When two of the world’s most popular and versatile kitchens do their best together, it shouldn’t be far to the summit of culinary Olympus. Thoughts like that run through my mind when the Brasserie Thi opened this year her concept is: “Refined French cuisine meets fine Asian flavors”, says the Website.
As is well known, this can also end in a tuttifrutti fusion disaster. But what the managing directors and brothers Thi and Vu Nguyen promise sounds as appealing as it is credible.
So let’s go to Bräuhausstrasse 8, get to the beautiful wooden tables, the upholstered benches, the green-covered armchairs (of course, after checking the 2-G formalities beforehand). The guest room looks cozy and noble, but not ostentatious. More like a classic salon. Lots of wood, lots of dark green with modern elements.
The Brasserie Thi opened in the summer of 2021 at Bräuhausstraße 8.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
The menu is divided into a weekly and bistro menu. There are menus (from 55 euros) but no menu compulsory, on the contrary, wild combinations are welcome, even between the two cards. If you want, you can jump back and forth, a soup from the menu, a tartare from the bistro menu, main course or dessert from the weekly menu, or a cheese variation from the bistro category?
With a little enthusiasm for discovery, you can incorporate such whimsical elements as the ten-gram jar of Alpine caviar from a sturgeon farm in Austria, where, as we learned, the fish are not killed in order to get to the coveted roe.
But for now we stayed on familiar-sounding terrain and, for example, ordered a main course with venison. Tender pieces of meat came on the table with a winterly warming sauce of plum notes and mild black garlic. There were also crunchy salsify pieces on a wonderfully creamy puree.
The next day we liked a perfectly pink duck breast, whose dark sauce accompaniment owed its magic to the ingredients of the five-spice powder, without drifting completely into Chinese (32 euros). In addition, now west again: bulbous nasturtiums. In the Brasserie Thi, you are always reminded of the concept that fashion designer Paul Smith established in couture: classic with a twist.
The duck breast was cooked pink to perfection, and the dark sauce was magically seasoned.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
We experienced the successful Euro-Asian interference with smaller preliminary and intermediate courses, the announcement of which sounded almost daring: “Fermented mushrooms, bacon dashi, popcorn” for example (18.50). A deep, wintry, deeply tanned Dashi-Sud was served (which is made from fish and seaweed and in this case was pepped up with a bacon aroma), with a variation of firm mushrooms in it, we even discovered morels. Oh yes, a few flakes of popcorn were floating in the dashi. A gag. But successful.
A bowl of three types of beetroot in Merlot vinegar (14.50) brought refreshing summer notes into the winter evening. And our favorite: red cabbage fermented like a kimchi, whose bitter acidity went wonderfully with wild boar ham, while a delicate spiciness tickled on the tip of the tongue (14.50).
The Süddeutsche Zeitung’s restaurant review “Tasting” has a long tradition: it has been published weekly in the local section since 1975, and for several years also online and with a rating scale. About a dozen editors with culinary experience from all departments – from Munich, knowledge to politics – take turns writing about the city’s gastronomy. The choice is endless, the Bavarian economy is just as important as the Greek fish restaurant, the American fast food chain, the special bratwurst stand or the gourmet restaurant decorated with stars. The special thing about the SZ tasting: The authors write under pseudonyms, often with a culinary touch. You go undetected to the restaurant to be tested about two or three times, depending on how long the budget set by the editorial team lasts. Iron basic rules: a hundred days grace period until the kitchen of a new restaurant has settled in. And: Never get caught working as a restaurant critic – so that you can describe food and drink, service and atmosphere in an unbiased manner. SZ
Only once did we find a trick unsuccessful, mind you: not the dish itself. A wonderfully fork-proof catfish fillet, also in dashi, this time with lemon notes and vegetable strips, was accompanied by bun pieces, a fluffy Vietnamese pasta (28.50). Unfortunately, the buns were partly in the dashi, which turned the fluffy dough into slime. We would order it again at any time, just with the buns on an extra plate.
Vegans also get their money’s worth here
The consistency of the food is otherwise impeccable in the brasserie. The arms of an octopus (part of the menu) were tender as butter inside, but the suction cups were crispy, you have to get that right first. There was also edamame and Japanese seaweed. Incidentally, vegans get their money’s worth, that applies to all phases of the evening.
We liked a mushroom ragout with deep, almost smoky notes that exuded more umami than some goulash. Speaking of which: the brasserie can also cater for real carnivores: a “cut of the day” on the bistro menu as well as a “spicy tartare” promise a lot of meat lust. However, we focused on exploring the Franco-Asian combinations.
Regarding the wines, you can confidently trust the open, glass-by-glass poured drops as well as the friendly advice of the staff. We liked the Pinot Gris very much and, among the reds, the Côtes du Rhône (7.50 each).
The intercontinental combination doesn’t stop with the desserts: A pumpkin seed tartelette, accompanied by rowan ice cream (no, rowan berries are not poisonous), looked more like a vegetable cake, thanks to lots of pumpkin seeds and a few herbs on top (twist!). Inside, however, a hearty dark mousse was waiting. The thing was firstly an experience, secondly a bomb.
Anyone thinking of rounding off an evening in the Brasserie Thi with a dessert should allow the necessary space in the stomach when planning the previous courses. These are veritable small dishes, as the price (13 euros each) might have already told us. On the second visit, we shared a tiramisu for two. Another bomb. That tempted us to have a glass of Cuban rum.
Admittedly, gluttony was approaching deadly sins at this point.
Brasserie Thi, Bräuhausstr. 8, 80331 Munich, phone 089/59998867, [email protected], opening hours Mon-Fri 12 noon-10 p.m., Sat 2 p.m.-10 p.m., closed on Sundays