Münchner Stubn, Munich

After 6 years, I finally returned to Munich.  While I enjoyed a few things during my previous trip, it isn't really a city I have all much of a fondness for (not for the food, the culture, the weather, the architecture ...), but I recently visited for a week for work.  While I was there, yes, I ate my share of mediocre Bavarian (and French and Italian) food.  Mostly nothing was memorable, and I kept craving a great dessert to "make me happy".

Which led me, on my last night in town, to join a co-worker at Münchner Stubn, located right near my hotel.

"The essence of Munich is in a gut feeling."

While this may be the motto of Münchner Stubn, I also kinda feel that way about Munich in general.  So much heavy food, so much more meat and carbs, so few fruits and vegetables than I am used to.

Anyway.  Münchner Stubn serves all the Bavarian classics, and seems to always draw quite the crowd, both inside and out, every day.  Always a line to get in.  It sure seems like a tourist trap, located right below a hotel, adjacent to the train station, etc.  Menus readily available in many languages.  It wasn't particularly high on my list of places to go, although nearly all of my co-workers wound up there at least once, if not twice, just because it was easy and close by.  Their reports were all average, which about matches what I expected.  And for those who don't want German food, um, they also serve pizza.  Like I said, warning signs.

I was drawn in by one thing: their kaiserschmarrn.  It gets such rave reviews.  That said ... I suspected it was because it was the first time many of these tourists had kaiserschmarrn, and thus it was unique, different, and, even a mediocre version could be quite novel at first.  But the photos looked legit, and so, last night in town, I went, just for dessert.

Kaiserschmarrn. 10.50.

"Caramelized, rum raisins, almonds, apple compote. made fresh, approx. 20min."

Ah yes.  Kaiserschmarrn.  Truly a unique Bavarian dessert, and one I discovered early during my first trip to Munich (at Zum Dürnbräu, where it, and everything really, was so good we returned a few days later).  But I've come to realize not all kaiserschmarrn is created equal, and, to some extent, I think it is losing its appeal in some ways due to eating too many versions of it in a short period of time.

But I digress.  Let's get back to Münchner Stubn and their version.

It came served in a skillet (a good sign!) except it was clear immediately this was just for presentation, it hadn't been actually cooked in it, no caramelized bits clinging to the pan.  Hmmm.  Interestingly, their version comes with both apple compote and stewed plums, where everywhere else I've seen it comes with one or the other.  I appreciated this, but again, went, "Hmm...".  Finally, garnish of a few raspberries and blueberries, a sprig of currants, and mint completed the presentation.

This version had some good elements.  The pieces were nice size chunks bigger than bite sized.  They had decent caramelization, but lacked the lofty, doughy interior of the pieces at Zum Dürnbräu.  It was studded with some raisins (rum soaked it said, I didn't taste rum though) which were decent but not as plump as other versions, and pieces were covered with caramelized sliced almonds.  The candied almonds were quite nice.

So the base - decent.  Lacking in as much flavor (no spicing, base dough not particularly flavorful) as Zum Dürnbräu, and pieces not as moist/lofty, but, some points for the almonds.  It was lightly dusted with powdered sugar, not nearly as significant as the copious amount of sugar in the Zum Dürnbräu version.

Then, the sauces.  The apple compote really was more like chunks of apple than applesauce, which I liked more, but, it tasted kinda like nothing.  No spicing, which I know is traditional, and just not my thing, although I did appreciate the texture.

The stewed plum one was the least flavorful of all the versions I have tried.  Not sweet and fruity, not tart, just, well, not tasting like much of anything really.  Good texture again though, but I really wanted to taste the fruity, or at least tart and acidic, nature of it.

Overall, solidly average, and not one I'd go back for.  ***.

Kaiserschmarrn ... with whipped cream! 1.50.

I knew that Münchner Stubn had both whipped cream and ice cream available, normally options to add-on to the apple strudel for 1.50 each, and I also know that I really wanted whipped cream with my kaiserschmarrn.  And so, very well knowing it was not the Bavarian way, we asked to have some whipped cream too.

The whipped cream came in a bowl of its own, and was clearly just canned whipped cream.  It deflated quickly, and couldn't really stand up to the heafty kaiserschmarrn.  I was glad to have it, but, next time I'd opt for the ice cream ...