Tavernetta, Munich

When in Munich, go to an Italian restaurant?  Yup, for the meals that I picked on this trip, I was mostly not going to traditional Bavarian places, as all the meals I wasn't planning were bringing me to exactly those, and, well, this girl only wants so much beer, pretzels, meat, and potatoes (although, I'm more than happy to have all the kasiserschmarn!).

Anyway, after a ok-but-not-great meal at Buffet Kul Bar, we went to Tavernetta, an Italian place I read great reviews about.  Great Italian food I don't have often, and with the proximity to Italy, I hoped it might be better than what I'm used to.

It was a pretty lackluster experience.  Service wasn't particularly friendly, and was really, really, really slow.  The food was lower end mediocre.  After several hours of being there, we left before getting desserts, and opted to just go get kaiserschmarrn instead (at  Zum Dürnbräu - just as glorious as I remembered!).  German, heavy carb dessert may not make any sense after an Italian carby meal, but, hey, we were very ready to leave there.  I wouldn't go back.

Setting

Sidewalk Seating.

The restaurant is located down a side street, and has a few tables outside.  We had the choice to sit inside or out, and I wished we had picked out, but, the forecast was predicting rain, so we went in.

Indoor Dining.

Since there was a threat of rain, we chose to sit inside, where there were a few tables.  The one for 4 people (our group size) was occupied by a young teenager sprawled out with her tablet.  The host/server asked her to move, and she, um, didn't.  He asked her again, and again, and eventually she rolled her eyes, gave attitude, and moved.  It wasn't exactly the most welcoming environment.

We were the only ones inside for the first hour, which was nice, until a large party came in and joined us.

Bar.

Adjacent to the seating was the bar area, but it wasn't a bar where people sat at, and instead was just an area that waitstaff used.

Food

We were first presented with menus in Italian.  We asked for English menus, and were given a couple. I appreciated the authenticity of Italian first!

In addition to their regular menu, they have a truffle menu, and, a weekly menu, the later of which was only provided in Italian/German.  I had scoped out the menu in advance online, and had a good idea of exactly what I wanted to order, but, alas, the weekly menu, the one with the items I most wanted, was very out of date.  Doh.

Still, I picked it for the seasonal asparagus and there were still several choices featuring it, and, well, for what I hoped would be better Italian food than we have in most of the US.

Starters: Veal with tuna sauce and capers,
beef tartar with purple potatoes, crayfish with white asparagus.

We started with a trio of appetizers, one from the regular menu, and two specials.  I was pretty sad that the online specials menu was out of date, as I really wanted those, but, alas, I was happy enough with these choices.

Our starters came presented on one large platter, which was kinda fun.  There was also some mixed greens on the platter, which, given how few vegetables I tend to have when in Munich, I appreciated, and took most of.

I didn't have the beef tartar since that isn't really my thing (but did try the purple potato mush on top ... eh).  Everything else was fine, very average.

It took quite a while for this to arrive, which was surprising for all cold dishes and the restaurant was empty.

Special: Crayfish with white asparagus salad.

This was probably my favorite dish, but that isn't actually saying too much.  The crayfish was light and refreshing, not fishy, much like a slightly less flavorful crab.  I haven't had much crayfish, particularly chilled, so this was nice for something different.

The white asparagus was also nice, not too soft.  

It was all dressed in a viniagrette.

Overall, a fine dish, but, I thought it needed a touch of fresh acidity (lemon juice?) or a creamy component.

***.

Veal with tuna sauce and Pantelleria capers.

I remember the first (and only other!) time I had vitello tonnato.  My mind was blown.  Note: this was just a few years ago.  The idea of a tuna cream was just fascinating.  And, I think I'd only had veal maybe 2-3 times ever .  I loved the dish - I remember the veal being so tender, and, zomg, that tuna cream.  So when I saw this on the menu, it was a no brainer.  Behind the asparagus that I obviously wanted, this was my other must order.

It was ... underwelming, but, it would take a lot to live up to that memory.  The veal was sliced thin and tender, served cold, and, well, "fine".  I liked the big caperberries on top (and, one diner had never had them before, so that was fun for him).  

But the tuna sauce, the part I remember loving when I had it elsewhere, just didn't have much flavor.  Sadness.

Again, another dish that was "fine", nothing wrong with it, but nothing that made it stand out.

***.

Bread.

A bit after our starters, some bread showed up.  I didn't try it. I saw the server cut it with his hand on the bread and after touching many other things.  Also, just room temp, and, others thought it might be sourdough.

Special: Beef in parmesan crust with gratin white asparagus.

After another long wait, our main dishes arrived.

The others really wanted beef, and I wanted asparagus, so this was a natural choice.

The white asparagus was fine, not too soft, large pieces, with a bit of cheese baked on, which seemed a bit unnecessary, and masked really getting to taste the fresh asparagus.  

The beef, which we asked for medium-rare, was actually medium-rare, something we all appreciated.  Decent sear.  Decently done, but I like a sauce with my beef.

On top was i think mashed potato with parmesan, more cheese.  It was kinda gloopy.

Overall, yup, another dish that was "fine", but I really wanted the asparagus to shine more.  The others seemed happy enough with it.

**+.

Tavernetta Pizza. Tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parma ham, rocket, Parmesan flakes.

For our pizza, we picked the namesake one, which came with parma ham, fresh rocket and parmesan on top.

It actually was pretty good.  The crust had a good chew, was otherwise crispy, slight char.  The sauce was flavorful, the mozzarella cheese well distributed and perfectly melted.  The ham really did seem to be high quality, and I enjoyed it more than the other proteins in our meal.  The fresh rocket and parmesan just rounded it out nicely with freshness and salt.

I'm glad we got a pizza, definitely the best of the main dishes, and the only thing I'd really recommend.

***+.

Truffle Special: Tagliolini with truffle.

From the special truffle menu, I wanted something.  And it seemed like we should get a fresh pasta since Tavernetta is known for the fresh pasta.  Put two and two together, and, yup, we got the fresh pasta with truffle.

It was underwhelming.  Just, well, pasta in butter/oil with very mild white truffle shaved on top.  Just not much flavor going on here, and the pasta itself also didn't have any particular flavor.

No one was into this.

**+.