The Organic Traveller
Friday, 13 October 2023

Munich: Self-service eateries and streetfood

For an organic or at least partially organic lunch you have far more options than full-fledged restaurants or cafes with lunch options: There are a lot of eateries mainly catering for people working or studying nearby, shopping or travelling. You order your food and drinks at the counter, pay and find a place to sit down with your tray. However, if you come off the peak hours you will often be served, or the staff will offer to bring your coffee to your table after you finished your meal.

Just a few years ago this type of eating opportunity was almost exclusively offered by owner-run organic groceries, usually taking the form of hearty vegetarian wholefood and sandwiches. Nowadays it's a much more volatile market -- hip places come and go more frequent than in other categories. Many of them have opening hours matching those of the cornershops – closed on Sundays, in the evening, and often also on Saturday afternoons.

Pommesboutique

Near the university (Maxvorstadt)

The streets near the university buildings in Maxvorstadt are a natural place to look for places offering organic food, and they've seen a lot of shops popping up and closing down. Two long-established, though very different eateries are worth a try, both located in Amalienstraße: the Mutter Erde grocery offering vegan meals and the Pommesboutique grill. The latter was one of the first places in town to take no compromises with regard to meat, but it is following a more laissez-faire approach when it comes to the veges and condiments. So you have to ask about the origin of the latter if you care. All the sausages, burger patties, köfte and other (minced) meat come from an organic farm in the vicinity, and you can choose from a huge range of sauces. If you prefer your fries chewy – this is the place for you. Sometimes the tables are a bit too greasy for my liking, but with a little luck you come along when they have live music.

If you prefer your meat the Mexican way walk around the corner into Schellingstraße for Pureburrito, the second branch of a small climate-neutrally cooking local fast food chain serving burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. Unfortunately only pork and beef are organic, not the chicken, and you will find organic softdrinks of the Bionade brand in the fridge. There's another branch (much) farther up the street, near tube station Theresienstraße. All Pureburrito branches are closed on Sundays.

City centre

To find organic food late on an evening out is a challenge in itself – night birds usually do not tend to be picky about the origin of calories at this hour. But if you enter the party zone Sonnenstraße (or spend an evening in one of the cinemas) the Bikini Mitte deli and bar comes to the rescue, conveniently located opposite a petrol station. During the day it's a decent, partially organic eatery offering bowls and sandwiches, usually made with organic veges, alongside organic soft drinks of the Proviant and Charitea brands. Bread and meat (apart from the occasional pulled pork) are not organic. Apart from Sunday the place keeps open until midnight, catering until the early hours Thursday through Sunday, and since the bar stocks locally produced organic gin, wodka and amaro (alongside a wide range of conventional spirits) your drinking can always be responsible. The place may be known as "Bon Valeur" to locals as this is its former name (and the name of the company running it).

Just a few steps away, you'll also find the newest Pureburrito branch in the basement of the Stachus-Passagen mall.

The multi-cultural quarter in the vicinity of the central train station with its special mixture of electronic and immigrant shops should be the natural place to find organic food from the Levant, but only in 2020 a happy crowd of young Bavarian chefs with different roots opened Servus Habibi, a pita, hummus and falafel place cum (outside corona) bar serving organic meat and home-made pickles. Unfortunately none of the drinks are organic. Note that the place is closed on Wednesdays. If you are in the mood for falafel on this weekday try Beirut Beirut in Sendling.

Byoo Another organic institution of old is Leo's Organic Kitchen near Isartor. It started as "Basic Bistro" in 2010, changed its name to "Byoo" when the organic supermarket on the first floor opened its own self-service eatery and changed it once again following its 10th anniversary, but the general the concept has not changed much since. So climb the stairs to this 100 percent organic place run by a friendly Vietnamese family, their extremely tasty, perfectly spiced (vegan) Saigon soup is worth it! Vegans, vegetarians and omnivores are all catered for with a happy fusion cuisine, often with an oriental touch. If you can't decide for one of the usually two soups and six main courses on the daily changing menu you can still pick from the antipasti and salads bar. A family-friendly place they will happily heap a helping of a side dish on your plate if you ask. They usually do not offer dessert, but you can have a freshly squeezed smoothie or an Italian-style coffee and cake, or simply a freshly brewed mint tea made from fresh herbs. Bring along your own jars if you you wish to take your food with you.

When taking a stroll through the Viktualienmarkt market gourmet restaurants like the Tian aren't your only lunch option: A few steps away (opposite Schrannenhalle) you'll find Yum 2 Take, an (evening open) Thai eatery and take-away serving organic meat.

Bistro ÖQ

Hearty, fully organic German lunch is being served at the Bistro ÖQ in the back of the Virtualienmarkt branch of the Herrmannsdorfer Landwerkstätten organic butcher's. Usually you will be waited but better keep your eyes open whether it seems more appropriate to order directly from the open kitchen and at the end go and pay there. Naturally this is a place for omnivores and meat-lovers but there's always a tasty vegetarian dish available. The kitchen draws both, from German and Italian countryside kitchen traditions, serving mouth-watering risotti and pasta dishes as well as a piece of meat or fish with side-dishes, following seasonal availability and properly prepared. For the real Munich experience do not miss their potato salad (not suitable for strict vegetarians, though)!

