Today on Monday Mysteries we take a quick look at an unexpected bar.

Since I’m going to be talking today about a food product, I realize this topic could also qualify for Food on Fridays. But I try to reserve the Food on Fridays slot for foods we actually have tried, and we did not go into this particular bar that we spied in the Hamburg train station.

Now, this wasn’t a regular bar … or a wine bar … or a coffee bar — all of which we saw in Hamburg last week. Well, the coffee places in Hamburg were fancy coffee roasting places that were more cafe than bar. But in Italy, of course, you go to a bar for espresso.  But in any case, this bar I want to show you wasn’t for those drinks.

It did serve drinks, though; the small print on the sign says that it offers Bier (“beer”).  But beer isn’t this bar’s primary reason for being.

You see, the name proclaims it to be a Senfbar:

Senfbar, Hamburg Train Station

Senf isn’t a drink. It’s the German word for “mustard”. So this is a mustard bar.

Now, the sign also says they serve Wurst (German sausage), but that’s to be expected. You put mustard mostly on Wurst in Germany, so a Senfbar would have to have Wurst available. Or else what would you do with the mustard? I mean, I hope you don’t put it in the coffee that’s advertised in the placard sign there in the middle of the photo.

Anyway, the idea of a bar that celebrates a single condiment is intriguing. Do they do this with other condiments, too, I wonder? What would they serve? I mean, the places that have french fries aren’t called ketchup bars. Of course in Germany, you don’t necessarily put ketchup on fries, since by default they come with mayo unless you speak up.  But there aren’t mayonnaise bars, either, as far as I know.

But if there were to be a Mayonnaisebar, I’d expect to find them in Hamburg if they have them anywhere, since mayonnaise is what a Hamburger (person) puts on his Hamburger (meat patty).