Café Gnosa

The most reassuring and aesthetically pleasing of Hamburg's many gay establishments, Cafe Gnosa is a non-precious, straight-friendly café with decent food, excellent home-made cakes and coffee. It's a great first stop for new arrivals to Hamburg and is highly recommended for afternoon-hangover breakfasts. Pastas, quiches, salads and schnitzels round out the menu, though the main reason to come here is the ambience and, especially during the city's annual leather party in August, its cruising possibilities (though in 2014 the latter was considerably quieter, with Gnosa not even bothering to position the customary leather-party picnic tables out front). The spot was a bakery until 1939, when the Gnosa family transformed it into a café, relinquishing it in 1987 to three gay men with a vision. Thankfully little has changed since then. Warning: Gnosa's rather mean policy does not allow for tap water without a purchase of a drink from the menu. If you can find an empty glass, you can fill it from the tap in the downstairs toilet.