Carnivores and beer-lovers are also catered for a few steps away, in the mumble-jumble of Viktualienmarkt: The market stall of Kleiner Ochs'nbrater ("little ox grill") serves Munich fast food specialities, which naturally means beer and meat. Have a Leberkäs (meat loaf), sausage or pork roast (Schweinebraten) – (except for the beef and some side dishes) it's all organic, locally sourced and tasty – as are the Brezn (pretzel) and the drinks (beer, wine, softdrinks). It can be difficult to find a place to sit down, so watch out before you order a dish on a plate. Even though the Viktualienmarkt is a tourist hot spot, it's one where tourists and locals mingle (opposed to e.g. the legendary Hofbräuhaus). On nice weather days the grill may keep open a little longer than 6 pm. Note that it is closed both, on Mondays and Sundays.

Organic Garden Signature Store

Vegan hotdogs you'll find a few steps off Viktualienmarkt, in the small lane behind Heiliggeist church: At the Organic Garden you can choose between three different spelt-based buns – a green one containing spinach, a yellow one with curcuma and one inspired by the Bavarian soft pretzel which was dipped in lye before baking. For the plant-based sausages there are classic organic tofu Vienna-style "sausages" made from European organic soy, a smoked version and the "planted chicken" made from pea-protein. The shop masterminded by the former chef of the male German football national team does not accept cash.

In January 2022 the venture opened a second venue, the Organic Garden Eatery inside the Mercedes Benz showroom at Odeonsplatz, also offering breakfast, coffee and (during the cold season) mulled wine. Enjoy the greenwashing approach of the automotive industry if you don't mind the split brain.

If you prefer low-processed plant-based food head for the Glockenbachviertel. Here Noams Deli offers filling bowls and hearty one-pot wonders as stews or curries predominantly (if not only) made with organic ingredients. Bring a jar if your appetite isn't huge, to take the remainders with you, as the clean-eating inspired dishes often are more filling than anticipated. On nice weather days the outdoor tables allow for people-watching while having a coffee drink and perhaps a banana bread, brownie, or raw sweet. The shop with its stylish, polished wooden interior isn't open in the evening, but on the other hand its focus on healthy food may be too much for the night.

There's a second Noams branch in the university town of Gießen.

Near Ostbahnhof station

On the East side of the railway tracks, inside the developing Werksviertel party, start-up, and cultural area there's a Pureburrito branch serving Mexican style street food with organic pork and beef (see here). Unfortunately party-goers will be disappointed since it stops serving food by 9 pm.

Haidhausen with its majority vote for the Green Party has several organic hotspots, and one of them is Elsässer Straße East of Bordeauxplatz. A few steps from Haidhauser Oase, next to an organic bakery and opposite the organic neighbourhood grocery Lebascha you'll find Erbil's, the only vegan doner kebap shop in town. Instead of meat you'll get organic seitan, and some (but not all) of the vegetables also are organic. Choose an organic softdrink or beer from the fridge, but have an eye on organic labels since not everything is organic. They also serve organic tea and tisanes and use organic oat drink for coffee drinks. Unfortunately they do not sell baklava for dessert during covid-19 restrictions, instead you can choose from a number of home-made cakes for take away.

Oliver

More vegan lunch in the form of Israelian-style vegan mezze can be had just a few steps away at Oliver offering an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at the very competitive price of 10 EUR. The friendly owner assured me that all of the ingredients except herbs and spices were organic. You can also borrow a blanket and picnic basket and take your lunch to the park at Bordeauxplatz. Lunch time stops when everything is sold, and you may of course use your own jars and boxes for take-away. In the afternoon and evenings step by for hand-rolled vegan ice-cream, freshly prepared while you wait: A plant-drink based "batter" is poured onto a freezer plate, stirred with fruit, berries, home-made cookies, nuts and other flavourings you specify, frozen to a thin sheet of ice-cream, rolled up and served in a bowl. When the weather is nice and warm the shop keeps open until 10 pm on weekdays except on Mondays when it is closed.

If you proceed in direction Max-Weber-/Wiener Platz (coming from Rosenheimer Platz or Ostbahnhof you may take the tram) to the tram stop Wörthstraße (and can resist beautiful, fully organic Cafe Reichshof on your way) you'll reach Würzbar. The name of this pleasant ayurvedic vegetarian eatery, cafe and spice shop is a pun derived from the verb "würzen" (to spice up) and "bar" (as bar) and the homonymous suffix "-bar" meaning "to be capable of something". The food is all organic (as are the drinks), but not all of the products for sale are certified. As of July 2022, there's unfortunately no gastro service, but let's hope the eatery will be back soon.

Build-your-own bowls and rolls with predominantly organic ingredients can be had at (and ordered from) Greens & Grains on Max-Weber-Platz. Even if the concept can become a little boring after a while it's an easy way to bring vegans, vegetarians and omnivores together for a quick and healthy lunch. Established early in 2022 this self-service place is co-located with Munich's finest vegan and raw patisserie – so finish your meal with a coffee and a slice of vegan tart. There's a second branch in the Maxvorstadt university quarter.

On busy Rosenheimer Straße, a few steps from the Ohne zero-waste shop the Heartbeet salad bar serves salads and bowls. All veges, the ice-cream and some (non-alcoholic) drinks are organic, and at an extra price you can get organic eggs on top of your bowl. It's a heaven for clean-eating lovers, but if you love spices this isn't a place for you. The concept has been a success story during corona delivery and take-away, leading to the opening of a second shop in Neuhausen, and there's a third shop w/in the Feinkost Käfer deli near Münchner Freiheit. Although they had been participating in a deposit scheme for the dishes they seem to face issues with it lately, so you may be forced to use one-way packaging. If you cannot fetch you order by bicycle yourself their delivery service will pedal it to you.

Located directly at Weißenburger Platz Spoon Up offers hearty soups and stews for lunch and promises to use regional, often organic produce. Unfortunately the only organic ingredient visible on the daily menu is meat which is marked as 'bio'.

