May 2004
Look Out
Three restaurants that boast good food and a great view
GLOCKENSPIEL CAFÉ
RESTAURANT BAR
Marienplatz 28 (entrance on Rosengasse)
Tel. (089) 26 42 56
Open Mon.–Sat. 10 am–1 am
(kitchen open till 11:30 pm); Sun. 10 am–7 pm;
dinner reservations recommended
The Glockenspiel Café occupies a special place in Munich’s restaurant culture. Here guests can partake of breakfast, lunch or dinner while enjoying what must be one of the city’s most delightful views of Marienplatz and the Neues Rathaus. A continental breakfast, a business lunch, afternoon coffee or drinks (on the terrace out back) with friends or an evening meal, the Glockenspiel Café caters to all. Anyone looking for a light lunch may want to try either the fried goat’s cheese salad (€ 7.50) with rosemary-honey dressing, walnuts and bread, which has the right combination of sweet, crunch, tart and sour, or the vegetable quiche (€ 7.50) with a small salad. Glockenspiel’s evening specials change regularly. The current
Menü Glockenspiel (€ 28) is a four-course meal that begins with a bulgur wheat salad with cucumber, tomato, fresh mint and pan-seared feta cheese, followed either by salmon filet in a potato-curry crust with tomato-coriander butter and glazed snow peas, or the beef tenderloin in an herb blanket on a
shallot au jus served with bacon, green beans and creamy polenta flavored with truffles. And the dessert, if you can manage it, is a banana flan with strawberries and caramel ice cream. One caveat might be the amount of smoke, which, at times, may distract from the otherwise pleasant atmosphere.
Food *** Service ** Atmosphere ***
DREHRESTAURANT IM
OLYMPIATURM
Spiridon-Louis-Ring 7 (Olympic Park)
Tel. (089) 30 66 85 85
Open daily 11 am–12 am;
dinner reservations required
The Drehrestaurant (rotating restaurant) is a place to take your time, be pampered, relax and enjoy top-quality cuisine from creative master chefs who turn out delicious several-course meals, or
Menüs, for up to 230 guests an evening. Every table boasts a magnificent view and the restaurant rotates every 49 minutes so there’s always a grand panorama, wherever you are seated. Exclusive dining commands a relatively exclusive price, with main course dinner items priced from € 19 and luncheon items from € 8.50, and that’s not including the € 3 ride to the 182-meter-high platform, where the restaurant nests. But it is worth it! An excellent wine list, imaginative international cuisine and special candle-light multi-course dinner
Menüs available for two from € 150, including apéritif, red and white wines as well as coffee, make this one place to splurge and celebrate any occasion. Last month’s candle-light dinner offer, for example, included a four-course meal, starting with an arugula-radicchio salad with orange filets, roasted pine nuts and smoked breast of duck, followed by a filet of
Wolfsbarsch (sea bass) with avocado and saffron rice. The main course, a tender veal rump roast (
gebratener Kalbstafelspitz), is served with vegetable noodles and mushrooms. The meal closes with a pear-nut strudel, polenta-ice cream and sweet pesto. Attentive service and an excellent atmosphere combine to make for a memorable evening.
Food **** Service **** Atmosphere ****
GOURMET RESTAURANT KÖNIGSHOF (Hotel Königshof)
Karlsplatz 25 (Stachus)
Tel. (089) 55 136-0
Open Tues.–Sat. 12 pm–2:30 pm and
6:45 pm–10 pm; closed Sun. and Mon.;
dinner reservations required;
formal dress
Voted the Best Hotel–Restaurant in Germany in 1997, 1998 and 2000, the Gourmet Restaurant Königshof, located on the second floor of the hotel, boasts a panoramic view of Stachus. The staff serves “new German cuisine” pleasing to even the most discriminating gourmet, in an atmosphere of luxury, style and elegance. Restaurant Königshof has recently recruited Austrian-born chef Martin Fauster (formerly the Sous Chef at Tantris), who has created a menu commensurate with his culinary experiences in Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany. With six-course gourmet
Menüs from €110, four-course
degustation Menüs costing € 115, fish, meat and game from € 30, desserts or an assortment of cheeses from € 11, it’s almost an overwhelming selection. Here are a few highlights from the April–May
Menü: watercress soup with pan-seared scallops and poached quail’s eggs (€ 18), seared monkfish wrapped in bacon served on lentils (€ 29), wild dove’s breast with apples and green peppercorns (€ 28), rabbit haunches with bread filling and bear’s garlic—a seasonal green with a mild garlic taste—(€ 22) and desserts such as chocolate blossoms with exotic fruit sorbet or “au gratin” rhubarb tartlet with Champagne ice cream (both € 11). A night out here will ensure a full stomach—and an empty wallet! The Königshof Bar is also an ideal spot for a nightcap in a relaxed atmosphere with light piano music. Play it again Sam!
Food **** Service **** Atmosphere ****
