We have been at home in West Berlin long enough to have an answer whenever someone asks us where to go before or after a fitting.

Berlin may be big, but THE Berlin we like is surprisingly small. It stretches across Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf and Schöneberg - and consists of a handful of places that have, cultivate and preserve a character of their own: smexy, in other words.

Here are eight of our favourite addresses.

Bostich

Bostich looks as though a Parisian brasserie wandered into Ludwigkirchstraße and decided to stay. Bistro chairs, golden palm trees and a façade in front of which one inevitably remains seated rather longer than intended.

Attentive, relaxed, generous and charming - the service at Bostich is still searching for its equal in Berlin. Order Café de Paris, oysters or steak tartare - and Champagne. Champagne above all.

It is the right place for an early or late dinner, an early or late drink, or an early or late ‘Hello!’ after the final fitting of the day.

Rum Trader

You ring the bell, wait and remain briefly uncertain whether you will be admitted. Consider it a privilege if you are allowed to return.

Rum Trader is to us - drinkwise - the best bar in the world. Everyone addresses one another via German "Sie"; everyone rather enjoys it. Proper attire is appreciated. Anyone who has no interest in conversation is in the wrong place at the bar.

Describe what you feel like drinking and leave the rest to the team. Asking for a drinks menu is an unnecessary way of identifying yourself as a tourist. A few tips: 1. Cash only. 2. Portino, Hemingway Daiquiri, Prince of Wales, Piña Colada.

Victoria Bar

Quite simply: the most elegant place to see and be seen in Berliner nights. You walk in - assuming you may come in -, breathe in and breathe out: this is THE Berlin air everyone is always talking about. The drinks are everything but merely an accompaniment to the Gesamtkunstwerk (!!!). While we are on the subject, the regularly changing art alone is worth a visit.

Take a seat and watch as artists - professional and otherwise -, nocturnal creatures and regulars encounter one another. Sooner or later, you will see someone you know - or someone you do not know yet. It is therefore best not to set a firm time for your departure.

Brasserie Lamazère

Brasserie Lamazère is the French heart of Charlottenburg - which sounds a little romantic, but happens to be almost exactly true.

Lamazère excels not only because of its superb food, but above all because of its EXCELLENT French wines - WE say the best in the city. The room is lively, the service kind and the clientele très BCBG - aka impressively unimpressed by just how well they are being fed.

Leave room for the rice pudding with salted caramel and the almond praline. The latter is not a recommendation, but a direct order.

KaDeWe

Since 1907, the Kaufhaus des Westens has represented the more agreeable side of consumption. You can, of course, buy almost anything here - including things you did not even know you needed until a moment ago - but as far as we are concerned, the principal reason to visit is the sixth floor.

The food hall is a small world of its own, filled with oysters, Champagne, cheese - !!! -, pâtisserie and countless counters at which one can convince oneself that one merely stopped by for a quick bite.

Take a seat at one of the bars, order oysters and/or a potato soup, a glass of Champagne, and observe Berlin life from its most culinary vantage point. From 18 to 80 - ALL of Berlin meets here.

Bücherbogen

Karl Lagerfeld is said to have counted Bücherbogen among his favourite bookshops. Once again, we can only agree with Karl - we go way back. Bücherbogen has occupied the historic railway arches at Savignyplatz since 1980. The premises once housed, among other things, a garage and a flower shop; today, they contain one of THE finest selections of books on architecture, art, fashion, photography and design in Berlin.

The shelves extend far, the selection is intelligent and the likelihood of leaving with only one book is small - VERY small, in fact.

Go in for a present for yourself or somebody else.

Diener Tattersall

Diener Tattersall is not a restaurant decorated in the style of old West Berlin. It is old West Berlin.

The building was once part of the ‘Tattersall des Westens’, an equestrian establishment opened in 1893 with stables, riding halls and social rooms. In 1954, the former heavyweight boxer Franz Diener took over the premises and turned them into an artists’ pub - or simply a pub, depending on whom you ask. Ever since, Romy Schneider, Hans Albers, Billy Wilder, Helmut Newton and Rainer Werner Fassbinder have looked down upon the guests from the walls.

Order the Himmel un Ääd and a freshly poured Kölsch. Cool, honest, relaxed and unpretentious - no small print.

Menta

Menta on Emser Straße has been a meeting place for students, artists, neighbours and everyone who loves nightlife since the Eighties.

Very little has changed here over the decades - just as we like it. Menta is neither theatrically nostalgic nor self-consciously alternative. It is simply one of those increasingly rare Berlin pubs where the evening still matters more than the interior and a quick drink can reveal itself to be a time machine.

Order a Kölsch - we never claimed to be objective - and ask the Kneipier for permission to use the billiards table.