A local’s guide to Hamburg: concerts, cocktails and dockyard cuisine

Concert pianist Alexander Krichel reveals his pick of the best bars, vintage stores, ferry rides and sailor-sized dishes of Germany’s second largest city

If you’re into trying traditional food and are feeling very brave, you’ll want to try labskaus. Originally created to set sailors up with all the nutrition they needed, the dish does not look particularly appealing. Once you’ve got over its appearance (or simply closed your eyes), this mixture of corned beef, onions, potatoes, beetroot and eggs is actually very enjoyable. My go-to place for labskaus served with fried eggs and rollmop herrings is Oberhafen-Kantine in the new HafenCity district.