Saal II, Sternschanze, Hamburg

Right in the heart of Schanzenviertel, I must have walked past this place a Million times, but for some reasons never actually ended up here. At least until yesterday, and I don’t regret having stepped in!

This place has a unique feel to it, with its high ceilings and overall retro interior. I love the wall clock, which looks like it’s been sitting there since the 1950s (so does most of the furniture).

The music was excellent in my opinion, more electronic-ish towards the later hours, though perhaps a little too loud if you’re sensitive about that. They serve Moravia beer, which is arguably a better beer brewed by the local Holsten brewery, which is infamous for making terrible beer in fact.

We also ordered Gurkenwasser (cucumber water), which is their moniker for a Moscow Mule (that’s ginger ale, Vodka, cucumbers). While it was clearly not the best Mule I’ve had, the amount of Vodka in that drink was literally mind-boggling, which, considering how flat many drinks are served in other places in the Schanze, is clearly a plus on my scale.

Will definitely come back.

An average dive bar/restaurant in the Schanze quarter of Hamburg. Pretty relaxed place with a student crowd mostly. At nights it’s more of a drinking place as opposed to restaurant. I’ve never actually eaten there, just been for drinks. Always pretty chilled out and at times crowded, but pleasant. Worth a stop in if in the area. Yet, at the same time, there are so many other bars and restaurants in the area and a couple are definitely better than this place.

Saal II is if you fancy a cup of coffee in a low key Bohemian hang-out - not for the Mr I Am Important. There is a little menu on every shabby little table, they serve shots, coffees and alcohol drinks. There is a seperate smoking area at the back with the larger room being non-smoking.

This is a great place to start a day exploring Hamburg lifestyle. It is a quiet, relaxed place that does lots of different tasty breakfasts from traditional German style to vegetarian, healthy or the sweet and fruity option. Similarly there is a great choice of coffees to go with them.
If you fancy a read, you might get lucky here: Occassionally they also have English-language newspapers and magazines of the day. This is the sort of cafe where you can comfortably sit by yourself without feeling out of place.
And as an additional bonus Saal II is located right next to Rote Flora and right in the heart of the Schanzenviertel, i.e. "cool Hamburg".