Bogenhausen and Englischer Garten

There's a second Herrmannsdorfer Bistro ÖQ near Effner-Platz (also see here), and the Basic supermarket near tube-stop Richard-Strauss-Straße offers sandwiches, bowls, salads and hearty (though often quite boring) stews for lunch.

Fräulein Grüneis

On the opposite shore of the river Isar, on the Eisbach not far from the famous surf wave near Haus der Kunst you'll find a former public convenience turned into a tiny cafe: Fräulein Grüneis offers no more than a handful indoor seats, during the cold season heated by a small wood oven, but as long as the weather allows for it you may prefer to have your lunch or coffee outside anyway, under the trees of the Englischer Garten park. For lunch you can have a soup, one-pot dish or curry, vegetarian or omnivore. The meat is always organic as is the beer, for soft drinks stick to the charitea brand. Apart from this the owners promise to use as much local and organic produce as possible, but if you want to be certain you have to ask. Avoid the ice-cream, the (small-scale local) Eizbach lemonade and the sweets by the piece, all of them without doubt conventionally produced.

Schwabing

The Yum 2 take Thai restaurant has a second branch on Hohenzollernplatz.

If you are near Hohenzollernplatz anyway (a tube stop of the U2 line) you may also take some extra steps along Herzogstraße in Eastern direction to get a 100 percent bio-organic breakfast, lunch, snack or even dinner as reward: The Basic Biobuffet on the corner of busy Schleißheimer Straße offers a daily changing fully organic menu including both, vegan, vegetarian, fish and meat options, salads, antipasti, soups and cake. Not a place for the early bird, but leisurely open until 9 pm including Saturdays, but not Sundays.

Ludwigsvorstadt and Sendling

A few meters from tube station Goetheplatz you'll find the mother branch of the Pureburrito chain.

Tube stop Implerstraße is the right direction for the best (and partially organic) falafel in town: The Beirut Beirut is not only a great place for take away, but also offers sufficient seating inside since they moved away from their old shop in Valleystr. While the Lebanese wine unfortunately isn't organic there's a choice of organic spritzers ("Schorle") from local producers. For more Lebanese food you may also pay a visit to their sister restaurant Manouche, now a few street corners away offering Levantine "pizza", coffee, sweets and other delicious snacks.

The Neulinger bakery also runs self-services lunch cafes on their two locations near the Großmarkthalle (Munich's biggest market hall offering fruits and veges for retail) and in the meat packing district.

Hadern

A short walk from tube stop Großhadern you'll find a Vollcorner supermarket with a work day open, 100 percent organic breakfast and lunch restaurant, before the covid-19 pandemic known as Cucina, now dubbed Vollcorner Deli. Here you can choose between soups, stews, salads, bowls and sandwiches and of course have a coffee drink with a piece of cake.

Westend

The Vollcorner supermarket on Schwanthalerhöhe (next to Theresienwiese and hence good to know if you attend the annual Oktoberfest beerfest) has a deli cum cafe which invites for a small meal or snack.

Das Kulinariat

For a more elaborated breakfast or lunch follow Schwanthalerstraße into the Westend neighbourhood and stop by Das Kulinariat. Whether you'll opt for a vegetarian course, a traditional Bavarian organic Weißwurst breakfast or their speciality – Eggs Benedict – chances are high that some of the greens on your plate have been grown right in the surprisingly spacious backyard. Additional veges come from a local organic farmer, and almost everything is organic here in this culinary gem with its light and modern, predominantly wooden interior.

Pasing

A second Vollcorner Deli opened 5th September, 2019 in the former "Erdgarten" organic supermarket near Pasinger Marktplatz.

Shut down

The following (partially) organic eateries are closed for good:

2023-10-13 17:45:00 [Munich, Giessen, organic, bar, eatery, breakfast, lunch, coffee, clean, vegan, vegetarian, Bavarian, German, Lebanese, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, grill, burgers, doner_kebap, falafel, streetfood, Maxvorstadt, Haidhausen, Hadern, Neuhausen, Pasing, Schwabing, Sendling, Werksviertel, Westend, Eisbach, Englischer_Garten, covid, corona] Link

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This work by trish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For commercial use contact the author: E-mail · Mastodon · Vero · Ello.

Sunday, 01 October 2023

Munich: Organic Ice-cream

Every organic supermarket big enough to be equipped with a freezer will sell you iced-lollies or pre-packaged cups of ice-cream, at least during the warm season. But for the real thing you need to know where to find your small scale artisanal organic ice-cream parlour. Fortunately there are sufficient options to find your favourite one, unfortunately only a few of them sell their fare in organic wafer cones. The covid-19 pandemic introduced ice-cream seasons starting as early as February (e.g. at the Bartu shops and True & 12 at the Gasteig), often restricted to nice spring afternoons, but usually you can expect the ice-cream to appear at the beginning of April.

Bartu Schwabing

Arguably the best ice-cream in town is made by former shoe-pusher Thomas Bartu and his crew in Schwabing – and the best: Unlike all other ice-cream parlours they run their shops the entire year around. Just like the best ice-cream parlours in Italy they cover their 24 types of ice-cream hygienically instead of displaying them for show-off. All ingredients are listed on big and nicely layouted wallpapers, leaving no questions open for vegans or people with allergies. Children under 13 years pay less (1.70 €) for the scoop than adults (2 €). You can also have a good (though not organic) cup of Italian-style coffee or an organic soft-drink, and a yummy organic pizza. If you haven't had enough you can choose from an ever changing selection of Bartu ice-creams to take away in reusable containers. And the best: They don't close their shop during the cold season. On the other hand don't count on opening hours longer than the regular 10 pm; in fact they often close about ten minutes before.

