EBG Rating: 8.4/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️
Basic and traditional Hamburg Kneipe offerings befitting the pub itself.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Quite a grand frontage on a corner beckons you in. On entry you’re confronted by a true timewarp of an interior with wood fittings and sepia tones. There’s an old bar to the right and traditionally furnished space, opened out but still homely and intimate. Everything feels well worn-in. There’s a collection of clocks and radios, wall with depiction of Hamburg’s skyline, and a fish tank.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Cosy, welcoming and hugely atmospheric if visiting later in the evening. Quite humble and down to earth hospitality which is endearing.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Snacks, outdoor seating, smoking permitted, TV, games, fish tank, occasional live music.

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️
Normal prices for the area.

Description:
You’ll find that like some other German cities (Leipzig, Hannover) Hamburg’s city centre doesn’t do good bars really. You have to head into the districts. The notorious St Pauli district seems to suck everything in that direction.

Nevertheless, when visiting Hamburg the question may arise – where do you go if you just want a drink near-ish the town hall? You could go east to Kombüse, but that’s further away from the action. What if it’s getting late? Instead, head west to Hamburg-Neustadt to Dreyer, among Hamburg’s finest Kneipen. It’s only a 10 minute walk from the Rathaus, but when you arrive you’ll feel like you’ve well and truly left the city centre.

A smokey old boozer that languishes in the old days in such an indulgent way that it feels like lowering yourself into a warm bath. Something of a time-machine, its old fittings and personalised interior added to by a collection of 404 clocks, old radios and the permission of smoking inside – normal for Hamburg’s evening pubs. It’s also cash only – another stubborn feature of German pubs.

Landlords Gritti + Detlef run the place and invite you to soak up the chat and pub ambience.

The walls appear yellow-brown from the decades of tobacco, plumes slowly rising to the ceiling in front of a tableaux of The Good Old Days, an artwork of Hamburg’s skyline, an array of nik-naks, and a tank full of fish that are somehow unaffected by the rather woozy environment.

The hospitality and nostalgia evoked by this homespun charm has resulted in rave reviews.

Being separate from St Pauli and also the centre means this mini-district has quite a nice, neighbourly feel which suits the place well. The trashier elements of St Pauli are absent; so are any hints of pretension from the city crowd.

It’s one of those places to turn up to fairly late, well-oiled, and slide into the melange of chatter, smoke and ambience. Superb place.