Having lived in and around Atlanta for more than four years must have spoiled me in terms of enjoying the art of BBQs, house boat happenings (mostly at lake Lanier) and laid back pool and backyard parties that would start around noon and last until late hours. Not to say that Germans can’t have a decent BBQ or BYOB happening, for sure they can, but it’s different and usually doesn’t include good burgers.
Fine, Munich with its gazillion beergardens isn’t exactly known as burger paradise, but looking for pulled pork sandwiches with a tasty BBQ sauce or a rack of perfectly prepared baby spare ribs with meat that falls apart when merely looked at – don’t even think about it, you won’t find it here. I haven’t.
Tracking down places that can make plain vanilla burgers well is a challenge already. Volksgarten has been our no.1 choice for a long time, their burgers are definitely among the best in town, although the quality can differ from night to night and during Soccer Worldcup, they were unacceptable. A different chef tends to cover larger events, so my advice would be to skip the food altogether during those times. The food is otherwise fine and as part of our regular Friday movie night we’ll of course continue to have the occasional burger.
It has been a while ago since our friends Anja and Carlos casually mentioned Cosmogrill between two burger bites as their new Go-To place for out-of-this-world burgers. They said that even the veggie version would outburger Volksgarten’s large but perhaps a bit uninspired one. In hindsight, I totally regret not having directly followed their advice sooner, even more so because Cosmogrill is really just a stone throw away from where we live. Hop on tram 19, four stops later it’s happy buns time. Wow, that just sounded like that M… joint. No, it has as little to do with M as El Bulli with frozen peas, on second thought…
Don’t let the first impression delude you into thinking it’s all looks, no taste. Cosmogrill has a stylish yet unostentatious look, absolutely noteworthy: smoking is not permitted! Hooray! The 60 sqm include a seating area as well as a few free standing tables.
Whether you go with the classic one, the double cheese or the BBQ style burger, you will not be disappointed. If your up for a more fancy one, try the tuna/wasabi or Wagyu Kobe beef burger – both excellent choices. How about a tandoori lamb burger with a peppermint chutney or a veggie burger (“Spa”) for the more vegetable inclined. And if you’d like to take it a notch up, have it with one of their red wines (Primitivo) from Puglia. These burgers play in a different league!
Just in case you’re craving something different I can recommend their Curry Wurst, which may not fully adhere to the world wide Curry Wurst design standards, but is a treat anyway (ask for the hot diavolo version). The mustards are self made, well seasoned to nicely complement meat, fish and vegetable dishes.
The ingredients are super fresh and well balanced (amount wise), the meat juicy and the buns soft yet not mushy at all. Sounds like the ueberburger? You bet. Christoph Kiening, the managing director, told us that he had been testing uncountable bakeries in the city to find the one who could consistently deliver the type and quality of the buns he was looking for, in time – the buns are being delivered every morning afresh. Same goes for the beef, it’s 100% BIO, in capital letters. Before the patties hit the teppan yaki grill the beef and chicken meat gets freshly ground several times per day. The meat is carefully prepared at 150 °C (300 °F) and you can have it any way you want it! The lower temperature guarantees the meat to stay as juicy as it can be.
What’s next? I heard – through the grape vines – that a Bison Burger is in the making…
Bottom line, if you are in Munich and crave a burger, check out Cosmogrill. Seriously.
Oliver
Cosmogrill
Mon-Wed 11am-3am, Thu 11am-6am, Sun closed.
Maximilianstr. 10 (entrance located at the back of the building)
Munich (City Center)
Tel. +49 89 8905 9696
www.cosmogrill.de
Jul 8th,
2007
OK. It's 0:30am, I am far far away from Munich right now and VERY HUNGRY now :) How long would it take to send any of their burgers to Bremen?
:) You are the best!!
Jeanny (magengrummelgrummel)