Bartu Maxvorstadt

Summer 2018 saw the opening of a second Bartu ice-cream parlour in the Maxvorstadt. The nicely styled cafe – with tables and all – is located next to the Gratitude restaurant. If you fancy a caffe affogato (Italian espresso with ice-cream) have it the Italian way, with Fior di latte instead of vanilla ice-cream. They also serve organic tea, soups and soft drinks, and since the covid-19 winter of 2020/21 you can also have a one-pot organic lunch. Fortunately the the wafer cones are back, so are no longer inclined to produce waste. Although the shop is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the cold season you may be lucky on nice weather Mondays and Tuesdays in spring when the shop nevertheless opens at noon.

While Thomas Bartu occassionally extends his sales with various pop-up stores he doesn't seem inclined to expand his business into a chain. So here was a niche which Stefano di Giglio of Del Fiore tried to fill: He and his team started with three gelaterie at once in 2017, of which only one was left by 2021. You'll find it in Schwabing, near the university quarter's entrance to the Englischer Garten, and I am inclined to say that it is run by independent owners.

Il Chiosco

Di Giglio seems to concentrate on ice-cream making for local third-party vendors like organic supermarkets and cafes. In the summer of 2021 I found the NY-style Occam Deli in Schwabing to sell Del Fiore ice-cream to passers-by, and since 2022 the tramstop cafe Il Chiosco at the Ostfriedhof graveyard has not only been beautifying an ugly crossroad of Tegernseer Landstraße, but allowing for an organic ice-cream while you wait for the tram. Both, the milk-based flavours and the sorbets, are fully organic and extremely palatable, though quite pricey. Il Chiosco concludes the ice-cream season at the beginning of November.

A stroll along the Isar river to the Western shore of Wittelsbacher bridge gives you another opportunity for a partially organic ice-cream stop: The ChocoLab cafe cum chocolaterie at Baldeplatz is not organic in general, but the dairy ice-cream sold here is made from organic milk.

IceDate

Where would you expect organic and vegan ice-cream to go if not in the university quarter? A two-minutes walk from the Northern exit of the tube station "Universität" in the Maxvorstand neighbourhood you'll find IceDate serving date and cashew-based ice-cream varieties. I prefer their strong flavours like the chocolate varieties or coffee; the more subtle ones like hemp or green tea often need polishing. A scoop goes for 2.50 EUR in 2023, and every serving is topped with a small quantity of an additional flavour. Bad weather is no issue since they have a pleasant indoors sitting area.

Amid the covid-19 spring of 2020 a second branch opened next to the Tushita tea house, in humming Glockenbachviertel, and a mobile IceDate booth can also be found on many street festivals in the city.

Cafe Reichshof

In the neighbourhood of Haidhausen you have three possible targets: Cosy though buzzing Café Reichshof a five minutes brisk walk from Ostbahnhof station offers home-made ice-cream spring through early autumn, though you may be tempted to indulge yourself in one of their gorgeous cakes instead (or have both?) The stuccoed ceiling with candelabras play well together with the wooden shelves of the bakery display, making for an inviting yet not overwhelming interior. During the warm season you may prefer to sit outside facing relaxing Bordeauxplatz. Be prepared to queue on nice-weather days, but since the service is swift, efficient and friendly waiting will usually take shorter time than expected. The Neulinger's ice-cream season ends in October; the scoop in 2023 went for two euros quit and is served in organic wafer cones. Since the shop participates in the Hey (formerly Brot am Haken) campaign you may buy a coffee, bread or cake voucher for someone in need as you go. If you buy a coffee drink to take away in your own or a Recup cup you'll get 10 cents off for sparing the environment.

November 2019 the entire location underwent major work to re-establish the coffee house of old on the premises of the former bakery workshop (the work is now done in the new facilities in the wholesale market area of Sendling), and now that it's ready it turns out to be a true jewel. Spacious and family friendly, in the tradition of the great coffee houses of the 1920ies it's a recommended hideout, both for breakfast, lunch, weekend brunch or a coffee break. Before 9 am you can order your breakfast at the counter and take a seat in the front part, service starts at 9 am.

Neulinger Gotzinger Str.

Café Reichshof is not the only branch of Bäckerei Neulinger, an artisanal organic bakery: There are two older shops in the neighbourhood of Neuhausen and a new cafe cum bakery located in the former meat-packing district, the Schlachthofviertel. In 2018 the Neulinger family moved its "headquarter" from Neuhausen to Sendling, to the premises of a former banana ripening facility – a light and quiet place to have lunch while watching the bakers working the dough. Have an ice-cream on top as you leave. Since 2022, all Neulinger shops have been open on Sundays and public holidays, though the smaller shops only in the morning, for breakfast rolls.

For a very special treat step by Oliver a few steps from Café Reichshof at the south-eastern end of Bordeauxplatz: freshly prepared hand-rolled vegan organic ice-cream.

If you fancy an ice-cream during your evening stroll head for fancy True & 12 opposite the Gasteig cultural centre. Their milk comes from a family-run organic farm keeping grass-fed cattle half an hour away by urban train (plus five minutes by bus plus half an hours walk). Other ingredients like hazelnuts and eggs are also organic, the non-organic ingredients of course all natural. The lip-smacking delicious result comes in original flavours like lavender and cassis (dubbed "Haidhausen") as well as standard flavours like chocolate or vanilla, both of unusually high quality. The scoop in 2023 goes for 2.30 €. For an additional euro you will be served in a hand-rolled cinnamon-flavoured cone or shell, so ask for availability! To much regret also this place is closed from end of October to mid of March.

