Bored of expats who don’t dance?
Head to Potsdamer Straße’s pan-African Surprise Club (entry: Fri €5, Sat €7), where hips dip, hands grab and booties swing. A soundtrack of “all-time Afro music” translates to a Rihanna marathon with some tama drums thrown in, enjoyed by a ‘friendly’ Berlin melting pot of young, old, black and white, all melting together between Surprise’s gaudy walls, disco lighting and white leather couches.
For the same vibe in a more intimate setting, head to Kreuzberg’s Mandingo (photo). There, the scene’s squashed down to two rooms – one for dancing and another for getting chatted up by dashing African gents, unless matronly German women nab them first.
Afterwards, laze away Sunday afternoon on the sands of sprawling Jamaican yard-hang (and African expat favourite) YAAM. The beach bar holds regular reggae, ska and dub concerts; it’s also home to a skate ramp, Jamaican Imbiss (fried plantains!), volleyball court and recording studio.
Mandingo | Mehringdamm 107, Kreuzberg, U-Bhf Platz der Luftbrücke, Fri + Sat, 10-late
Surprise Club | Potsdamer Str. 84, U-Bhf Kurfurstenstr., Fri + Sat, 10-late
Yaam | Stralauer Platz 35, Mitte, U-Bhf Ostbahnhof. Daily 11-24:00
