Snacks

Café Johanna is located at Venus Berg, which – to my mind – is a very special street. It’s near the harbour, near the portugiesen-viertel and the michel, but at the same time it is very calm because it is a little bit off the touristic trouble. There is a pleasant neighbourhood with lots of design and architecture studios.

The interior is kind of Scandinavian-style, everything is very simple and clear. They offer some snacks, very good cakes and fantastic coffee. Last time I had a Swedish cocoa-cake which was really awesome. Prices are not that cheap but everything is organically grown (which seems to be standard in hamburg’s café meanwhile – I remember I wrote this sentence before…). I think it’s the perfect stop after a walk ’round the harbour or the Portugiesen-Viertel and a very good alternative to all this crowded Portuguese cafés in the Ditmar-Koel-Straße (which are nice as well, no question).

By the way: none of the founders of Café Johanna is called Johanna. I never asked how they came up with their name..

Between Schanze and Grindel you’ll find a very beautiful old building that once was a hospital. Nowadays, there is a very beautiful café, the Hadley’s, located in the former emergency room area. Don’t worry, there is nothing left, that might remind you of a hospital. During the daytime the Hadley’s is a café with a fantastic breakfast and delicious cake.

In the evening it turns into a bar. They offer a great selection of wines. On every first Monday in a month you can go to “Monday meets Jazz”, a live Jazz night. You can check their homepage for their current program.

Another really nice offer is their “Abendbrot”. You can have the typical German supper with bread, cheese etc. together with some friends. We spent a beautiful birthday-party there, with many friends on a long table, covered with dozens of good things.

In summer you can enjoy the great outdoor seats in the garden. You’re sitting in the backyard, very green and calm. Just beautiful.

As I LOVE everything about cooking, food and eating (I read cookbooks like other people read novels) this place is one of my favorite spots.

The Kochkontor is a mixture of bookstore and restaurant. They sell cookbooks of all shades, from different countries, about different topics – everything your culinary heart could wish for.

Included in this shop is a big open-space kitchen and a few tables. Every day they select one of their incredible plenty of books and cook one or two dishes for lunch. You should go there early as there are only a few tables for many potential guests. If you liked your dish you may just buy the appropriate book or any other book that caught your eye.

If you have the possibility and you speak German you can also participate in one of their cooking classes. I haven’t done this yet, but it’s definitely on my agenda. I would probably choose „Classique – French cuisine”. Have a look at the dates on their homepage. Many classes are booked out long before.

I associate very special or at least just beautiful-days-without-a-special-cause with the Atlantik Fisch. Atlantik Fisch is a shop with diner located in the Große Elbstraße directly at the harbor. And guess what you get there: everything the ocean has to give. From oysters, gambas, crabs to diverse shells and fishes – you will find everything.

I always go there on Christmas eve about noon to buy Irish oysters for my family and me and then I get a glass of white wine or champagne and have some oysters already for lunch. The interior is very simple and pragmatic, you sit on wooden benches between this great selection of sea-fruits and look at the flurry of activity.

We go there as well in summer times to have oysters, white wine and baguette, sitting in the sun and enjoying our lifes. Sad to say, that’s not our everyday program, it’s rather reserved for some special days.

Go there if you like high quality seafood or need something really special, you will find it here. Or just enjoy the harbor atmosphere and have a salmon sandwich – as you like.

Erika’s Eck is a place for taxi drivers and all kinds of stranded people to have a coffee and a lusty snack at night. It is a very colorful mix of party people and people who finished their shift. The food is the best antidote for an upcoming hangover.

It’s good and simple German food. They sell sandwiches with roast pork, tartar or salmon. If this is not enough you can order a “Wiener Schnitzel”. Drink your last beer and enjoy this original atmosphere. Don’t go there before midnight, because that’s when they start selling their sandwiches.

If we are too tired to stay there we take our sandwiches to go and eat them at home. Believe me, you’ll feel better the next morning.