Negroni Bar

Somewhere in my whirlwind madness of the last two weeks, I made a quick 36 hours trip to Munich in search of a better blender, some decent pizza and this place: The Negroni Bar.

First the blender:  If my memory serves me correctly, in North America, it is possible to spend $100 to $150 on a decent blender from a company with a well known reputation and brand name.  When I moved to Prague, I was blenderless, and sought out a local alternative.  I purchased something cheap and stopped using it half a year later due to questionable engine noises, low power and odd smells.  I went to three stores in Prague as well as search on three online local stores only to find a handful of overpriced, low end blenders or a handful of overpriced high-end models.  I thought I would have better results in a city such as Munich, but after visiting MediaMarkt, and Kustermann, I decided that spending 229 Euro on a KitchenAid blender that costs $130 in Toronto was rediculous and not going to happen.  Operation Blender- Failure.

Next the pizza:  I’ve been to Munich before and found a great spot for pizza called Riva Bar.  I decided that if I was going to walk away blenderless, I might as well enjoy some good pizza in compensation. The pizza was decent on this trip, but I remember a better tasting pie on my first visit.  Quelle dommage.

What salvaged the quick jaunt to Munich was a bar called Negroni.  I wanted to check this place out on my previous trip to Munich but never got around to it.  Why I sought this place out is for the following reason:  My husband is Negroni obsessed.  I thought it would be cool to go to a bar that specializes in this beverage.

FYI-If you have never had a Negroni, it is an aperitif made with Campari, gin and vermouth with a squeeze of orange.

We head to Negroni after our pizza and thankfully find two seats at the bar (the last two seats) for an up-close look at this mixology heaven.  The atmosphere is low key and very relaxed. There were candles lining the bar and a big impressive wall of bottles.  There were three bartenders very focused and hard at work mixing, stirring, shaking, pinching, and designing some of the most beautiful looking drinks I’ve ever seen.  We sampled three drinks (between the two of us- not each) and each drink presented very layered and complex flavours.  The last one we tried was a negroni with other ingredients (sorry, blanking on the name) including slices of apple. It was served in a mint julep cup and must have revealed three or four different flavours in one sip.

They have a full restaurant menu in addition to something like 140 cocktails.  What I liked about this place was that they give you some background, history and interesting facts about their drinks right in the menu itself. I snapped two photos and posted them on my Instagram feed but the lighting was so dim (and romantique!!) that it is not even worth attempting to repost these images on the blog because they are fuzzy and hard to see.

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This is clearly a bar for savouring and enjoying mixology.  We had a great time and the food that was coming out of the kitchen looked wonderful.  While I didn’t get a blender and didn’t have knock-out pizza, I was pleased with the experience at Negroni.

Sedanstraße 9, Munich  +498948950154

Hans im Gluck

From a food perspective, I consider myself an omnivore who flirts with a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle.  Maybe that means I am a flextarian.  I have also heard that term tossed around in the food circles.  Labels aside, I eat meat.  Not a lot and not often but I do eat it every now and then when I get a craving for iron or whatever the reason my body is prompting me to choose meat.  One of the pleasures I have when travelling is eating at local burger joints.  The specialty burger shop is overdone (don’t mind the pun) in North America.  Please note this is not a complaint.  The ubiquity of the burger that has been reinvented, re-topped, grilled, cooked, spiced, and rolled is wonderfully creative and as a off-and-on again consumer, I appreciate the efforts of these new burger warriors.

However, in Europe, the specialty or niche burger market is more of an anomaly; more the exception than the rule.  So when I find a place that looks like it might have good burgers, or perhaps I’ve read a review guiding my search of good burgers, I often pop in an check it out.  This past year, I have dined on burgers at Burgermeester in Amsterdam (goat cheese and apple burger to die for), Yes Burger in Prague (a solid chicken burger) and Die Burgermacher in Vienna (Oriental Lamb burger).  The newest addition to my list Hans im Gluck in Munich.  I expect this list to continue to grow, so if you live or will be travelling to Europe and want to jump on the European burger bandwagon, do check back for new recommendations.

As a restaurant, or burger grill, Hans im Gluck has a neat and unique interior with floor to ceiling real birch trees mirrored by birch tree wallpaper that looks like it could come from the Copenhagen based design company, Ferm Living. The restaurant also has wood panels on the walls, mixed high top and regular height tables, wooden tabletop accessories holding toppings in amazing Weck jars, and most importantly, an extensive menu of meat-non meat burgers that are messy, but quite satisfying.

I tried a beef burger with hummus, olives and arugula that literally went all over the place and required two trips to the washroom to get the sauce off my fingers.  Given the interior design, I felt like I was sitting in a modern camp site or cool looking forest while eating a burger.  I expected the waitress to come over and ask whether I wanted a side of roasted marshmallows with my meal.  That was a joke.  I will be honest with you my dear readers, Hans im Gluck was not the best tasting beef burger that I have ever eaten, but it was a solid contender on innovative flavour combinations and all in all, I was satisfied with my late afternoon lunch.

To appreciate the beauty of the restaurant’s interior, I’ve included a couple other day time shots with better lighting.  Unfortunately when I snapped the pictures above, it was quite dark in the restaurant.  Any other cool European burger recommendations out there?  I’m always eager to learn about new spots.

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3

A Chocolate Exploration @ Die Schokoladengalerie

Every now and then it is important to treat yourself; to reward yourself for hard work, for completing a goal or just cause.  As a lover of exploration and the thrill I get of discovering new things, discovering Die Schokoladengalerie in Munich was a double treat.  I would describe Die Schokoladengalerie as a chocolate store that offers a wide selection of niche, European chocolate brands, as well as a mini patisserie where you can dine, in-store, on tarts, brownies, truffles and other pastries.

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Easter is in full swing around Europe (celebrated on a much more festive level than what I am used to seeing in Toronto) and so my first stop was to peruse the shop’s Easter chocolate table.  I decided to try the egg half, front and centre wrapped in cellophane (see photo below).  It reminded me of a Cadbury Easter egg, although it tasted nothing like it!  I think this egg was made with fondant or marzipan and was pure sugar.

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Next I moved on to the real adventure, walking around the perimeter of the store to check out what niche chocolate brands Die Schokoladengalerie curated for my pleasure.  This was my favourite part of the experience as chocolate companies typically go all out in their package design to entice customers and I was happy to get caught up in their marketing efforts!

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I explored and had my first taste of Catanies by Barcelona based Cudie which is chocolate, almond, sugar, hazelnuts and vanilla rolled into a little ball dusted with cacao powder.

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Then I was drawn to Quai Sud, from Toulon, France, which neatly packaged a dark chocolate square with strawberries and white pepper in a tear open, resealable bag, which I thought was rather neat and unusual for a chocolate bar.

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Next came Barcelona’s Oriol Balaguer’s Tableta de Chocolate- Chocoate Negro Grand Cru which is a 70% cacao blend of Venezuela and Trinidad blend.

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And finally, I rounded out my chocolate tour around Europe by purchasing a couple bars from Austrian chocolate company, Berger Feinste Confiserie.  I selected a whisky-orange chocolate square as well as a chocolate ginger square.

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If you are wondering whether I ate all this chocolate, the answer is no.  I did sample a few items at the store, but I mainly bought these squares to keep in the house for gifts and only reserved one or two for the emergency chocolate craving personal stash.

Have you come across any interesting chocolate brands lately?  Feel free to share your favourites in the comments section.  I love discovering new brands, especially those based in Europe where I can go check them out!