Instinct Coffee

Hakan Yildiz spent the pandemic running a private ritual, jogging to a different Hamburg cafe each day and rating it on ambiance, taste, price, and service, quietly building a wishlist of everything he'd want in his own place. He opened Instinct in September 2023 with his sister Ayse Derya Yildiz, her partner Hannah Möller, and brother in law Serhat Yildiz, furnishing the room almost entirely from Vintage Instinct, the family's own secondhand furniture business, 1970s chandeliers and steel tables against orange accents.

Coffee comes from Elbgold, Hamburg's best known third wave roaster, alongside an all day brunch built around shakshuka, grilled cheese, and a pistachio croissant locals rate among the best in the city. The room seats up to forty and doubles as exhibition space for local artists, run on the idea that a cafe should be a place of encounter as much as a place to eat.