A perfect evening in Berlin: tasting menu to cocktail bar

About A perfect evening in Berlin: tasting menu to cocktail bar

By the ULTIMATE Berlin Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

A great Berlin night often comes in two acts: a tasting menu at one of the city’s starred tables, then a short ride to a cocktail bar before the late crowd arrives. Here is how to pace it, and three pairings that work beautifully.

How a tasting menu unfolds

Expect the evening to open with an aperitif and a run of small amuse-bouches, then six to eight courses, often 20 to 25 minutes apart, then a pre-dessert, dessert and petits fours. With coffee and the bill, a full tasting menu usually takes three and a half to five hours. These are general timings, not any one restaurant’s rules: each kitchen sets its own pace.

When to book

For a relaxed night, book the table for 18:00 or 18:30. You will leave at around 22:30 and reach the bar at about 22:45 to 23:00, before the midnight rush. Book both on the venues’ own websites, well ahead for the starred tables.

Book the table for 18:00 or 18:30 and you will reach the bar well before midnight.

Three pairings

**FACIL, then the Green Door Bar.** FACIL, with Two MICHELIN Stars in the 2026 guide, is in The Mandala Hotel on Potsdamer Strasse. From there it is about ten minutes by taxi down Potsdamer Strasse to the Green Door Bar on Winterfeldtstrasse in Schöneberg: ring the bell.

**Tim Raue, then Wax On.** Restaurant Tim Raue (Two MICHELIN Stars, 2026) is on Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse in Kreuzberg. Wax On, No. 17 on Europe’s 50 Best Bars 2026, is about ten to fifteen minutes away by taxi, on Weserstrasse in Neukölln.

**Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer, then Bar Tausend.** Dinner at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski’s one-star Esszimmer on Pariser Platz, then about five minutes by taxi to the unmarked steel door of Bar Tausend under the railway on Schiffbauerdamm. The Newton Bar on the Gendarmenmarkt is just as close.

Good to know

Dress codes are each venue’s own: check its website. Taxi times are approximate and depend on traffic. Our advice: tell the restaurant you have a bar booking afterwards, and they will help you keep to time.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with A perfect evening in Berlin: tasting menu to cocktail bar before you go.