Restaurant Irmi, Munich

The last time I was in Munich was in 2016, and back then, the hotel I was staying at, Le Meridien, had a restaurant called Le Potager.  I remembered quite liking the breakfast buffet, although, to be fair, it was long before I had discovered just how good a breakfast buffet could be (I'm looking at you Feast @ The Sheraton Grand Sydney, or, really, any in Asia ...).

Fast forward to 2022, my first international travel since Covid, and I was back at Le Meridien.  Somewhere in the years since I had stayed there, the restaurant rebranded as Irmi, pivoted to being a “Modern Munich Kitchen” (in the evening), but still seemed to offer the same breakfast lineup, more or less.

I again did enjoy my breakfasts, and yes, ate far more meat at breakfast than I'm used to, but, some of the magic was lost this time around. Still, I'd happily eat it again, and even after 1.5 weeks, it didn't really get old.

Setting

Seating is available in a number of styles, small little tables, giant communal tables, high tables, bar seats, and even outdoor dining.  At breakfast, it is self-seating, in the evening it transitions to a more formal restaurant with reservations and a hostess.

High Tables.

I always opted for one of the high tables with stools, but I rarely had anyone else near me.  These weren't popular for morning diners it seemed.

Regular tables.

Most opted for the regular mid-size tables along the sunny windows.

Courtyard.

When the weather is nice, there is also a considerable amount of seating available in the courtyard.  I didn't get to take advantage of this during my visit, as the morning springtime weather was a still a bit chilly.  In the evenings though, this area was lively.

Drinks

Welcome Shots.

Every day features a fresh juice shot, located right at the check in register.  I'm not really one for juices, so I didn't try any (also, I have a severe melon allergy, and I never trust juicers to be cleaned between fruits!)

Sparkling Wine.

I wasn't up for it, but if you wanted to start your day (weekends only) with some sparkling wine or a mimosa, the making were there, self-serve.

Coffee Maker.

Staff sorta circulate the room asking if people want coffee, but most just come to the machines and do it themselves, which I did.

The espresso was actually pretty good.  I made an Americano every morning, double shot, and it was many notches above most hotel coffee.  No decaf available in the machines - I'm not sure if they had instant somewhere if you asked?

Tea Station.

The tea station featured Samova brand tea, decent lineup.  It was amusing watching people struggle with the hot water tap safety lock.

Continental

The buffet is quite extensive, with generous continental items to start.

Cereals, Dried Fruits, Nuts.

My favorite station most days ended up being the cereal station.  Very boring I know, but, something about jetlag in this direction just leaves me not hungry in the morning, and yet I know I need to eat breakfast to get my metabolism going and day set off right.  Cereal does the trick, and, I do enjoy trying cereal in other countries.

Soy, oat, and regular milk were on offer to go with cereal.  The milk was always kinda warm though (clearly, the buffet didn't keep it chilled all that well) so I asked for a cup of ice each morning to chill it down, while I assembled the rest of my breakfast.

I give one bonus point for the nice presentation too, so much more useful than those dispensers that never work!

Mixed Cereal.

The corn flakes and mini wheats I ignored, but I did enjoy making mixed bowls of muesli, granola, and whatever the fun chocolate based one of the day was (sometimes it had chocolate chunks, flecks, crispies other times it was large curved chocolate pieces like you see here, which I think is Choco Moons?). Sometimes the one with cocoa puffs got soggy fast though.  Some days I also mixed in nuts.

I really enjoyed my cereal creations.  ****.

I wished for fresh berries to add however, and after a few days, starting bringing my own.

Breads.

There is a large lineup of rolls and bread you can slice yourself.  I found most of it pretty dry, not stale exactly, but just dry.  They say it is baked fresh daily.

There were some raisin and walnut rolls I really wanted to like, but, again, kinda hard and dry and had a sourdough taste to them.  *.

Pretzels, Spreads.

There are also pretzels, both regular and rolls, packets of Nutella and peanut butter, and a honeycomb to complete your roll.  No alternative nut butters.

The pretzels I actually like, strangely, and I like them more than most others I had in Germany both times I've visited.  They are soft, I like the crust, I like the flavor of the outside.  Just, decent, really.  ***.

Sweet Bread.

My second to last morning (Sunday), there was a new item in the bread station, a sweet looking bread.  I obviously snatched it up immediately.

It was better than the other breads, not quite as dry/hard, lightly fluffy, lightly sweet.  It had a few raisins in it, and almonds on the exterior.  It was very lightly glazed, but not really enough to make it as sweet as I hoped.

