. Tel. 040 461 699)
  An unassuming canalside eatery, this Eppendorf favourite serves inventive Pan-Asian dishes to clued-up habitués.
• Fischclub Blankenese read more ›
  (30 Strandweg, Blankeneser Landungsbrücken. Tel. 040 869 962)
  From the freshest bivalves to the most succulent of carpaccio and mouth-watering risotto, this legendary waterside eatery, located on a jetty in tiny Blankenese, excels at it all.
• Vlet read more ›
  (23-24 Am Sandtorkai. )
  Excelling at modern north German cuisine, this industrial-chic newbie is located in the warehouse district.
• Marinehof read more ›
  (77 Admiralitätstrasse. Tel. 040 374 2579)
  Quaff Augustiner Edelstoff beer before tucking into a plate of wieners (spicy pork sausages) and tasty home-made kartoffelsalat (potato salad) at this simple, light-filled wood-panelled eatery favoured by media types.
• Bok read more ›
  (27 Schanzenstrasse. Tel. 040 430 6780)
  Stellar Thai, Mandarin and Japanese specialities, including lovingly prepared sushi, are served in a spacious old-meets-new space featuring whitewashed pressed-tin ceilings and an ornate wooden cabinet prised from an old chemist shop.

• Brücke read more ›
  (82 Innocentiastrasse. Tel. 040 422 5525)
  Well-liked by Hamburg's art and media crowd, this tiny and atmospheric eatery is respected for its wonderfully Continental cuisine.
• Au Quai read more ›
  (145 Grosse Elbstrasse. Tel. 040 3803 7730)
  A first-rate harbourfront seafood eatery with views to match, this city icon now has a swish club where DJs spin soulful R'n'B and house tunes.
• Matsumi read more ›
  (96 Colonnaden. Tel. 040 343 125)
  While its manga comic menus are decidedly current, the Japanese fare of Tokyo masterchef Hideaki Morita is decidedly traditional at this iconic second-storey restaurant in the heart of the city centre.
• Schlachterbörse read more ›
  (42 Kampstrasse. Tel. 040 436 543)
  An old-school steak house that's popular with the city's moneyed clique, where carnivores feast on huge portions of items like the perfectly prepared 200g rump steak.
• Prinz Frederik Room read more ›
  (14 Abteistrasse. Tel. 040 442 905)
  Located in a recently renovated and whitewashed 19th-century villa, Hamburg's tiniest gourmet restaurant boasts just four period tables, where lucky diners enjoy fastidiously-prepared nouvelle cuisine in an arch-intimate setting.
• Alster-Dinnershipping read more ›
  (Alsteranleger Jungfernstieg. Tel. 040 244 824)
  Enjoy fuss-free pan-Continental specialities while languidly drifting by the city's mansion-flanked canals aboard the Alster Dinner Ship: a glass-enclosed flat-bottomed boat that heads off each Friday and Saturday night at 7pm for a three-hour buffet meal.

After Dark

top

• Bazar Café Bar 1001 Nacht read more ›
  (2 Sternstrasse. Tel. 040 4391 0944)
  Join the city's Middle Eastern denizens for a tea menu that's the perfect complement to a traditional fruity hookah at this dimly lit North African-style boîte.
• Jahreszeiten Bar read more ›
  (9-14 Neuer Jungfernstieg. Tel. 040 34940)
  Brass-studded leather Chesterfields speckle this petite, pricey and lavishly ornamented two-storey tavern, parts of which were rescued from a 16th-century church.
• Erika's Eck read more ›
  (98 Sternstrasse. Tel. 040 433 545)
  Join everyone from cabbies to night owls and abattoir workers in blood-stained overalls from the nearby Schlachthof complex-for late-night drinks and merriment.
• Elbwerk read more ›
  (68 Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse. )
  With high-backed stools and a panoramic view of the harbour, this stylish restaurant/lounge offers good gastro-fare and cocktails.
• 20up Bar read more ›
  (97 Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse. Tel. 040 311 190)
  Perched 20 storeys above St Pauli, this stylish bar features top-notch cocktails as well as sweeping harbour and city views from the double-height windows, courtesy of the building's English architect, David Chipperfield.
• Cafe Amphore read more ›
  (140 Hafenstrasse. Tel. 040 3179 3880)
  Situated harbourside, with views to match, this stylish café offers stellar long and short cocktails and a modish, upwardly-mobile crowd.

• KUNST read more ›
  (30 Neuer Kamp. Tel. 040 4313 0030)
  Housed alongside a clutch of indie shops in Hamburg's former slaughterhouse, at this popular nightclub live bands and DJs play everything from house and trance, to soul, hip hop and soul in an antiqued space.
• FischMarkt read more ›
  (9 Grosse Elbstrasse. Tel. 040 38012)
  If you can manage to stay up until 4.30am on Sunday morning, you'll enjoy live music and fresh food alongside all-night revellers and early-risers at the FischMarkt, a institution since 1703.
• Fabrik read more ›
  (36 Barnerstrasse. Tel. 04 039 1070)
  Featuring funk to jazz, blues and world music, this entertainment icon features two popular bars, a bustling café and snack bar with provisions.
• Waagenbau read more ›
  (204 Max-Brauer-Allee. Tel. 0402 442 0509)
  Featuring a revolving roster of top bands and acts, everything from reggae to hip hop, this institution is as grungey as it gets.
• Disco im Docks read more ›
  (19 Spielbudenplatz. Tel. 040 3177 7820)
  An art gallery during the week and discotheque at the weekends, Docks features live acts and the city's best hip-hop and rap DJs, mixing it up until the early hours.
• Markthalle read more ›
  (11 Klosterwall. Tel. 040 339 491)
  Hamburg's commodious former brick-clad flower market has been repurposed into one of the city's-indeed Germany's-best live music venues, featuring up-and-coming international groups.

• River Kasematten read more ›
  (28 St Pauli Fischmarkt. Tel. 040 4677 9936)
  Juxtaposing the post-war brick shell of a former jazz club with dark-velvet wall coverings and boxy suede banquettes in deep browns. This buzzy waterside nightspot is popular with the polyglot crowd.
• Turm read more ›
  (2 Rothenbaumchaussee. Tel. 040 444 567)
  With tubular furnishings that mimic the spherical façade of the brick-clad former water tower it's housed in, this loungey bar is fêted by locals.
• SILO 16 read more ›
  (16 Schellerdamm. Tel. 040 4154 1494)
  Located in a cavernous former warehouse south of the River Elbe, this pizza bar cum discothèque is perpetually crowded with scenesters who nibble on thin-crust pizzas and sip cocktails.
• Kyti-Voo read more ›
  (82 Lange Reihe. Tel. 040 2805 5565)
  Popular with a gay crowd, this St Georg bar and café features modernist environs and unmatched cocktails.
• Markthalle read more ›
  (11 Klosterwall. Tel. 040 339 491)
  Hamburg's commodious former brick-clad flower market has become one of the city's best high-octane nightspots, where the blissed-out crowds party till day break.
• Bar Projekt read more ›
  (74 Schulterblatt. Tel. 040 432 2996)
  A postage stamp-sized, hole-in-the-wall boîte where the caipirinhas flow to the tunes of house and drum & bass.

This month...

top

Tips

top