In Neuhausen organic ice-cream to go can also be had from Café Ruffini, described in my restaurant post.

Artefredda

The classical Italian ice-cream parlour – ice-cream to go, and not much ado – you'll find with Gelateria Artefredda in Giesing near Ostfriedhof on busy Tegernseer Landstraße. The right-hand side of their display features their organic varieties for 2.20 EUR the scoop – about eight ones to choose from. With its unpretentious eco-styled walls the cafe makes a light and pleasant place to have a short coffee break (prepared with organic milk). Most sundaes can be had with organic ice-cream, but unfortunately neither fully organic nor in re-usable cups. Artefredda keeps closed during the cold season. On bad weather days they often open up a quarter of an hour past their announced opening time, nice weather provided they will often keep open longer than announced.

Their ice-cream season usually stops with the German national holiday October, 3rd. From mid of October, 2023 the shop is hosting a cinnamon roll pop-up store, the Zimtschneckenfabrik, offering all natural artisanal cinnamon rolls, cakes and sourdough bread and rolls Tuesday though Saturday 12–approx. 18 (until sold out), and on Sundays 12–15. Whether they use organic ingredients I did not have the opportunity to find out yet.

GelatOk!

Not far away, a five minutes walk downtown from Giesing Bahnhof station, a new modern ice-cream parlour opened its doors on the premises of a conventional one in 2021: GelatOk! promises all natural ice-cream, with as little organic life-style as possible for an audience that does not usually frequent organic supermarkets. The milk for the creamy and exceptionally tasty ice-cream however is organic and comes from the Berchtesgadener Land dairy, and if you order a coffee drink, it's made with organic milk, too. Another good sign for the ice-cream is that it is produced in small batches – most of the containers weren't filled to the brim.

In the Glockenbach neighbourhood you'll find Das Eismeer, Munich's first self-proclaimed climate-neutral ice-cream parlour. Although the egg-free ice-cream here is all natural the main ingredients like sugar and milk are not organic. Single organic flavourings like vanilla or poppy seeds are however advertised in big letters so that you may get the impression that the entire ice-cream was organic. Looks a bit like a dark pattern to me. If you fancy a hot drink: coffee and cocoa are both organic (and the latter also fairly traded). Kids pay less for the ice-cream than adults.

Sweet Monkeys

In the Western neighbourhood of Pasing you may set out for a stroll to Sweet Monkeys. Next to the graveyard, tucked away between a stonemasonry and a flower shop the clean and pleasantly decorated ice-cream parlour serves lip-smacking ice-cream made from organic milk from the Berchtesgadener Land dairy and veges from the nearby organic gardener Florian Kamlah. Not all ingredients are organic, but there's a commitment to avoid transport by buying local and energy emissions by using sustainable energy. This ice-cream shop offers some unusual flavours like cucumber-pineapple, white coffee or lime yogurt and you can also order sundaes like the children's favourite spaghetti ice-cream (spaghetti-like pressed vanilla ice-cream with berry sauce). Unfortunately the place is too far from the Pasing train station to be reached while waiting for a connecting train. There's a second branch in Moosach.

Markets and street festivals

If you happen to attend a street festival in Munich like the semi-annual Streetlife on Leopoldstraße or the annual Munich Sports Festival on Königsplatz watch out for a pink-blue food truck selling Cramer's Speiseeis in cones. The Cramers run a family-driven organic bakery cum pastry shop in Gauting near Munich, where they also make their ice-cream, so be brave when you're in the vicinity and give their spicy ginger or chocolate-chili varieties a try.

While there's no more organic ice-cream at the Viktualienmarkt the weekly Saturday farmers' market at the Seehaus within Englischer Garten has a heart for those with a sweet tooth: During the summer monthes the Biohof Butz does not only sell organic fruits and veges, but also ice-cream made from milk by the farms' own cows.

Map of all places listed in this article

No more ice-cream

When you take a stroll about the famous Viktualienmarkt food market the desire for an ice-cream may come natural. Unfortunately the Trübenecker organic fruits and veges booth does no longer offer organic ice-cream in the summer – instead you can have freshly made all-organic smoothies.

No longer organic

Ceased to exist

The following places do no longer exist, even though you still might find references to them on the web:

2023-10-01 22:00:00 [Munich, Haidhausen, Giesing, Moosach, Pasing, Schwabing, organic, vegan, ice-cream, coffee, cafe, Italian, bakeries] Link

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This work by trish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For commercial use contact the author: E-mail · Mastodon · Vero · Ello.

Thursday, 20 July 2023

Munich: Shopping organic stuff late and on Sundays

Bavarian opening hour regulations are far from liberal, hence your shopping options on Sundays and after 8 pm are limited to, uhmmm, petrol stations, more or less. Not the kind of place you'll expect to find organic food, toiletries or other necessities in eco-conscious quality.

But the times, they are changing, and for the organic Munich traveller or inhabitant, there's no reason to despair anymore. Your best bet are railway stations, namely Hauptbahnhof (main station) and Ostbahnhof.

Biokultur

At the Hauptbahnhof enter the basement from Elisenhof in Western direction, following the S-Bahn signs (if you come from the trains head straight ahead to the Eastern exit to enter the basement). Opposite the entry to S-Bahn (urban trains) you'll find Biokultur, a full-fledged organic supermarket. It's your only choice for fresh organic fruit and veges on Sundays and offers everything you'll expect from a full retailer (including wine, household cleaning items, toiletries, ...) as well as a pleasant shopping atmosphere. Before the covid-19 pandemics, this organic supermarket kept open after 8 pm, but shortage of staff applies here as well, so in 2023 the shop still keeps open on Sundays, but without extended opening hours.

