Day 12 - Bus to Berlin — Wayfaring Abroad

It finally rained overnight. We awoke to a steady downpour outside which had begun at around 2 am and not stopped all morning. We had about a 3/4 of a mile walk ahead of us to the bus station and were trying to get there early enough that we could grab the front most seats on the double-Decker bus.

Our walk to the bus station wasn't too bad, by the time we left to walk over the rain had receded just enough that it wasn't too bad. We got a little wet but nothing we had got any damage from the rain. By the time we found the bus number and made it outside to the stop it had stopped raining and we had a good 45 minute wait until the bus was scheduled to depart. The line built up behind us and we wound up being the first onto the bus, but there were already people on board and instead of the front most seat we got the next one in line.

The bus ride was 5 hours long with only 2 stops other than our Berlin stop. The bus stopped in Dresden which looked amazing through the windows and in southern Berlin, which in retrospect would have been easier for our train ride to our new Airbnb apartment.

We were scheduled to arrive in Berlin at 2 but due to traffic we did not get into the station until about 2:30 which gave us only 45 minutes to get across town and to our apartment. When discussing the check in time with our hosts I told him when we arrived and where and what time I thought we would be at the apartment. His response was to add a half hour, which I thought wasn't necessary. Turns out you should trust the guy from Berlin, we did not get to the apartment until 3:30, right when he said we would, granted this was due to the traffic coming in but he was right.

We got inside, chatted for a bit and saw the apartment. Then we set our stuff down, grabbed some water and headed out into the neighborhood around the apartment to explore for a couple hours before we needed to get back to the apartment to shower and change for dinner.

We walked north across the river and up onto Karl-Marx-Alle and by Strausberger Platz which has a large fountain in the middle with the Berliner Fernsehturm just over its shoulder. From the platz we walked north to Volkspark Friedrichshain where we walked through the park. In the middle of the park there is a set of winding roads leading up to an apex. We figured that this must be a lookout of some kind so we went up, we were wrong. There was just a small little open courtyard area so we headed back down.

Time was getting close to when we would need to be back in order to change for dinner so we walked around a little more, stopping by a pond in the middle of the park and then heading back to the apartment. Our plan was to walk down Karl-Marx-Alle and cross the Oberbaum Bridge on the way home. But we just did not have the time.

Strausberger Platz with the Berliner Fernsehturm in the background.

Our reservation was at 8:30 and after a good 2 hours of walking and a 5 hour bus ride we needed to shower before dinner. We were eating at Tim Raue, a 2 Michelin starred restaurant near downtown Berlin. It was rated as the 52nd best restaurant in the world by "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" last year.

The exterior of Tim Raue with all of the restaurants accolades on the wall.

We had to change trains twice to get there but we made it about 10 minutes early and were seated immediately. They have a couple options for you when ordering your dinner, in fact, for such a nice place it has the most menu combinations I have seen. There is the 8 course, a specialty menu where you can choose either a 6, 4 or 3 course meal and then there is an a la cart menu.

I chose the 8 course and included the chef specialty as a 9th course, Devin did the same. Chris got the 8 course and Tyler got the 6 course.

I was curious how they would pace the meal overall and then how they would bring out the different dishes since we all had a slightly different amount of courses. In the end the total night was just a hair over 3 hours and 30 minutes and in order to compensate for the courses they would skip one course when the equivalent wasn't ordered. This meant Tyler did not have a course 3 times and Chris once. In the end the pacing was good and everything came out right.

We were started off with 8 starters from the chef.

Cashews in curry powder
pickled herring
zucchini with wasabi dust
carrots with honey
pork belly
cucumber with beef paste

Then I moved on to the first course, Imperial Caviar. This was an excellent bite, the caviar was in between a little sandwich of meringue and butter cream.

Then I White Asparagus with a woodruff dressing and jalapeno jelly dropped on each piece of asparagus. The jalapeno jelly opened up the flavor and the woodruff dressing was a subtle taste alongside.

Next was steamed Hamachi in a jade and lemon verbena oil sauce. The sauce was a real standout and complemented the Hamachi very nicely. The Hamachi melted very nicely as you ate it.

Then I had fried red prawns with a prawn mayo with paprika and a very small shrimp chip on top. The prawns were very slightly fried, they had a very nice crisp on the outside that broke with the lightest bite but the interior was rich and soft. The shrimp chip was simply the best shrimp chip I've ever had and need to be about 10 times as large.

The next dish was, I think, my favorite dish, It was suckling pig. We were brought a plate with a small thing of ginger, mustard and little dollops of dashi jelly on the plate, then a second plate was brought out with the pork still on the bone where it was cut off and placed on top of the jelly, The pig was extremely tender and juicy but the real highlight was the dashi jelly which was very flavorful.

Next was Dim Sum Duck. The duck was baked inside of a small brioche roll. The roll was placed on the plate to look like an egg and had a hazelnut mayonnaise beneath it and sliced truffle on top. This really opened up when you cut into the brioche. The bread baked the duck perfectly.

From the duck it was time to shift to a different meat, to a Black Pepper Beef. This was presented on two plates, one was onions, chives and shallots. The other plate was the rib of beef in a black pepper sauce. The sauce on the beef was excellent and the beef was cooked just right. The onions were very tasty and the only confusing part was whether you were supposed to eat the onions with the beef or separate, it almost felt like a separate dish.

Next up was the special course, Peking Duck. This was presented three ways, giving a different part of the duck on each plate. First there was duck breast on top of a mini waffle with a nice duck sauce beneath. This was perfectly accented by the waffle and that helped to lighten the rich flavor and make it very bright and tasty.

Next was duck liver, pickled cucumber and ginger-leak cream. This was simply the richest dish I have ever eaten. The flavor was incredibly powerful and struck the tongue and hit you upside the head. I feel like 4 hours later that I am still being rocked by the flavor. (I still don't know if this was a good thing or not.)

The third preparation was a small soup with tongue, heart and stomach of the duck. It was a very light broth and it lightened the rich flavor of the duck meat.

Before moving on to the desert course we were brought a palette cleanser. It was cucumber jelly with passion fruit cream. This was simply refreshing and wonderful. The light taste and hits of cucumber were spectacular. Especially after the richness of the duck it was the best single bite of the night.

Then we moved on to the desert course, Calpico. This was described as a lemonade like milk based ice cream. It was presented with meringue of calpico, and grapes with ginger. The calpico was excellent and refreshing and the ginger added just the right spice to leave a tingle in the mouth after you were done.

Before we were brought the check they brought out a couple more complements from the chef. Kumquat jelly with saffron, a chilled kumquat and chocolate that was covered in chocolate powder.

That concluded our 3 and a half hour meal. We all agreed that it was a great time and experience and that we were glad we got to do it. After a good train ride back to the apartment we all had a bunch of water and are now up getting ready for bed so that we can head back out into Berlin and to really see the city.

Waiting for the train home after the great 3 and a half hour meal.

Distance walked: 9 miles