Bar Zentral and the neighbour The Hat

28. April 2016

I had a very nice bar adventure with a colleague of my previous job. In the past I always reported of my trips and I guess it was sometimes hard to understand what exactly is the fascination of visiting a bar but now he knows and every time he comes to Berlin we do a bar adventure together. Today we started with a moderate burger and chips to have a solid basis for the upcoming drinks.

Right next to the Bar Zentral is the Jazz Bar The Hat located. They almost opened their bars at the same time. Every time when I passed the big window of this bar I glimsed at the big selection of their backboard but nothing was really attractive to me. Different this night because it were the guys of the Rum Depot who caught my eye. The crew of the Rum Depot took over The Hat for three nights and served Rum with Jazz. A good reason to visit them after the Bar Zentral.

But first I rang the bell to be granted entry. There was a warm welcome by the hosts and we took a seat at the bar. The bar is the core element of the space and goes from one side of the room to nearly the other. This is one of my favorite bars at the moment due to the atmosphere and the relaxed bartenders. This bar offers classical drinks without any fancy stuff and knowledgable, friendly and usually well dressed staff. Tonight their jackets were still at the laundry. The drinks are always prepared in a very professional manner and come together with a carafe of water that never runs empty. They are served on a linen napkin what is really nice. The cheaper paper napkins in some bar always look ugly after a while. But this solution gives the extra touch to this bar. The seating is very pleasant because the bar stools have a large round seating area with enough space to rest the feet.

I opened the evening with an “Aviation”, followed by another Gin Drink. “Bronx”, is also a nice part of New York and located at the river Gin, whereas „Manhattan“, „Greenpoint“ and „Brooklyn“ are located in the direction of Whiskey 😉 The drinks are prepared in a very professional manner. Glasses are rather simple and standard. Fancy crystal glasses wouldn’t fit this bar. Fancy are the toilets and also awarded.

Before changing our seats to The Hat the bartender got us with a tiny “Ti Punch” in the mood for Rum. Refreshed we changed the location and found a seat at the Bar. Same brown bricks like in the Bar Zentral slightly more wider because the toilets are located at the end of the room. There is a huge mirror along the bar with numerous and good selection of beverage so a totally different bar in a same space. A look on the menu and for my first (!) drink I opted the „Walnut Manhattan“. Another part of New York now and this fantastic drink came with the walnut vermouth a product of Nicolas Kröger one of the owners of the Rum Depot and a producer of fine spirits. This vermouth fits perfectly together with the Rum. It is made of green picked walnuts conserved in red Rioja wine. Before that Nicolas gave me a sip of his Gin H.G.S.B. Really „How Gin Should Be“ from my point of view. Juniper and freshness that’s it. I’ve never seen the guys in action but I was impressed and excited about their drinks and hospitality. In the background played the jazz music but I was concentrated in my “barstalker activities”. For the farewell we both got an “Old Cuban” with a lot of fresh mint and champagne. I had paid little attention to this drink but a very good recommendation indeed. I enjoyed every sip of it.

After having five drinks I needed a “Currywurst” and a taxi to return home safely.