There's a second branch in the neighbourhood of Riem, without a permit to keep open on Sundays.

Next to the Biokultur at Hauptbahnhof you'll find a branch of the local organic Hofpfisterei bakery chain, the only one open on Sundays. As all of their branches it also stocks a small range of organic drinks, dry and dairy products as well as organic cold cuts. On weekdays they offer a selection of yummy organic sandwiches to take with you, both, vegetarian and omnivore, most of them with gorgeous German sourdough bread – perfect provisions for train travellers. On weekends only buttered prezls ("Butterbrezn") are available for take out.

Unfortunately the Hofpfisterei branch at Ostbahnhof train station does no longer keep open on Sunday mornings, but a five minutes brisk walk from the station you'll find one of those family-owned bakeries that are becoming so rare these days. Leave the station at Orleansplatz exit, cross the square and follow the tram tracks along Wörthstraße. At the end of Bordeauxplatz square, corner Metzstraße, you'll find Cafe Reichshof run by the Neulinger family, a lovely coffeehouse cum pastry shop. Treat yourself with their delicious organic cakes, icecream or a savory organic snack like the traditional Bavarian Weißwurst (sausage) breakfast. If you don't feel intrigued to stay shop from a huge range of organic bread, rolls, and cakes. You can also buy a small selection of prepackaged cheese and meat cuts, butter, milk and jams from the fridge opposite the coffee machine.

Starting in 2022, the other Neulinger branches in Neuhausen, the meat-packing district of Ludwigsvorstadt and the wholesale market area in Sendling have been keeping open on Sundays and public holidays, too, though some only for breakfast.

Fritz Mühlenbäckerei Haidhausen

Everything you need for a sumptious breakfast or cold snack (except fresh fruit and veges) can be bought from Fritz Mühlenbäckerei near Rosenheimer Platz. Between 1987 and 2010 this cosy artisanal baker's shop was the headquarter of one of Munich's eldest organic bakeries. Now the scent of warm bread fresh from the oven is gone – all the production takes place in modern facilities in the outskirts of Aying. The shop however is still here and open on Sunday mornings, including a small grocery section equipped with a large fridge.

About ten years after the Fritz bakery moved their bakery from the Haidhausen backyard to Aying the bakers came back to town with a bread bakery in Glockenbachviertel. The former cafe re-opened in June 2020 – buy your daily artisanal bread and watch the bakers at work.

If you happen to be in Grünwald on a Sunday morning (or another day of the week during working hours) make sure to buy the best German sourdough bread in the entire Munich area from Lokalbäckerei Brotzeit. Their bread workshop is located on the premises of the Alter Wirt hotel, with a separate entrance and a small lunch cum cafe counter where you can choose a roll and from a range of all organic spreads, coldmeat, cheeses and more to get your customised sandwich.

Regiomat Johanneskirchen

Back at Ostbahnhof trainstation, directly at the southern exit of the U-Bahn station into the Ostbahnhof building you'll find the place that will save your life after 8pm: This branch of the DM-Drogeriemarkt chain does not only stock the usual excellent range of natural bodycare, organic dry products, vegan alternatives and eco-friendly household helpers, but boosts a capable selection of dairy products, eggs and even a freezer stocked with organic pizza, berries, icecream, ... Unfortunately – and unlike other DM branches – organic choices and certified natural cosmetics aren't clearly marked on the shelves, so watch out for organic and natural cosmetics labels, and brands.

Vending machines

A few steps from the urban train stop Johanneskirchen, directly located at the bus stop "Johanneskirchen Bhf" there's an 24x7 open vending machine selling Bavarian produce: Not everything from the so-called Regiomat is organic, but you can buy organic eggs, UHT milk, cheese, chocolate pudding, cream and ready-made tomato sauce.

Erntebox Bergam Laim

By the summer 2020 the concept of vending machines for products of smaller local farms finally had made it into Munich town, too: The Erntebox vending machines offer eggs and chicken meat, sausages, cheese, pasta and fruit jam, not everything organic, but most likely from farmers around Munich with a focus on sustainability. There's one at the Grünspitz in Giesing, a hotspot for urban agricultural and greening projects, and another at busy Berg-am-Laim-Straße in the Eastern neighbourhood of Baumkirchen. To find the latter isn't easy: Follow the shop windows of the (conventional) Aumüller bakery in in city (Western) direction and stop when the house turns at an angle. Unfortunately the number of certified organic products has been decreasing here: When I re-checked in summer 2023, the organic sausages were gone, but there's again a good selection of organic cheeses.

2023-07-20 22:00:00 [Munich, Gruenwald, Johanneskirchen, Haidhausen, Sendling, organic, coffee, gifts, snacks, lunch, breakfast, bakeries, grocery, supermarkets, trainstation, Regiomat, covid, corona] Link

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Wednesday, 12 July 2023

Munich: Organic delicatessen, groceries and corner stores

Traditional corner stores in general have been almost extinguished from the streets of Munich, surviving almost exclusively in the form of immigrant grocery stores which unfortunately only on extremely rare occasions stock organic items. However, there are a few survivers from the time when organic was an unknown word in supermarket chains: small supermarkets equipped with wooden shelves and as crammed to the brim as possible for orderly German souls. Usually they have everything on offer needed for your daily life, and just give you fewer choice between brands. Sometimes you'll find delicatessen the big players don't stock, and fresh produce with few exceptions is as fresh as from their competitors. Prices may be a few cents higher than the cheapest option in one of the retail chains, but you may be surprised to learn that many products actually are less expensive in a corner shop. In addition you may have a chat with the shop owners and usually will be given a competent answer to questions you may have. Many of these shops have some tables and chairs where you can have a coffee, snack or vegetarian lunch.

