Located at the corner of Weserstraße and Fuldastraße—the epicentre of gentrification in the once-sketchy borough of Neukölln—Ä is the kind of effortlessly hip, artfully divey bar that Berlin does so well. With tasteful music on the stereo (anything from the Specials to Nick Cave) and a small but reasonable selection of bottled beers and spirits, Ä attracts an international crowd of 20–30 somethings for whom evenings drinking and socialising in scruffy, dimly-lit splendour are simply a way of life. Although the bar does a lot of business on most evenings, Fridays and Saturdays can be especially crowded. But if you can’t find a table and don’t fancy standing, walking in either direction down Weserstraße will turn up any number of places with a similar ambiance and clientele.