I nibbled a little alongside my coffee as I waited for my waffle and I suspect that toasted with copious butter & a drizzle of honey it would be good, but otherwise, it was not the sweet breakfast loaf I was hoping for.

***.

Honey, Jams.

In addition to a fresh honeycomb to harvest honey from yourself, there are several fancier honeys, and a slew of jams.  The honeys are quite good, perfect to add to yogurt/granola or muesli.

I love these jams.  I am never sure exactly what flavor I am getting, but all are fruity and delightful.  I liked mixing them into my cereal, or on muesli or yogurt, or with sausage/meatloaf.

**** for this whole, quality station.

Pastries: Day 1.

I remember the baked goods not being great before.  I did nearly grab a donut hole, but I had plenty of treats in my room, so I mostly skipped this section the first day, taking only the iced top one of the right.

Iced thing:

I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it was a light base, with an odd taste to it that I didn't love, and, the icing on top.  Definitely not my thing. *+.

Pretzel croissant:
Another day I was drawn to the pretzel croissant. This was ok.  Slight pretzel quality to it, slight croissant quality, but basically less good than the pretzels and not laminated as well as a good croissant.  Eh.  **+.

Pastries: Day 2.

Another day there were some new additions to the pastry lineup, and I couldn't help myself from grabbing one of the tats in front, even though I don't usually like tarts, a tart is an odd item for 7:30am, and .... why the gooseberry on top?

Tart: 

The shell was very soft, and broke apart instantly.  Eh.  It was a tart shell.

The filling I couldn't quite figure out ... was it salted caramel?  Chocolate?  Smooth, creamy, sweet, but not distinctive.  Would be better with whipped cream, and the gooseberry was a bit of an odd thing to have perched on top.  Still, smooth and creamy, not bad.  ***.

Muffin:

I also grabbed a muffin.  I know, buffet muffins, buffet muffins I didn't like before, but the paler muffins had a glaze-like topping that looked interesting at least.  It was not interesting.  Just a plain muffin, kinda airy like the iced thing I had the day before, just, glazed.  Not very good.  **.

Donut.

If at first you don't succeed ...

Or really, if you are Julie and you love pastries no matter how lackluster they seem to be ...  Yup, I tried the donut.  I hoped it was stuffed with something (it wasn't).

It was fine.  Soft, fluffy, nicely coated in sugar.  Fairly average.  Although it wasn't stuffed, I could easily do that myself with the amazing jam lineup, or Nutella had I been in the mood.  Definitely nothing special, but no bad, and probably my top pick if I wanted something sweet and carby.

***.

When I later read my review from many years prior, it was exactly the same.

Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Scone-eque.

One morning, there were these triangle shaped items, with chocolate along the edges and covering the base completely.  I have no idea why I grabbed one, but I'm glad I did!

This was actually pretty good.  The texture was almost like a scone, and it was heavily hazelnut flavored.  The chocolate coating was generous (the entire base was en-robed).

It did go great with a cup of coffee, as a breakfast pastry if you were in the mood, or equally well as a mid-morning coffee break snack.  I'd get it again if in the mood.

***+.

Raspberry Plait.

I remember not really caring for the danish style items last time, but one morning I woke up very late (phone crashed overnight, it is where my alarm was!) and the pickings for pastries were quite slim.  So I grabbed one of these.

I did like how crispy the top was, and it was stuffed generously with sweet raspberry filling, but, it wasn't a particularly great item.  Average buffet quality.

**+.

Almond (?) Snail.

I kept trying my way through the pastries, 1-2 a day, because, well, sometimes they were hits.

This one was not really.  The driest of the pastries I tried, not flaky.  It did have a nice glaze over the top, and seemed to have a little bit of almond paste between the folds, but, otherwise, dry and flavorless.  My least favorite.

**.

Nutella Croissant.

The croissants looked reasonably flaky, and I was in the mood for chocolate, so I grabbed this one.  It turned out to be stuffed, very generously, with Nutella, not chocolate.  Smooth, rich, creamy Nutella.  The pastry itself was ok, a bit flaky, but not really all that well laminated.

Average buffet quality. ***.

Apricot Croissant.

On the weekend, there were considerably more pastries, and at least 5 kinds of croissants.  I took a gamble with the powdered sugar coated one, thinking it might have something interesting inside.

