Berlin’s Neukölln district for a long time had the image of being a rough place where you wouldn’t go late at night if you wanted to keep your wallet.
This has changed dramatically over the past couple of years and especially the Weserstrasse is heralded as the new ‘Ausgehmeile’, with literally a bar on every corner.
The liquid crown jewel of this new area definitely is Tier. The name simply translates to ‘animal’ and the impressively designed menu is full of ironic references to our species’ two and four-legged relatives.
When the bar fills up at night there’ll suddenly be three bartenders working the tiny bar space. The backboard displays a good range of quality spirits and the staff know their cocktails. But all this nicely blends in with the neighbourhood feel of the place. It’s a bar you just feel comfortable in right away.
Le Croco Bleu, Prenzlauer Allee 242, Berlin
The vast area of the Bötzow brewery is a sign of Berlin’s past status as the largest brewing capital in Germany. At its peak around the 1900s more than 300 breweries were quenching the capital’s thirst.
A German Mittelstand billionaire is now breathing new life into the red brick ruins. Until a European offspring of the famous Brooklyn brewery starts producing Pilsners or Berliner Weisses here, you’ll have to make do with the liquid offering of bar Le Croco Bleu.
It was named after two crocodiles that were allegedly saved from World War II bombardments by hiding them in the Bötzow brewery’s mash tuns. This crazy little bar space was built into the brewery’s former machine house.
The engineman’s little control box has been taken over by dressed- up bartenders who offer the discerning crowd a selection of classic cocktails, barrel-aged creations and vintage spirits.
Gregor Scholl of Rum Trader fame has thought this place up.
