There is more than one reason to go to Pony Bar. First - it is in the middle of Mitte, so you will be important and extremely cool, as soon as you go there. Then - it is next to Monsieur Vuong, the famous Asian restaurant (more important people). Then - there is this convenient piece of furniture at the outside which is shaped like stairs. Great to sit on and look at everybody walking by (even in winter - dress appropriately). Then - there is friendly staff, listening to their music and talking to each other and occasionally looking up (your chance to place an order). Then - there are pony photos up on the wall and pony stickers inside the toilet rooms (see picture). And - the final reason to go there: it is a non smoking place and they put a message at their window: “Think of our neighbours” (they really are nice people at Pony Bar!!), “please smoke silently”.

Alte Schönhauser Allee, Mitte, U-Bahn Weinmeister Strasse.

Some say style is a matter of posture and posture a sign of all sorts of preconceptions –a bit like shoes. Forget it. Here is an establishment that will inspire you to unfold your spine what ever your background, it is the drinking hall of ballerinas: the Würgeengel – which is German for “your life is not complete until you have see this film by Bruñel” which is English for “El ángel exterminador”. Here you can quite happily enjoy your own company or else meet with a friend or two – and five at the most –, enjoy a good glass of wine and delight in the dark-red velvet interior and the handsomely well-groomed bar staff, flaunting serving skills long since perfected. The atmosphere is electric, time seeps away unnoticed as the people of the night fill the long, dimly lit room. And many hours after the thought of moving on has arisen, you will find yourself still hovering by the door, postponing your goodbyes, locked in excuses and unable to leave, for this bar uncannily lives up to its name. Which is a bummer if you fancy a Radler, cos the hot waiters gently refuse to serve beer cocktails. Snobbery? Surely not.

Würgeengel, Dresdner Str. 122, Kreuzberg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_ángel_exterminador

Swabians do alright in Berlin, what with Tannenzäpfle beer and Maultaschen raviolis flooding bars and eateries everywhere. But what to do if you grew up in Hessen, have no regrets about leaving home but still fancy a good old Ahle Wurscht or a Stracke and a nice big glass of Apfelwein every once in a while. A wish easily fulfilled in Frankfurt, Kassel or Marburg, proves hard to come by in the capital of Germany. Apfelwein is not the same as cider; it tastes a bit stale, like apple juice mixed with mineral water and left in the sun for a day. Anyway, to get this fantastic drink in Berlin, you have to follow other Hessians’ word-of-mouth propaganda and so sometimes find yourself in the kind of bar you’d rather not be seen dead in. However, if you’re lucky, you’ll end up in Hubis where the proprietor will willingly mix you Apfelwein-colas all night long. The word is out and now that the Fichtekranz-Company is busy trying to turn “happy apples” Apfelwein into the new scene-drink it’ll soon be served in a bar near you! I’ve already lit a candle for their success. Meanwhile Strongbow is an okay alternative, rapidly growing popular in F’hain under the exotic banner of Irish Apple Beer (Zees Krazy Irlanders).

And moving swiftly from alcohol to its counterpart stodge: …a satisfactory Irish or English fry-up is even harder to find than a good Ahle Wurscht. There is a place on Grimmstraße which usually serves all the right ingredients with a little continental garnish of fresh red capsicum on the side. Apart from that I hear the Irish Pub on Erkelenzdamm is at last making a comeback under the name of Murray’s Bar. As for that nice supper of Grau Brot and Ahle Wurscht you can order it anywhere in Berlin – albeit by post, phone or online. But your best bet is to “befriend” some commuters from north Hessen and infiltrate the sausage trafficking scene. Incidentally, Ahle Wurscht translates as Alte Wurst which simply means old sausage. And Stracke means straight. So what you are waiting for during those long wintery homesick hours, is a loaf of grey bread and an old, straight sausage. 

