In 2019, the Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation opened the Hotel Augustin, a real gem on the Theresienhöhe, where families can stay at fair prices. In February of this year, the foundation was finally able to celebrate the opening of the hotel’s Fräulein Wagner restaurant, with a three-year delay due to the corona pandemic.
Fräulein Wagner, named after the Augustinian heiress and foundation founder who died in 1996, is an asset to the former exhibition grounds. There the guest is greeted by a cheerfully colorful and at the same time cool atmosphere. In summer it is only nicer in the casual inner courtyard. In the small hideaway in the middle of the city, children play badminton while the adults settle into lounge chairs with a drink. The bar is designed like a huge Augustiner beer crate, so much marketing is allowed for the Augustiner brewery, which otherwise doesn’t think much of advertising. Similarly, the little tables are real beer crates. However, you eat outside at real wooden tables, as you know them from other Augustiner restaurants.
A small refuge in the middle of the city: the inner courtyard of the restaurant. There you will be served on the terrace or take a deck chair and get your own drinks.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Because of the many hotel guests who come here, it is quite international. The kitchen, which is operated by the luxury caterer Dahlmann, is also geared towards this. He is not exactly known for boring home cooking and has also relocated his production kitchen from Parkstadt Schwabing to Bavaria Park. Even though Fräulein Wagner is an Augustinian restaurant, you won’t find typical Bavarian dishes such as roast pork or sausage salad on the menu. After all, you can get that in the tavern right next door.
The day and evening menus are completely different at Fräulein Wagner. What they have in common is that the selection of dishes is intended to pay homage to the well-travelled artist Edith Haberland-Wagner and has something to offer most palates, wherever they were socialised: “Exotic and cosmopolitan, close to home and down-to-earth,” says the Map. And further: “Become an enjoyable explorer of the world with us”. That may be a bit thick, but it always makes you curious. And that curiosity was rewarded, with our test visits concentrating on the evening menu.
Perfectly juicy and tender: the corn-fed chicken breast, served with a delicious accompaniment of peas and spinach.
(Photo: Pep Rooney)
As for the starters: we tried a wonderfully creamy burrata (16 euros) with white asparagus and strawberries, seasoned with garden cress and balsamic vinegar. The asparagus still had quite a bite, you have to like that, otherwise the combination was an appetizing start to the menu. The really crunchy spring salad (12.50) with lime dressing, which could have been served with avocado (plus three euros) or white tiger prawns (7), was finely dressed, but we decided against it.
The testers were at odds with the salmon trout tartare (16). While some thought that the acidity would benefit the fine fish taste, one tester found it a bit too sour. In turn, she was completely enthusiastic about her vegetarian main course, a colorful mix of carrots in the oven (21). On the one hand, it was surprising how different carrots can taste, additionally refined with labneh (a kind of cream cheese) and zatar as well as – for an additional charge of four euros – hummus and an Argentinian chimichurri sauce.
Perfectly juicy and tender was the corn-fed chicken breast (26), served with a delicious accompaniment of peas and spinach. The Bavarian ox (27) was very tenderly braised and strongly seasoned, although the Belgian fries with lemon mayo (5.50) recommended by the waiter didn’t go with it at all. The skrei (28) with cauliflower foam, watercress and herb crust was consistently convincing. You can also fish behind the Bavaria!
A cloud on the tongue: the French dessert classic Savarin, a fluffy dough ring soaked with Grand Marnier and raspberry spirit.
(Photo: Pep Rooney)
We were also really happy with the desserts, especially with the Savarin (9), a French dessert classic. The fluffy dough ring, soaked in Grand Marnier and raspberry spirit and served with rhubarb, curd cheese, raspberry sorbet and raspberries, was like a cloud on the tongue – brilliant, if not for children. Anyone who thinks they have eaten their fill of warm chocolate cake since the 1990s should try the version at Fräulein Wagner with passion fruit and almond ice cream for ten euros: yes, it will still work in 2023.
Of course, the Fräulein Wagner has a fresh Augustiner Hell on tap (3.80), but also a fairly calculated and well-chosen wine list. Open wines are between seven and 13 euros for 0.2 liters. It is definitely worth ordering a bottle for several guests. The bottle of the highly recommended red “Blackprint” from Schneider is available for 39 euros, while the white “Saugeil-Cuvée” (21) from Franconia offered a cheaper, very refreshing treat the next day.
Because we were also impressed by the competent, extremely friendly and helpful staff, we have decided to definitely come back. Too bad that the small but fine evening menu is only available from Thursday to Saturday.
Miss Wagner, Am Bavariapark 16, 80339 Munich; telephone 089/ 510 883 160; www.frlwagner.com; Opening hours: Monday to Friday (except public holidays), 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. (breakfast) and 11.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (lunch menu). Evening menu: Thursday to Saturday 6 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday & public holidays: Late riser breakfast from 10.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bar: Monday to Saturday, 3pm to 11pm.
The SZ taster
The restaurant review “Tasting” of Süddeutsche Zeitung has a long tradition: it has been published weekly in the local section since 1975 and online for several years. About a dozen editors with culinary expertise from all departments – from Munich, science 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 taster: The authors write under pseudonyms, often with a culinary touch. They go into the restaurant to be tested unnoticed about two or three times, depending on how long the budget given by the editors lasts. Iron basic rules: a grace period of one hundred days for the kitchen of a new restaurant to familiarize itself. And: never get caught at work as a restaurant critic – in order to be able to describe food and drink, service and atmosphere impartially.