Slip onto the wrong side of Berlin’s tracks for an evening of sumptuous crafted cocktails and fab fusion bites at covert nightlife stalwart Tausend.
In most cities drinking under overpasses is a pastime considered more hobo than boho, but this is Berlin, mein schatz, and indeed one of the Stadt’s most stylish cocktail counters is secreted away beneath Mitte’s bustling Friedrichstrasse railway station.
This surreptitious nook is Bar Tausend – to enter, simply locate the eye mural, ring the unmarked iron bell, and prepare to stare down the glaring doorman. Once admittance is yours, shimmy forth into a sleek and skinny chamber cast with a candlelit golden glow, mirrored ceilings, and of course, the uber-chic lieblings swaying to DJ tunes.
The cocktail list gussies up good, presumably to match the sophisty patrons, and handcrafted offerings include the Miss Fitzherbert (a generous slosh of gin and champagne with elderflower syrup, lemon and mint, which arrives in a swanky silver chalice, no less) and the Eden, with wisps of white chocolate-sweetened cucumber vodka.
Fancy a graze with your gargle? Hopefully you’ve booked a perch in the bitty tapas cantina behind the bar, where on-show chefs plate up pretty morsels inspired by Japanese, Peruvian and Iberian cuisines. Think sashimi with pimentos chicken skewers, foie gras risotto and grilled miso cod (sounds bonkers but trust us, it works), followed by mochi and matcha ice cream. To that we say yes, yes a Tausend times!
Bar Tausend, Schiffbauerdamm 11, Mitte, Berlin. +49 30 2758 2070, tausendberlin.com
