Palais Keller
Hotel Bayerischer Hof
Promenadeplatz
2, Munich
The Palais Keller is a bustling, cavernous affair
that is not easily discovered among the myriad labyrinthine passageways hidden
away beneath the stylish Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Once stumbled upon, however, it
becomes immediately apparent that this is clearly an establishment that caters
to the tourist trade. The restaurant strikes one as the quintessential Hollywood
version of a rustic German eatery: The motherly waitresses, appropriately adorned,
all speak English; and, should your accent slip, you are handed a menu that
explicates the kitchen's traditional offerings in English, French, and Italian.
The major drawing card here is the fact that, although the Palais
Keller resides at one of Munich's ritziest addresses, the food is
moderately priced. In other words, it is designed to appeal to the typical
tourist who relishes the opportunity of hob-knobbing it with the rich and shameless
at prices that won't break the bank.
Moderately priced the cuisine may be. However, in my
opinion, you may dine infinitely better elsewhere and, in many cases, at
comparable tariffs. I'm not saying the food is beneath contempt, but it
certainly does not measure up to the hype and hoopla bestowed by various misinformed
guidebooks.
The beef consommé (3,90€), for example, is exceedingly
salty... and the goulash soup (5,60€), one of my favorite German indulgences,
suffers from a similar malady. Entrées are somewhat better, though hardly
exceptional. The ½ grilled pork knuckle (13,90€) is wonderfully moist, but the
accompanying sauce tastes suspiciously like the salty broth that passed for
consommé; and the potato dumplings are completely tasteless. The pike-perch (14,80€)
is slightly on the dry side; though the sides of red cabbage (3,30€) and German
potato salad (3,80€) are excellent. The bread pudding with almond ice cream and
apricot sauce (8,50€) is a hearty finishing touch, although, once again, hardly
exceptional.
In bistro fashion, the Keller offers daily specials
during lunch and dinner. Monday: braised beef roll with glazed carrots and
potato puree (14,30€); Tuesday: ½ farmer's chicken with parsley and potato arugula
salad (12,60€); Wednesday: ½ or ¼ Bavarian roast duck with red cabbage, apples,
and potato dumpling (19,50€/13,50€); Thursday: Stuffed sweet pepper with minced
meat served tomato sauce and mashed potatoes with a small salad (13,30€);
Friday: filet of char with tomato-courgette vegetable and rosemary potatoes
(14,60€); Saturday: rack of suckling pig in a dark beer sauce served with
sauerkraut and mixed dumplings (14,70€); Sunday: glazed veal shank with braised
vegetables (17,50€).
In addition, the regular menu is a copious affair, ranging
from Bavarian delicacies -- homemade headcheese (8,40€), Munich sausage salad
(9,40€), and sour calf's lungs with bread dumplings (8,00€) -- to sausage
specialties, to grilled presentations, to boiled, roasted & smoked meats,
to cheeses, to salads and side dishes. In other words, the kitchen, in my
opinion, is entirely too ambitious for its own good.
Of all the restaurants sampled during our Munich sojourn,
the Palais Keller was the least satisfying. If you're in search of
traditional Bavarian cuisine, the Spatenhaus an der Oper, though
definitely on the touristy side, has a good deal more to offer. It may cost you
a few more euros, but it is surely worth the added expenditure.
The Artful Diner
November 2007
The
Artful Diner is an independent, freelance food writer. His latest review and an archive of past reviews for restaurants around the country and the world can be found on this site on the
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