And ... it did!  Inside was sweet apricot jam.  I quite liked the jam.  The pastry was fine, again, not flaky fresh high end bakery quality, but slightly crisp, not spongy, not stale.  The powdered sugar on the outside was quite tasty.

One of the better items from the lineup, and honestly, better than the fresh donut I had the day before at the famed Schmalznudel Café Frischhut.

***.

Turnover.

One day, there was a new item!  A turnover-danish thing!  I grabbed it out of excitement to see something new.  

It was ... eh.  Standard buffet quality.  Not particularly flaky nor great pastry, barely filled at all, just a little berry preserves, but nicely glazed on top.  Overall though, meh.

**.

Full Size Muffin.

My final morning brought one novel item ... a full size muffin.  It looked plain, but, hey, I'd tried everything else at that point ....

It did have a nice glaze on top, but otherwise, yup, just a very, very, very plain muffin.  No flavor at all.  One of the worst baked goods they served. *.

Cold Cuts / Salmon.

The sliced cold cuts and cheeses lineup had quite a few choices, very European.  Only one kind of smoked salmon this year, previously there were several.

Nothing here was labelled, so not quite sure what all the meats were, but certainly ham, many styles of bologna-like loaf, prosciutto, salami ... I tried most of these, and found them all to be pretty decent quality.  The smoked salmon really had a deep smoky flavor, and the proschuitto was a regular favorite.  I don't really wake up craving sliced meats, but, I think I would like them in a pretzel roll, with cheese and mustard, at lunchtime.  Above average cold cuts, ****.

There were two kinds of sliced cheese.

On the side were lemons, seaweed salad, and horseradish.

I really appreciated the garnishes.  Again, seaweed salad not really what I want at 8am, but, I liked it all the same.  ***+.

Cheeses.

Every morning the cheese platter was a bit different.  It usually had 5-6 cheeses to cut yourself.  They were rarely labelled.  There was two fresh cheeses, I think something feta like and something mozzarella like?  Sometimes it had dried fruit and nuts to garnish.  The cheeses, like the meats, were above average. ***+.

This section also had butters (including vegan) and cream cheese.

Fruit.

Fruit however was sad.

No berries.  Melons, stewed fruits, really not a great fruit line up.  Whole bananas and apples also available.

**.

Yogurts.

Several large format white yogurts were available.

The signs list natural yogurt, and quark, yet there were three different yogurts available.  I'm not sure which was which, but, I actually really liked them all. 

The thinner one I suspect was the "Natural", it was my least favorite just because I prefer thicker, but it was nicely tart.  All were clearly full fat yogurt, so creamy and rich.

  

I wish there were berries or better fruit to go with the yogurt though, although some fancy honey and granola from the cereal area made for a nice little treat.

****.

Milk & Yogurt.

In addition there were soy and regular yogurt pots in several flavors, plus actually tasty bircher muesli that I liked.  It was loaded with shredded coconut and apple, and among the better bircher I had on this trip, although I really wished for berries to go with it. ***+.

The milk jugs contained soy, oat, and regular milk.  All full fat.

"Salad"

I remember really craving vegetables by the time I left Germany last time, and this station reminded me why.  This was the entirety of the salad station ... yup, no base greens at all, just cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers for fresh veggies.  There were pickles, olives, and hummus too.  I did really like the different pickles (they changed nearly every day), but, yeah, not much for veggies. ***.

Hot Food

The hot food selection was less impressive than the continental.  I found it interesting that a few cuisines were entirely missing - no hot carbs like waffles/pancakes/crepes/bread pudding, and also no Asian cuisine (congee, dim sum, etc).  The focus was basic American and German.  The German offersing however were pretty decent.

Hot Veggies.

First up, hot veggies: roast tomatoes, hash browns, mushrooms.

These never changed, and I never tried them.

German Meat.

Next up, meat.  Two kinds of sausages (traditional white are hiding inside the earthenware vessel), meatloaf, and meatballs.

I tried the regular breakfast sausage (not the German white one) and it was really greasy, kinda grisly, and not enjoyable.  *.

The white sausage I know is traditional, and it was much better, but it also wasn't my thing.  At least, not for breakfast.  It was juicy, plump, filled with herbs, flavorful, but, at least at the time, not what I wanted.  Still, a fine sausage. ***.

And finally, the meatball.  It was seared on the outside, which was nice, but that is about all I have positive to say about it.  It was dry, and it tasted like fake meat, not real meat.  It reminded me of seitan.  I really did not like this.  *.

Meatloaf. 

