The Coffee Twins at Ehrengutstraße 18 between Dreimühlenstraße and Roecklplatz are the coffee shop equivalent of “small but mighty”. If a few low tables and stools on the sidewalk didn’t indicate a café, you could easily walk past it, the shop is so small. But the operators show that there is a lot of expertise and quality involved. The twins Daniel and Jonas Fondaj have been dealing with coffee for a good six years and dreamed of opening their own shop from the start, which is particularly remarkable because the two 21-year-olds were still teenagers at the time.
They even based their choice of vocational training on this project. At the beginning of the year, the Markt Indersdorfer completed their confectionery training and, with a lot of luck, found a space for their concept via an online portal. In March they opened their café, then still under the name of the previous store, Storm In A Coffee Pot. The renaming to Coffee Twins in the summer doubled sales and range, today the only thing left from the predecessor is the replaced coffee machine. Daniel and Jonas Fondaj built the style and color neutral furnishings themselves; three small round tables, plus simple wooden benches, stools and two counter seats.
What is there?
The range of dishes is also reduced to the essentials and do-it-yourself. There is Bircher muesli (5.90 euros), banana bread (3.40 euros) and currently also Christmas cookies from rascals to vanilla crescents. Hearty breakfasters can choose between natural and beetroot hummus on grilled sourdough bread (7.90 euros each), lovingly prepared with tomatoes, herder’s cheese and sprouts.
Juicy and fluffy: the cinnamon knots at Coffee Twins
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Unbeatable coffee companions are the juicy, fluffy cinnamon knots (3.40 euros). For their pastries, the twins only use spelled flour from the Meir mill in Arnbach near their home town.
Regionality also played a role for the Coffee Twins when choosing their coffee. They opted for JB coffee from Sulzemoos, “the best, most regional and down-to-earth coffee without any major advertising campaigns,” says Daniel Fondaj. Various JB roasts can be tried, for example as a cappuccino (3.20 euros) or hand-filter coffee in a carafe (4.60 euros), and you can also buy your favorite roast in the shop. And quite Italian, a simple espresso is still under two euros. Hot chocolate, matcha and organic lemonades round off the drinks menu.
A bohemian cafe
(Photo: Robert Haas)
As uncomplicated as the services offered by the twins are, their service is just as pleasant. Daniel and Jonas Fondaj have no other employees and work every shift in pairs. “If one of us isn’t there for a moment, our guests notice it immediately and ask for the other one,” says Daniel Fondaj.
He and his brother are polite and reserved hosts, so that you never feel harassed or watched in their café despite the cramped space. In the Dreimühlenviertel district, many neighbors and regulars are among the Coffee Twins’ clientele. Perhaps also because, unlike many others in the area, the restaurant is open on Mondays (but Sunday is a day off) and opens at eight o’clock during the week. The cinnamon freshly baked scent that then wafts through the street in front of the café should do the rest.
Coffee Twins: Ehrengutstraße 18, 80469 Munich, opening hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m