Mutter Erde

Groceries

In Maxvorstadt, the vibrant university neighbourhood, you'll find Mutter Erde ("Mother Earth"), a crowded place during lunch time when you can have a simple vegan home-cooked meal, tea and coffee. On working days they serve lunch from 12 o'clock (as long as available). If you find the place too busy step by the zero-waste grocery Ohne which also offers fully organic lunch. Mother Earth is still a little organic grocery, but no longer a full retailer: Some time ago they exchanged their body care and cosmetics shelves with a table and bench to sit down with your meal.

Lebascha/Ökoesel

A full retail neighbourhood shop in Haidhausen, Lebascha once was run collectively by a bunch of friendly women. They retired, and since 9th of July, 2022 the shop has been the second shop of the community supported co-operative Ökoesel ("eco donkey" is derived from a pet name for bicycles – "Drahtesel" – as they started up as a bicycle delivery service). Unlike their shop in Neuhausen Lebascha continues to be open for everyone, with its (conventional) liquorice shop-in-shop. An assortment of loose-weight herbs and spices, cereals, nuts, legumes and grains, detergents and soap will be added soon. Note that the shop is closed on Wednesdays and does no longer accept cards, but as a member you can pay

A few corners away from tube stop Implerstraße in Sendling the neighbourhood grocery Hollerbusch ("elderbush") offers vegan and vegetarian lunch as well as yoga, pilates or singing lessons in a backroom. The shop is also a delivery hub for the Munich based community supported agriculture project Kartoffelkombinat.

Immigrant shops and traditional corner stores

While these small supermarkets cater for all daily necessities including fresh fruits and veges there's no such thing as an all-organic immigrant grocery focussing on the latter and supplementing with a selection of dry goods and delicatessen from their owner's place of birth. The nearest you come is Giesinger Fruchtmarkt near tube-stop Kolumbusplatz. As about three quarters of the fruits and veges as well as most of the Italian delicatessen are conventional you have to carefully watch out for the bio keyword. Apart from organic greens they also offer organic choices for olive oil, wine, pasta and cheese.

Varieta

A similar owner-run mini market, Varieta am Körner Eck, is located in the Glockenbach neighbourhood, on Auenstraße between the Reichenbach and the Cornelius bridges. The bakery items are all organic, and organic products in the self-service area are clearly marked "bio" on the shelf. The shop offers a lot of directly imported Italian dry food, but unfortunately none of it in organic quality. Also most of the fresh fruits and veges are conventionally produced.

Viktualieneck

Remember the tales of parents or grandparents about the corner shop they went to as children to buy a single sweet which the shop keeper would put down on a list for their parents to pay later on when they came to shop bread, milk, veges and all the ingredients for the home-cooked meal? The spirit of these shops from the past you may find left in some immigrant shops and this is the reason why I list the Viktualieneck in Bogenhausen in this section. I learned about this crammed greengrocer's shop opposing the newly build neighbourhood of Prinz-Eugen-Park on my quest for shops supporting package-free shopping, but when I went there it turned out a likeable traditional supermarket offering fresh fruits and veges, regional delicatessen, bread and rolls, wine and all kinds of food. About half of it is organic, namely all the bakery products and certainly more than half of the pre-packaged food. Most of the fresh fruits and veges come from a conventional local market garden – the turnaround for organic greens wasn't good enough among his customers, and his emphasis was on avoiding waste the shop keeper told me. Package-free shopping is possible for all fruits and veges as well as all items from the bakery, meat and cheese counter. I cannot tell you whether the shop chalks up for trustworthy customers, but if you are in the vicinity support this shop instead of the supermarket chains nearby.

Studio Hindiba

Delicatessen

The upmarket contrast to these somewhat shabby grocery stores is naturally to be found in the posh neighbourhood of the Lehel: Studio Hindiba offers oils, herbs and condiments, olives, all types of rice, the famed ferments of Berlin's Markus Shimizu, a carefully selected range of wines and other predominantly organic delicatessen. For the smaller purse it may be just a beautyful shop to marvel at, but if your budget isn't painfully tight it's the perfect place to shop a foodie gift for someone special.

Steinbeisser

A few steps from Wiener Platz you'll find Steinbeißer, a cosy owner-driven deli advertising 'regional specialities'. Take this with a grain of salt – the organic Italian olive oil and Scandinavian candies (not organic) are small-scale produce specific to their region of origin, but certainly not from the greater Munich area. Most meat products come from small-scale Austrian farms which are likely to produce according to near-organic principles. Certified organic products unfortunately do not dominate the pleasantly arranged tables and shelves with artisanal products – predominantly foodstuffs and wine, but you may ask the owner about the provenance of his fare.

Grenzgaenger

Wine, pepper and coffee from carefully selected small-scale producers, that's the focus of Grenzgänger ("border crosser"), a lovely shop directly located at the beautiful Bordeaux-Platz in Haidhausen, just opposite Café Reichshof. When you come here during the cold season you may find yourself welcomed by the warmth of a fireplace, and you can get a speciality coffee (14 types of Arabica to choose from) into your own mug. During covid-19 restrictions cream-ware cups aren't provided, so if you come without a mug you will be charged an extra 20 cent for a plastics-free one-way cup. Unfortunately most of the products aren't certified organic, with the notable exception of the Demeter-certified honey and bee wax candles of a local beekeeper who is working in accordance with biodynamic principles, i.e. the gold standard for animal welfare.