I remember discovering the meatloaf late on my trip last time, so this time I was determined to try it early this time, as I had loved it before, particularly with a bit of sour cherry jam.

I still liked it, particularly the flavorful crust, but the magic was slightly lost.  **+.

American Station.

No chicken nuggets this time, just baked beans, chicken wings, bacon.  Again, never changed, and I never had any of these.

Eggs.

Not sure why, but I tried the scrambled eggs the first morning.  They were whatevs. **+.

Made to Order

There is also a made to order egg station featuring mostly omelettes, and, as I discovered far later into my stay, the ability order other items from the kitchen.

"1 Egg Over Medium with Mushroom & Onion".

I tried to order a poached egg.  "What is ... poached?" the egg chef asked.  So I said ... "No problem, how about over medium?"  He pointed at the sunny side up already fried eggs laid out in the buffet.  And then made a motion like flipping.  I thought he was on board with the "over medium" and said "yes!" Then he gestured at the toppings, asking if I'd like things.  I wasn't planning to get toppings, but, why not?  I thought I ordered mushroom and onion to go with my over medium egg.

What I got?  A ham & cheese omelette.  Lol.

I didn't like it at all (exactly the over cooked, tough, style of omelette that I don't ever like) and, um, totally not what I wanted.

*.

"1 Poached Egg."

The next day, there was a different staff member working the egg station, so I tried again to order poached eggs.  He was *far* more helpful, and told me to just order those from a waitstaff, as they'd be prepared in the kitchen.  I found a staff member circulating the room, and asked for one poached egg.

A few minutes later, this was brought out.  I was expecting literally just a poached egg, but, got a little side salad, buttered toast (with crusts removed!), and two eggs ... quasi poached.

The salad was actually fine, just mixed baby greens and grape tomatoes, and not really what I crave at 8am, but given that they don't have any greens anywhere in the buffet, and my vegetable consumption, besides potatoes and white asparagus, was quite low on this trip, it was much appreciated.  It was heavily dressed with olive oil.

The toast was unexpected, but good.  Lol that removing the crusts, but, it was actually just lightly toasted, well buttered, simple but good white toast.  

The eggs though ... eh.  I'm not quite sure how they cooked them, but, not really poached as I was expecting.  The yolks were medium-set, a tiny bit of ooze to them.  I had hoped that the eggs would taste more like Australian eggs (where I love them!) but alas, they tasted no different than American eggs.

It all needed some salt & pepper, which strangely there is none of in the restaurant (not on tables, not in buffet).

I wouldn't get these again, but good to know there is the option.

**+.

Liege Waffle.

I remembered there being great liege waffles in the buffet one time during my last stay.  Every morning I was on the lookout for them.  And yet, I never saw they show up.  One morning, I saw one person with them at their table.  I hung around a while, hoping the buffet would be replenished with them, but alas, nope.  

On my second to last morning, I saw the chalkboard behind the omelet station said something about pancakes or waffles.  I tried to order one at the station, and was told to order from waitstaff.  I tracked one down, and did so.  He asked how I'd like it ... I asked options, and the only one I was given was "with some maple syrup on the side perhaps?"  I said sure.

I went to gather my other things, and when I returned, a waffle was waiting for me.  Liege style, just as I hoped. It was very coated in powdered sugar, and garnished with a single fresh raspberry.  Finally, berries! Er, berry.

It was a good, generic, liege waffle.  Nothing extraordinary, but, frozen and heated liege waffles can be plenty satisfying, and this was.  Crispy outside, good flavor, just, overall, good.  It was barely warm however.  

It didn't need syrup with it since so sweet from the powdered sugar, but I did really want whipped cream and fresh fruit with it.  I have no idea if that was an option?

Anyway, quite good, and I wished I had discovered it sooner during my stay.

****.

Liege Waffle.

My final morning I ordered another waffle.  This one came without syrup (although there was a dot on the plate, not what looked like intentional plating ...), and tons of powdered sugar, no fruit garnish.

It was also very overcooked.  It didn't look it, but it was crispy to the point of being nearly impossible to eat, and, burnt (super dark) from the inside out.  I honestly don't know what they did to it to make it come out like that, as the exterior, while dark, didn't look quite a burnt as it really was.  This one also seemed to maybe have pockets of caramel or syrup baked in?  But so hard to tell as it was so burnt.

This let me down greatly, and I'm glad I at least got to experience one good waffle.  Had this been my first one, I certainly would not have ordered another.

**.