Jared’s Bar Experience #1: Riva Bar, Berlin

Bar Manager Jared Goldman gives us the low-down on some of his favourite watering holes in the city and anywhere else that takes his fancy…

Riva Bar is usually included in those top ten bar lists and was also written up as one of Time Magazine’s best bars in 2006. You can find it just down the street from the Circus, under the S-Bahn tracks close to Hackescher Markt. Placed directly under the arches, when you walk in you feel like you are walking into a beautiful hanger or a perfect tunnel, with the large round bar right in the middle of the space, waiting for you.

On the day I went there was a DJ playing a kind of “Berlin Jazz” that was the perfect mood-setter for sitting down at the bar and trying some cocktails…they usually have DJs from Thursday to Saturday, and it is a musical mix of jazz, funk and soul. As for the style of the place itself…well really, it is the bar that is the star, taking up the whole space in the middle of the room and extremely impressive…especially the shiny black surface that you just want to sit and stroke as the bartender mixes your drinks.

I was there with our of my Circus buddies Keima, and we ordered different drinks to see what the bartender could come up with. I ordered a Raffels Singapore Sling, a classic containing gin, Herry cherry liqueur, DOM Benedictine, Angostura, fresh lime juice, pineapple juice and grenadine. It was served in a pint glass pineapple and a cherry tooth-picked to it. Lovely.

Keima ordered a Rusty Nail, which is scotch whisky and drambuie. If that sounds simple, well…first the ingredients are combined in a glass and then rigorously stirred with a long-handled bar spoon. Then it was strained into another small glass with fresh ice. The devil is in the details. A nice touch at Riva is that the drinks come served with fresh ice water and small bar snacks. Highly civilised.

Cocktails at Riva are priced between €7 and €9,50, although there are happy hours when you can drink their fine selection of drinks for around €6. To find out more about their menu, DJ sets and anything else you might want to know, check out their website. Great drinks, nice atmosphere, and a beautiful setting…and all only a short stumble back up the road to Rosenthaler Platz.

Riva Bar Berlin
Dircksenstrasse Bogen 142
10178 Berlin-Mitte

Open Daily from 6pm
Riva Bar Website
(Click on the map for a closer look of how to get there)