Specializing in cheese and supplements – wine, olives, oil, herbs, condiments, to name a few – the Luigino's booth in the Southern part of Viktualienmarkt, opposite the crossing of Reichenbachstraße and Blumenstraße is the perfect place to shop for a picnic or the no-frills romantic candle light dinner. Once an almost entirely organic cheese booth the percentage of organic products on sale has diminished during the past years: mainly due to the advent of artisanal, yet conventional Italian cured meats, partially due to a lesser focus on organic labels on the selection of cheeses. When ordering an Italian-style sandwich to take away you may wish to enquire about the ingredients and probably stick to the vegetarian ones since the Italian cured meat products usually are not organic. The owner once run a delicatessen in Maxvorstand which was replaced by an organic ice-cream parlour in 2018.

Gewuerze der Welt

Herbs and spices

Not exactly a spice bazaar, but a pleasant spice and herbs shop Gewürze der Welt ("spices of the world") had a long tradition on its former location in Thiereckstraße in the very city centre, but when the historic Ruffini house re-opened after a two-year period of restoration work in 2020, the shop moved back to its roots in the Sendlinger Straße (now) pedestrian area. As the name suggests you will find a world of spices, herbs, blends and condiments, a notable part of them in organic quality.

Munich's first organically certified herbalist is tucked away in a non-descript side road near Sendlinger-Tor-Platz, just a few steps aside the remnants of the Glockenbach neighbourhood's famous queer bars. Light and friendly the Kräutergarten offers all kinds of organic dried herbs, spices, natural cosmetics and the like.

Sonnentor, the leading Austrian producer of organic herbs and spices, has a shop in Munich, too: Located in the basement of Stachus-Passagen, a generally boring shopping mall a level above this central urban train and tube station, it's probably not the shop that you'll find by accident while taking a stroll through the city. Apart from herbs, spices and condiments they also have a selection of natural body care – an easy place to shop for a nice last-minute give-away.

Hofbräuhaus Kunstmühle

Special shops

The only operating corn mill in Munich with its cosy mill shop is located in a small street a few steps from the tourist hotspots of Marienplatz and Hofbräuhaus. The Hofbräuhaus-Kunstmühle offers all types of flour, bruised grains, semolina, bran and cereals, predominantly of corn grown in the region. An increasing number of these artisanal products are organic, so watch out for the 'bio' keyword on the classic paper bags or the listings of the web shop. These products are also the base ingredients for the artisanal home bakery E. Knapp & R. Wenig next door where you can buy hand-made bread and rolls based on traditional, predominantly Munich recipes. The mill shop also stocks a selection of organic dried fruit, olive oil, raising agents and other baking ingredients as well as dry breads like South-Tyrolean Schüttelbrot.

Hanf

Another very special mono-themed shop, Hanf – der etwas andere Bioladen, sells everything containing THC-free hemp: beer, lemonades, cookies, bars, tea, ice-cream, chocolates, body care, clothes, liquids, pet food and more. Although the name suggests it not all products are certified organic, especially not in the non-food range, but the sheer number of goods based on this versatile plant is quite impressive. The main shop (which is closed on Mondays) isn't located in the most inviting part of town but can easily be reached from Leuchtenbergring urban train stop. But wait: in 2019 a second one opened at a tourist-friendly location between Isartor and Marienplatz.

Ceased to exist

The following places shut down and were replaced by other, not organic ones. So don't be confused when you find references to them on the web:

2023-07-12 20:00:00 [Munich, Haidhausen, Schwabing, Lehel, Maxvorstadt, organic, lunch, snacks, coffee, supermarkets, deli, grocery, Italian, vegan, hemp, flour, mills, fashion, bodycare, spices, herbs, delicatessen, eatery, corona, covid] Link

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Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Munich: (Partially) organic burger grills

Burger restaurants have been trending for years, and there's still no end in sight. Most of them advertise with buzzwords like hand-made, home-made, regional and vegan, and often the quality is ways better than in the standardized mass production of American chains. But to tell greenwashing from honest interest in healthier and sustainable food the patties are key – are they made from organic meat or vegetables?

The organic burger pioneer in Munich was Cosmo-Grill opposite the Bayrische Staatsoper opera house. Tucked away in the the basement of a backyard you entered a Startrek like spaceship. Unfortunately quality and the percentage of organic ingredients diminished with the years, and the place disappeared in 2019.

In 2022 the second oldest organic burger place is Holy Burger in Haidhausen disappeared which successfully took over a location with a long history of serving organic lunch near Bordeauxplatz. I hope its sucessor won't break with the tradition of serving organic food at this address.

Goldene Rakete Glockenbachviertel

The Holy Burger founders separated around 2018, and the Neuhausen Holy Burger branch changed its name to Goldene Rakete. The "golden rocket" started with three branches, with the flagship decorated with film posters in 70-ies style in Glockenbachviertel: Before corona this place was crowded and almost painfully noisy even on weekday evenings – don't come here if you actually want to converse with friends. The place does not only serve burgers (where it still sticks more or less to the Holy Burger menu), but also bowls, and salads. All meat, the seitan and chickpeas patties as well as the milk for the coffee drinks are organic. Unsurprisingly they also offer fashionable home-made lemonades (not organic). If you are in the mood for wine, gin and tonics you have organic options which are clearly marked "bio" on the menu. In addition the Aqua Monaco soft drinks and the Mondino vermouth are organic, too. On weekends the Glockenbach branch also offers breakfast.

Closed

2022-06-28 18:30:00 [Munich, Haidhausen, organic, lunch, dinner, restaurant, vegan, vegetarian, burgers, fastfood] Link

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This work by trish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For commercial use contact the author: E-mail · Mastodon · Vero · Ello.