The Berliner Republik
Schiffbauerdamm 8 10117 Berlin-Mitte, Germany
Phone +49-(0)30-30 87 22 93 Fax +49-(0)30-30 87 22 95
This is avery nice Berlin pub with good German food and about a dozen or more beers on tap, and a very nice view of over the river and S-bahn trains coming and going from the nearby Friedrichstrasse station. It is next door to another nice cafe/pub, Standige Vertretung.
I had a dunkel weizen -- dark, fruity wheat beer -- and a sausage platter, and very much enjoyed it all.
The "cozy" factor isn't big here, but nor is it really lacking. We enjoyed sitting at a high table that connected to the main bar like a finger on a hand. It gave us the familiarity of bar seating, with the added advantage of letting us sit opposite each other. The pub is near the goverment district, so there are plenty of suits in there. In keeping with this theme, the TV screens in the pub display a stock-market like listing of beer prices that appear to fluctuate with supply and demand. Try to not to let the monitors steal your attenion from the view outside; seeing the S-bahn trains crossing the bridge over the river, and watching people pass by offer more relaxation than the short-lived novelty of the beerstock monitors.
Every so often you get a beer market crash, and the opening from the classic Richard Strauss concerto Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30 (best known as the theme to 2001 a Space Odyssey) accompanies the drama while the stock boards go red. Cute, but I don't think they actcually have any bearing on actual prices you pay in the pub for beer. (aww... but the suits love it!)
We also liked the small shelf that ran just beneath bar. Along with the hidden coat hooks that are standard in your better pubs such as this, the shelves provide a place to stow your hat, purse, or umbrella at your seat.
Above: This is always a pretty sight; numerous beer taps behind the bar usually betray a good selection of beers.
