The "Pfistermühle" in Munich has developed into a remarkable culinary hotspot.
There are a number of reasons for this development.
There is the location in the middle of the old town, not far from the "Hofbräuhaus" and "Platzl", in the vaulted cellar of a former ducal mill from 1573.
Then the restaurant belongs to the traditional hotel named after the "Platzl", which is a meeting place for many cultural travelers from all over the world.
And there is one concept that seems to hit the nerve of the audience.
They want to create a "real Munich atmosphere" and do so with an interior that still looks like a traditional Bavarian inn with lots of high-quality wood and tasteful restraint in the decoration.
So if you find things too formal in the usual gourmet restaurants, you don't have that problem here.
In culinary terms, the Pfistermühle is supposed to be about “upscale Bavarian cuisine” that is “reinterpreted”.
In fact, at first glance the menu reads like that of a gourmet restaurant.
However, guests do not necessarily have to eat a menu here, but can order à la carte.
A dumpling dish then sounds a little different.
The "Gratinated spinach dumpling - glazed chard, roasted pine nuts, mountain cheese, nut butter espuma" (26 euros, small portion 18.50 euros) is a quite firm but tasty dumpling in a creamy sauce with a rather mild, almost elegant cheese aroma, in which some chard leaves lie.
It actually gives the impression of a reinterpretation, in which a mixed taste is created that brings together the traditional and a discreetly modern understanding.
This concept becomes even clearer with the "Bavarian veal duet - raw marinated, sweetbreads, smoked beetroot, baked capers, pickled mustard seeds, Granny Smith apple" (24.50 euros).
The focus here is a classic tartare with a clear onion portion.
All other elements are placed all around and have rather small dimensions.
Sweetbread, beetroot and co. are taken and formed accords with the tartare, which results in an aromatic or textural expansion of the taste profile.
The taste of the “Char fillet from the Birnbaum fish farm – caviar, carrot-ginger puree, green asparagus, Romanesco, herb oil, nage” (35.59 euros; Birnbaum is a very good address in southern Germany) is again very pleasant overall, especially with the carrot-ginger puree and the "herb oil", which contains little oil but a number of effective, fresh herbs.
The fish in the center could perhaps be a little less well-done, because the char then tastes a little better.
How shiny a main product can be becomes clear with the "Sous vide cooked duck breast from Gutshof Polting - Hokkaido pumpkin cream, roasted Brussels sprouts, walnut chutney, cassis gel" (42 euros).
Cooking in a vacuum and water bath approaches the optimum core temperature much more subtly, leaves the meat juicier and produces a much more controlled result than cooking in a pan, for example.
And because the origin of the main product is excellent, this dish perhaps shows how good the kitchen at the "Pfistermühle" can be, even when the house is full.
Even the sweet-sounding ingredients, which in other restaurants often achieve a certain penetrance with such dishes, are very nicely set here with a hearty, vegetable flavor.
The pleasure is even greater with the wine, a slightly matured Aloxe-Corton from Burgundy.
In general, they work here with the open wine accompaniment with serious qualities, for example a Pinot Gris from the Winning winery, Deidesheim, with spinach dumplings.
The finale is cheese from local production.
And overall one can say: The concept in the "Pfistermühle" makes sense and has already reached a good level.