Tantris Munich

This is the twelfth and FINAL post in the London & Munich series. Though this post is last, it was actually the first meal we had in Germany after flying in from London. Other posts in this series include The Square, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Exploring London by Foot, Alain Ducasse, Marcus Wareing, Classic Munich Beer Houses: Hofbrauhaus & Wirtshaus, Viktualienmarkt and De Pschorr, Chinesischer Turm Beer Garden, Visiting the Residenz and lunch at Spatenhaus, Weinstephaner Brewery – Oldest Brewery In the World, and Paulaner + Weisses Brauhaus

We had just stepped off the plane.

After a 2+ hour flight from London, we were famished. It was my first time in awhile (not since Malaysia) that I was visiting a brand new foreign country, so I was psyched. New sights! New language! And the food! I knew so little about German cuisine, I couldn’t wait to learn more.

Our first meal in the new country would be a fancy lunch with influences from Germany, Austria, and France. It was a nice segue from the Michelin starred whirlwind adventure we had in London to the many subsequent meals of traditional Bavarian fare and lots and lots of beer!

Open since 1971, Tantris is widely regarded as one of the best restaurants in Germany. It boasts two Michelin Stars as well as a place on Restaurant Magazine’s 50 Best Restaurants List in 2009. Chef Hans Haas has been overseeing the kitchen for over 20 years. A French restaurant with Austrian and German influences, Tantris serves food focused on local ingredients interpreted using traditional French cooking techniques.

The restaurant space is HUGE with multiple rooms with different themes. There is the main room where you can enjoy dramatic architecture and Asian influenced decor.
 
There is also an area called “Séparée”, which is connected to the Main Room but just far enough removed that you feel like you have a sense of intimacy. There’s even a Garden Salon (not pictured) and outdoor seating areas. The restaurant is perfectly designed for events, and it hosts lots of them.

Even the women’s bathroom is crazy decked out!

It’s pretty easy to order. That’s because there’s only one option on the menu, at least during lunch on Saturdays. The menu changes daily, and it’s essentially a four-course tasting menu (120 €), optionally paired with wine (additional 30 €). On weekdays, there are more options, such as the three-course business lunch (85 €), the five-course lunch (120 €). For dinner, you can try a 5-course (160 €) and an eight course gourmet menu (200 €), with wine pairings for an additional 85 €. There is also an a la carte menu at night.

Bryan ordered the pairing, and in hindsight, that turned out to be a *great* idea. The meal ended up taking longer than average, but they just keep refilling your glass in the meantime if it looks empty. Having endless wine flow most certainly made the longer meal quite enjoyable.

Red and Asian are the predominant decorative themes, and you see them everywhere. Our freshly baked bread came in a red lacquered box. Check out the little winged Asian-influenced creature behind the box.

Our first course was a simple amuse. A small breaded and deep fried piece of fish (perch) came served over a cucumber salad tossed in a dill creme fraiche “mayo.” It was refreshing and a lovely way to start the meal.

I absolutely loved the next course. Variation of Tuna explored several preparations of tuna. There was barely seared tuna served with a coating of finely minced scallions on outside. There were completely raw slices of tuna served over an egg salad bed. I loved the yuzu cream gelatin, which accented the dish with gorgeously floral and bright flavors. Additional pieces of marinated white asparagus, barely poached, completed the dish.

Overall it was fantastic. I loved the balance of  light flavors. Everything was perfectly seasoned.

Our next course was the Roasted Monkfish with Lobster. This dish was also a winner. Lobster and monkfish naturally go together. Monkfish has been called the “poor man’s lobster” because it really resembles lobster, both in texture and in flavor. Here, we really enjoyed the tender, perfectly cooked pieces of seafood, which came with tomato polenta in a gorgeously flavorful bouillabase stock.

And then the pace slowed down. We were about an hour into the meal before we got our third dish. We were a little antsy since we had planned to walk around Munich in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, they did continue to generously top us up on wine, which helped a lot.

Our third course was the Medallion of Saddle of Venison. Look at that perfectly seared piece of meat! The tender venison came with cabbage (how German!), fresh chanterelle mushrooms, and a potato “celery cream” (celeriac puree).

For dessert, we enjoyed a Chocolate Flan with Marinated Strawberries, which came with various cookies, a layered cake, and strawberry yogurt ice cream. The dessert was fine, enjoyable but nothing particularly mind blowing.

The final mignardises were tiny renditions of well-known desserts, like key lime pie, chocolate mousse pie, custard pie, etc. They were fun to eat, very cute to look at, and a lovely way to end the meal.

All in all, aside from the slow pace of the kitchen, our meal at Tantris was lovely. The food was very impressive and definitely on par with other high end restaurants we’ve enjoyed throughout the world.

The restaurant wasn’t very crowded, and there was even a large table of 6 adults and two young kids (like ages one and three) sitting near us. Service was excellent, and the staff spoke incredible English. In fact, I’m pretty sure our server grew up as a native English speaker.

If you visit Germany and you want to enjoy a nice, high-end meal, this is definitely an excellent choice. However, if you’ve dined in many other European restaurants that are French-influenced, this may not necessarily stand out to you. I had just come from some seriously incredible dining in London, so Tantris was not as memorable to me compared to all the super German dishes I enjoyed the rest of the week (hello pork knuckles and beer!). It all depends on what you’re looking for.

All in all, the food is excellent. Service was a bit slow, but there was plenty of wine, so overall it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12:00PM – 3:00PM and then 6:30PM to 1AM. Reservations can be made online, via phone, or email ([email protected]). It’s a fine dining restaurant, and they ask you to “dress accordingly.” It’s a bit outside the city, so we ended up taking an Uber back to the hotel, which worked out nicely since it meant we didn’t have to speak a word of German.

Tantris Munich
Johann-Fichte-Str. 7
80805 München
+49 89 3619590