www.nordhessische-ahle-wurscht.de
www.fichtekranz.de
www.murraysbar.de

I never ever would do karaoke. I hate it so much, that i’d rather be a streaker at the coming up football women’s world cup than humiliating myself on a karaoke stage. not so todays guestblogger, the berlin creative and photographer frank burkhard. he likes his vodka cranberries once in a while and then the nice guy suddenly turnes into the unstoppable dancing singing dervish. read his berlinisbetter gem:

The “Monster Ronson´s Ichiban Karaoke” facility is something that has been suitably oscilating between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain for some time now, coming from a single-box novelty in F-hain, rocking Kreuzberg for some years afterwards, now strangely located beneath the o2-world- void between those two areas, right across the exit of the U-Bahnhof Warschauer Strasse, a territory dominated by winterly berlin grey probably even in high summer.
The place itself is quite big, a dark, black and white rockabilly cavern with splashes of plush electroclash red. Of course the barpeople are tatood up to their punky hairlines.
Think transgender underground pub meets truck-stop-CGGB.
There are differently sized sing-along-boxes for differently sized groups - and a stage as well, for the more fearless among those who are willing to sing it out in public.
While being drunk.
Because, lets face it, singing into a microphone while having an audience  scares the shit out of us all, and a good supply of booze remains the best remedy aside of private singing teachers and stage-fright-workshops, proven by Judy Garland falling of  stages to Amy Winehouse still doing the same some hundred years later.
By the way, tuesday is the two-for-one night - where you, on one hand, pay less for more drinks, but then - because you´re so much enjoying yourself, you gin-soaked idiot - pay a fortune for your cabine in the end, because as it turns out: the end was not before you spent 6 or so hours (at 13? 16? € per hour… can´t really remember…) in that cabin, flicking manicly trough those catalogues in search of the next perfect song…
(Note to self: Look for Scott Matthew´s “In The End” next time around, if just one karaoke place in the whole wide world has that on their list, it´ll be Monster Ronsons.)
The catalogue of Monster Ronsons is impressive, you basicly get EVERYTHING, though the emphasis is definatly on everything rock.

I myself for example was mildly dissapointed by the poor selection of my favorite belters, Barbra, Judy, Liza, Bette (these are namens I shan´t forget) though I was able to overcome that little moment with another Vodka-Cranberry and the discovery of my ability to do Snow Patrols “Chasing Cars” quite well…
Monster Ronson’s - Ichiban Karaoke

At Karl-Marx-Allee (near Alexanderplatz), which is a sightseeing spot itself that you should not miss, there is a famous movie theatre dating from 1963. It has remained almost untouched since then, so the GDR spirit of the premiere theatre for DEFA films is still alive. The fantastic bar area is located in the first floor behind an enormous glass front. From there, you can see the Allee and Café Moskau across the street, which is another spectacular event location (but under construction at the moment!). The Kino International is a Berlinale venue and very often hosts important film premieres with red carpet, a lot of stars and press people. According to the beautiful former movie tradition the huge film posters announcing the top movie at the facade are still hand drawn.

Karl-Marx-Allee 33, 10178 Berlin, U-Bahn Schillingstrasse
Tel. +49 - 30 - 24 75 60 11, Program at Website.

I’m no big fan of Döner (turkish kebap), to be honest. But rumor has it, that this by now favorite German dish … … was invented in Berlin. And you do get a good one in the city. So it can’t be left out here.

I think Bagdad has a fairly good one, with good meat and the choice of chicken or beef. I prefer beef.

Bagdad, Schlesisches Tor, thanks for the pic to http://berlin.virtualnights.com

It is in Schlesische Straße, just off the subway stop Schlesisches Tor.
There is another Döner restaurant right next to it, don’t go there. I don’t like it out of no reason. (But I have friends who enjoy their Döner there as well - so this is just a very personal statement).

My favorite is a Dürüm Döner with extra cheese and olives (Eur 3,40), but the standard Döner (”Ein Döner bitte”) for 2,50 is great, too.  Concerning sauces on the döner, they salesperson will ask you “welche sauce”, I prefer “Kräuter-scharf” meaning a mix of the spicy and herbal sauces. There is a garlicy one as well. Concerning condiments he will ask you “Mit Salat alles” which means you get lettuce on it, tomatoes, onions and cabbage.

