Munich-Maxvorstadt: Breakfast in the Korean pop-up Café Noona – Munich

Noona means older sister in Korean. And so the name of the new pop-up on Luisenstrasse says it all. One of the two operators is Quynh Le – the big sister of Viet Duc Ngo, who runs 89 Anju at the same address. Her brother supplies the guests in the corner shop in Maxvorstadt with Korean street food during the week and in the evenings under K-pop posters and neon signs. His sister serves Korean breakfast there on weekends, when 89 Anju becomes the pop-up Café Noona.

Quynh Le, who works as an investment banker during the week, lived in Berlin for a long time. When she moved to Munich four years ago, the “foodie,” as she describes herself, was missing the culinary diversity of the capital. When her brother opened 89 Anju with a partner at the beginning of the year, she and her best friend decided that Munich needed more than tteokbokki, mandu and bibimbap.

The fact that Quynh Le isn’t the only one who had the idea of ​​offering Korean specialties in the morning doesn’t bother her. On the one hand, they were among the first with Noona, and on the other hand, it’s nice that Korean cuisine is now becoming better known in Munich. In fact, the chances of this happening are good; Korean street food shops are popping up all over the city. And Quynh Le promises that the local gastronomy scene can be “excited” to see what else she and her brother will come up with.

What is there and how much does it cost?

The menu at Noona is clear: there are so-called eggdrops and croffles. The former is a sandwich made from two buttery slices of brioche stuffed with cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs, caramelized onions and a homemade sauce. The sandwich can be topped with either bacon, avocado, avocado and salmon or bulgogi (between 9.90 and 11.90 euros). Bulgogi means something like fire meat, but the name refers more to the way the beef is prepared than to the spiciness.

The croffles, a mix of croissant and waffle, are available with the toppings “Cookies Cream”, “Strawberry Matcha”, “Lotus Biscoff” and “Cinnamon Sugar” (between 4.90 and 7.90 euros).

Open detailed view

Open detailed view

For both the egg drops and the croffles, just try out the different toppings. However, there are two things you should know: When it comes to sweet dishes, sugar is not skimped on, so you should like it really sweet. And: Vegans are unlikely to get their money’s worth at “Noona”. None of the dishes can do without butter. But that could change over time; Quynh Le wants to update the map from time to time. She wants to bring more food trends to Munich and not just limit herself to Korea in the future.

For now, it’s still the Korean breakfast. And of course, if you ask, you can also get a cappuccino or latte macchiato (3.90 or 4.50 euros). However, we recommend trying one of the trendy drinks on the menu instead: If you don’t want to go without your coffee, you can order an iced Dalgona (4.90 euros). This is a kind of upside-down cappuccino: the milk is at the bottom of the glass and a creamy coffee foam tops the whole thing. Matcha Strawberry and Mango Milk are also caffeinated but a little more colorful. If you don’t like the green tea powder, you can try strawberry, mango soda, grapefruit or kiwi Yakult Ade (6.90 euros each) instead.

All the food and drinks not only taste good, they are also extremely photogenic. Because Noona obviously knows this, there is a mirror in the entrance area in front of which guests can pose – with or without food. There are a lot of people sitting at the tables outside and inside who take out their cell phones before taking a bite.

Who do you meet there?

Like its little brother, 89 Anju, Noona is full of people with Asian backgrounds, which is a good sign and suggests that Quynh Le wasn’t the only one who was waiting to finally get a Korean breakfast in Munich.

NoonaLuisenstraße 47, 80333 Munich, opening hours: Saturday and Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m