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Café Haidhausen I recently visited Café Haidhausen with my companion for dinner. We had been there for lunch some time ago and wanted to give it another try. Unfortunately, the café as a whole is not very convincing: It's rather dark, with dark seating – some of it upholstered in red – yellow and, in some areas, red walls, a large, ornately gold-framed menu board with a few select dishes on the wall, somewhat carelessly chosen and mismatched pictures, subdued lighting – too dim even for a cozy place – and some broken or only partially intact lamp shades, a small chandelier in the center of the ceiling, and overall a rather uninviting atmosphere. It's difficult to create a comfortable ambiance – despite the tall, bright windows, stucco ceilings, and generally "nice layout" of the place. The unmotivated waitstaff only exacerbate the problem.
We received the menus relatively quickly, and there was nothing wrong with the selection of dishes listed, but the service was mediocre to poor. I ordered a Diet Coke and received a Pepsi; the orders were taken at the same time but served with a considerable delay. At one point, the waiter simply didn't emerge from his hiding place for 20 minutes, and when we asked to pay by card at the end, he snapped, "Nope! Cash only!" Normally, an incompetent waiter wouldn't be a reason for me not to return, but overall, we just didn't feel comfortable or want to stay longer than necessary.
The menu offers soups, pasta dishes, salads, and meat dishes, as well as a well-balanced selection of main courses. For example, the evening menu features semolina dumpling or chestnut soup with truffle oil (which I ordered – delicious!), various salads, gnocchi with a cheese and mushroom filling, tagliatelle in a creamy crayfish sauce, hunter's roast, XXL burgers, grilled barramundi fillet, and many other dishes. Soups cost around €4.30 on average, a main course around €10.50, and the grilled fish fillet is the most expensive item on the evening menu at €13.90 – so the prices are all reasonable.
My companion's salad ("Salad Café Haidhausen") for €12, which included a generous amount of shrimp (shell-on) and two slices of garlic bread, was a perfectly adequate portion. However, the salad itself was rather bland – no toppings like carrots, tomatoes, corn, or anything similar. Just the salad, dressing, and shrimp. The chestnut soup, on the other hand, was excellent. We also received two generously filled bread baskets with delicious, soft white bread. Two pieces of baguette were also served with the chestnut and truffle oil soup. Completely satisfying and very well prepared – nothing to complain about for €4.50.
There's also a very small "cake counter" (more like a glass cake display case) in the entrance area, right next to the long, dark bar with bar stools. The cakes didn't look particularly appetizing. So we ordered a blueberry muffin instead (to go with our cappuccinos). It was warm, but didn't taste like a muffin at all, let alone blueberries; it was just sticky and sweet.
We paid €27.50 for the soup, salad, two drinks, cappuccino, and muffin, and—something we almost never do—we didn't leave a tip because the waiter's service was poor and overall it wasn't a very pleasant evening. The place has so much more potential—at least in terms of atmosphere. It's more like a pub than a cozy restaurant.
In summary, we could simply have been unlucky with the waiter, and service is usually faster and the atmosphere is more pleasant if, for example, more of the approximately 25 tables (each with a candle) were occupied. The food wasn't bad and the prices were acceptable; the soup was even delicious. A definite downside is that they don't accept card payments and there's no online menu or website where you can check the menu beforehand. (I always do that in advance!) It doesn't really entice me to go back. Give it a try if you're ever in the Rosenheimer Platz area, because the food is quite good – just not in a fancy setting with particularly friendly staff.
I'll be back: No. Although the food was okay at first, not really.
Place visited: Café Haidhausen
Address: Franziskanerstraße 4, 81669 Munich
Website: unavailable
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