wine bar
Balance Wein Bar
Friedrichshain wine bar pouring European wines from independent producers, with Italian-style antipasti, handmade cheese and aperitivo. Its list runs from classics to lesser-known discoveries.
Date ideas in Berlin you probably haven't tried.
Not the usual dates
- theatre
Ballhaus Naunynstraße
A Kreuzberg theatre presenting a season of performance, dance and theatre works by artists, including a chamber play about a Black artist in the art market and an intermedial piece on postcolonial imagery.
- restaurant
Bantabaa Food Dealer
A Gambian and West African restaurant in Kreuzberg serving home-cooked dishes such as peanut stew, yassa and fried fish, with baobab and hibiscus drinks. It grew out of a community integration project linking Berlin with The Gambia.
- restaurant
Bar Brass
A French brasserie-style restaurant on the Spree with a bistro and riverside terrace. Lunch and multi-course dinner are served, and the wine list holds a Gault & Millau Henris Edition recognition.
- cocktail bar
Bar Schwips
An aperitivo bar in Mitte with a living-room feel, where cocktails are mixed to order and can be made without alcohol. Small Asian-Mediterranean dishes are served, with some ingredients used in the drinks.
- cocktail bar
Bar Solut
A cocktail bar in Wedding, one of four Berlin locations, serving cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. You can reserve a table.
- club night
Bar Tausend
A cocktail bar and dance bar behind an unmarked steel door near Friedrichstraße, built around DJ nights of house, techno and disco. Events often run late into the night.
- cocktail bar
Bar Zentral
A themed cocktail bar in Charlottenburg serving house-created classics and original drinks built on gin, rum, whiskey, mezcal and sherry. Happy hour runs from 17 to 19 hours.
- restaurant
Bardele
An Italian restaurant and bar in Mitte with a separate wine section, open evenings Monday to Saturday.
- wine bar
Batumi
A Georgian restaurant serving khinkali and khachapuri, with a wine shop bar pouring Georgian wines from Kakheti. Portions are generous and it also offers catering for groups.
- bar
Beach61 Bar
A beach volleyball ground with a terrace in Kreuzberg, with courts booked online and food and drinks on site. It also runs tournaments, open play and winter ice stock shooting.
- live music
Beast Berlin
A supper club on Alexanderplatz mixing steakhouse dishes, international kitchen and a bar, with long communal tables and private lounges.
- workshop
Beit Sitti
Syrian restaurant in a traditional Arab-style house with a courtyard, where small groups can also join in cooking kibbeh, tabbouleh or mujaddara with experienced cooks.
- restaurant
Bejte Ethiopia
Ethiopian restaurant open since 2000 where injera is eaten by hand with stews. A coffee ceremony with roasted beans and popcorn is held each evening around 20:00.
- café
Benedict
Breakfast and brunch cafe with an in-house bakery in Wilmersdorf. An evening pop-up, béné, serves shared plates, natural wines and cocktails from 18:00 until late, with vinyl music.
- workshop
Berlin Flower School
Flower school in Neukölln with hands-on sessions, including a three-hour Advent wreath workshop where you bind the wreath yourselves.
- viewpoint
Berlin Hi-Flyer
Tethered passenger hot-air balloon in Mitte that lifts you above the city for a view over Berlin.
- workshop
Berlindaisuki
Cooking school in Charlottenburg running sushi and ramen classes taught by Japanese chefs, where you prepare the dishes yourselves.
- café
Berliner Kaffeerösterei
A family-run coffee roastery in Charlottenburg where you choose from around 30 beans and pick the brewing method, with house-baked cakes.
- theatre
Berliner Kriminaltheater
Theatre staging crime comedies and thrillers, many adapted from Sebastian Fitzek or Joseph Kesselring. The shows are performed in German, and a new comedy about locked-in teachers opens soon.
- museum
Berlinische Galerie
A museum of modern art, photography and architecture in Kreuzberg, currently showing a Lovis Corinth exhibition, with English-language guided tours.
- bar
Berolina Bowling Lounge
A 32-lane bowling alley in Schöneberg with four VIP lanes, a bar, and pizza and burgers. On Friday and Saturday nights it turns into Nightlife Bowling, with music and light effects.
- workshop
Berta Block
A bouldering hall in Pankow offering beginner courses, workshops and a climbing certificate course called Boulderschein. Its site is in German.
- restaurant
Blaue Laguna
A Croatian restaurant in Alt-Tegel serving Adriatic dishes alongside international classics, with outdoor seating and a kitchen that has run since 1985.