Cafe Goose by the water
The Westpark is not only beautiful in summer. Even in winter you can go for a walk in the Japanese garden and, if there is snow, jet down the many hills on a sled. Sometimes, when it’s cold enough and the lakes are open, you can even skate. The Café Gans am Wasser is located directly on the Mollsee and is ideal for a break. In summer you can sit at the beer tables in the trailer café, in winter a Kyrgyz yurt is set up. A wood stove ensures that it is cozy and warm inside. Guests can make themselves comfortable on armchairs and sofas.
Next to the yurt there is a heated circus tent with a stage where events such as concerts, yoga or puppet shows for children take place. When the sun shines, guests can enjoy it outside on the beer benches. You can warm up with mulled wine, non-alcoholic punch, a fresh tea made from mint, ginger and lemon or with hot chocolate. There are various crêpes to eat, which are prepared in a food truck, cakes or fries. However, if you are too thirsty or hungry, you should not march to Café Gans am Wasser if you have not checked the website beforehand. There it is always announced in the morning whether the café is currently open.
Cafe Goose by the water, at the Mollsee in the Westpark, normally open daily from 10 a.m., on Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m., on the other days including public holidays until 9 p.m. Whether it is really open is announced daily on the website.
dairy house
Monopteros Hill becomes a toboggan run, and the Eisbachufer is beautiful to look at without the crowds that sunbathe here in the summer. But the English Garden is not deserted even in winter. When the sun is shining, numerous walkers are out and about. The Milchhäusl, for example, serves to warm them up.
When it’s warm, there’s usually a long line in front of it, because people still need a cold drink or a popsicle for the English Garden. Not only is there less going on here in winter. In the cold months there are also discarded ski gondolas in front of the Milchhäusl where you can sit. Old skis are stuck to the sides so that the vehicles are not mistaken for space capsules that have strayed into the city.
The gondolas are heated, and you can warm up your stomach with a warm soup or lentil stew with sausages. All dishes are prepared with ecological ingredients, as is typical for the Milchhäusl. Mulled wine, punch (which is also available in a non-alcoholic version) and cocoa are offered for drinking. This is also available with alcohol.
dairy house, Queen Street 6, phone 089/45248430, email [email protected].
Miss Greenis
If you are not cold enough after a winter walk through the English Garden, you can visit the surfers at the Eisbachwelle at the Haus der Kunst. You don’t even have to venture into the ice-cold water with a surfboard, at the latest when you see the many wet wetsuits you will automatically shiver. A visit to Fräulein Grüneis right next to the wave, where you can warm up, is all the more beneficial afterwards. The green and white house used to be a public toilet, after that it fell into disrepair – until the kiosk moved in in 2011.
There is a lot going on, especially when the sun comes out in winter and the walkers stop here. The fact that Fräulein Grüneis is so popular is certainly due to the wood-burning stove, which the staff are happy to turn on when someone is too cold. But you can also warm yourself by a fire in front of the kiosk. The changing soups of the day, curries or stews provide inner warmth. The selection of warm drinks is large at Fräulein Grüneis and also offers alternatives for guests who don’t feel like mulled wine anymore in February. For example, there is homemade ginger-orange tea, hot pomegranate juice, tea made from fresh mint or the classic hot lemon. If you still prefer mulled wine, you can get that too.
Miss Greenis, Lerchenfeldstr. 1a, open Mon to Fri from 8 a.m. and on weekends from 10 a.m. until dark, e-mail [email protected].
Old Utting
Setting sail in the middle of winter? That might not be such a good idea, especially when it’s so cold that the lakes are partially freezing. If you still want to go on a ship, the Alte Utting is the right place for you. The disused excursion boat from Lake Ammer, which has moved to a railway bridge in Sendling, was opened in the summer. But a visit to the Alte Utting is not only worthwhile when it’s warm. In winter you can get warm drinks such as mulled wine or non-alcoholic punch on the ship and at the stands around it. You can eat crêpes, hearty meat skewers or gua bao, which is a steamed Taiwanese yeast pastry.
Especially at the weekend, guests like to stay outside even when the temperature is freezing and warm themselves at a fireplace when it is particularly cold. If it still freezes, you can hide below deck. There is not only heating, but also culture, for example in the form of concerts or readings. Anyone who is on the Alte Utting in the late afternoon even has the chance to see a wintry sunset on nice days.
Old Utting, Lagerhausstr. 15, open Monday to Wednesday 4 p.m. to midnight, Thursday 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., Friday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., telephone: 089/707770, e-mail: [email protected].
Bamberg house
After a walk through the park, curling: that’s possible in the Bamberger Haus am Luitpoldpark. In winter, the regular beer garden becomes a winter beer garden with its curling lanes, which you have to reserve in advance. There are warm drinks such as mulled wine or punch for curling, and if you want, you can also order tarte flambée. If it gets chilly despite the sporting activity, you can also warm up here at one of the fireplaces.
A kind of alpine hut for up to 60 guests has also been set up in the winter beer garden. The walls are made of wood and you can sit comfortably on benches covered with sheepskins, but the roof of the hut consists only of umbrellas. Nevertheless, the guests only get cold feet at times, because the hut is heated – and the food that is served here also ensures warmth. A reservation is also required for this. If you don’t think much of this false alpine hut, you can simply stop off in one of the two restaurants in the Bamberg house after curling.
Bamberg houseBrunnerstrasse 2, open Wednesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight, on Sundays and public holidays from 12 p.m. to midnight, telephone: 089/322 12 82 10, e-mail: [email protected].
Newsstand 1917
More than 100 years ago, lemonade was sold in the kiosk at the Tierparkbrücke in Thalkirchen. Since the end of the 1990s, however, the house had been derelict until it was brought back to life two years ago for its anniversary. Since the two new operators have restored the kiosk, there is a lot going on here even in winter on nice days, especially in the afternoon. The Kiosk 1917 is not only popular with local residents. After a walk along the Isar or a visit to the Hellabrunn Zoo, you can make yourself comfortable and warm up here.
Of course there is coffee and tea to drink, but also mulled wine, children’s punch or hot apple juice with cinnamon. Lumumba is also offered in winter, which is warm cocoa with a dash of rum. Among other things, there is a different soup every day, focaccia, white sausages with pretzels or Viennese in a bread roll. However, the Kiosk 1917 is not only suitable for spontaneous warming up after a walk. You can also rent it for private parties in winter and then have it to yourself, special requests included.
Newsstand 1917Tierparkstraße 2, open Monday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., telephone 089/71 93 02 00.