The mentioned rumor has it that the Döner was created or developed in Berlin in the 60s (in Turkey, there is a beef-in-bread-kombo, but it doesn’t have any condiments on it). Who knows whether this is true, but if it is true, the Döner’s origins lay in a Turkish restaurant in Adalbertstraße: it is on the left hand side when you turn in from Oranienstraße and walk towards Kottbusser Tor. They still sell Döner, also to go, and it is - in fact - very good.

in a recent article at de:bug magazine basso was described as the paper reincarnation of a  sultry sauna club. not bad, basso is a magazine, an art space, a gallery and above all it is an attitude towards life that seems to affect mostly bearded gay men above 30. tonight for example there will be a “screening of steven arnold’s LUMINOUS PROCURESS from 1972, when the boundaries between genders were passed with the pioneering lightness of the freshly awakened.” if you are bearded or not, you will like the attitude of that place. http://www.basso-berlin.de

The Blaues Band is “in the middle of Mitte”, as they say on their Website, but in contrary to what you would expect this is not an extremely “hip” place. I always go there when I want to have a relaxed coffee or a good, tasty dinner with no big chichi. And, to be honest, I mostly go there when I am too lazy to go any further, because it is just around the corner of where I live. It’s a place to chill and - until 2 p.m. - it is also a place to sunbath (afterwards the sun is gone). The only timeframe to get some excitement and a lot of people is on Sunday morning for breakfast (the breakfast is excellent!). Take your sunglasses and sit outside to watch who is walking by. It is a perfect place to check the latest Mitte look from Brit pop style to full metal piercing and all kinds of tattoo styles. On Sunday nights they have movie nights in the back of the restaurant (for those who don’t want to talk to anyone).

Alte Schönhauser Str. 7/8, 10119 Berlin, Tel. +49-30-28 38 50 99.

Opens at 10 a.m.

What makes Berlin so special is her pace. Berlin is a city, a capital city, a metropolitan capital city – but fall out of your window and the chances are you’ll not hit anyone. Cycle down a one way road the wrong way and the only danger you’ll encounter is a traffic policeman waiting to smugly lecture you to death. Berlin is slow. Every one strolls – not just the tourists. And in between strolls the citizens like to have a little sit down, stretch their thumbs flicking though a menu, or flipping open a bottle (it is essential to master the technique of opening a beer with a lighter, or your eyebrow). Time is quality. Spend it standing in the queue at the library waiting for the buerocratic registration process to unfold and you will experience the unlikely German luxury of watching time slip by. It will not wait, but so what? Where’s it going to go?  The shops will still be open when you get there.  If you need a tin of soup, toilet paper, a beer or chewing gum at one in the morning, visit your Späti or Spätkauf (late purchase) and place your order. In Berlin a hole in the wall is a little old lady who has opened her downstairs window to sell you a tub of ice cream for a midnight feast as you have no freezer. Just don’t get up early and try and go shopping for cloths or trinkets in Mitte, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg or Prenzlauer Berg. If you need to be up and about before midday go brunching in a café that sells soups and hot chocolate, beer and wine and possibly the furniture your sitting on.  FYI: The german version of english breakfast is the so-called “Strammer Max”: Brown bread with smoked ham and fried egg on top. Or a Bauern-Frühstück: Scrambled egg with onions, mushrooms and sausage. Amazing. And not hurry – last orders are often not until 4 or 6 pm. 

David is writing about the Pong-Thing, I read projector and think: 8 mm Bar.

A relict of old Mitte times, located across the street from White Trash on Schönhauser Allee’s lower end.

Good, honest and cheap half litre Berliner Pilsner from the bottle. Stand inside or outside. Practically no furniture. Definitely no interior design; but always reliable “Super-8″-movies and other great screenings.

Schönhauser Allee 177.

Top tip: Check out the FAQ-section on http://www.8mmbar.com/.