It doesn’t always have to be Schwabing or Haidhausen or the old town. Munich also has districts that are not as hip, but which are in no way inferior to the others in terms of quality of life. And they have their own history. Laim for example. People used to travel from Laim to the city by tram, as if it weren’t part of it. The west end was more of a part of the city, followed by fields and meadows and then Laim.
The Laimer had their own train station, their own cinemas, five in number at peak times, their own churches and traditional inns. The racetrack, today Potlatsch, deserves a special mention. The natives met in the low guest rooms. The children got the beer for dad from the street tavern with the mug. The fact that the legendary landlady, Bauermarie, was caught cooling her tired feet in the salad bowl didn’t spoil the love. All Laimer taverns had one thing in common: They were down-to-earth, cozy and familiar.
At the very edge of Laim, almost in the Westend, the Gotthard Garden maintains this tradition, not the one with the salad bowl. The special thing about the Gotthard Garden’s kitchen is that everything, and that’s a lot of what is advertised as home-made, is home-made. In times of convenience food, which is often sold to unsuspecting guests as their own product, this has become very rare. So this is the best home cooking – or what should you call it now?
That started with the noodle soup, good broth with lots of beef cuts and lots of vegetables, obviously hand-carved (5.90). Today there is noodle soup with vegetables, the thoughtful waiter decided one lunchtime and pushed any other order requests aside. And it was good to have followed the advice. The daily recommendation of redfish fillet with potato and cucumber salad with sliced radishes and homemade remoulade also proved to be a hit. The plate meat, three thick slices of the mayor’s piece, without fat and edges, with vegetables and freshly grated horseradish was of the best quality (16.90).
A rare sight: Spaetzle are scraped here.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
In the evenings, the shop was packed (please always reserve!), which fortunately didn’t mean that you couldn’t understand your own words, as is unfortunately often the case. The two interconnecting rooms are paneled with light-colored wood and not very high, which pleasantly dampens the noise.
So we unintentionally, but increasingly amused, overheard a conversation about the dim past of football between four Bavarians and a Berliner (East). The sixties Rudi Brunnenmeier was praised by the Ossi, Jürgen Sparwasser by the Wessis. The latter because his winning goal against West Germany at the beginning of the 1974 World Cup would have, in Bayern’s opinion, really woken up the west team so that they ended up becoming world champions. Another one said that the East-West dialogue didn’t work.
With so much harmony, the fresh roast suckling pig with dumplings and coleslaw, which is always served in the evening, tasted particularly good. There were three nice pieces of chops with a grown, crispy crust on the plate, the crust not grilled to death afterwards, so that you almost bit your teeth, as is often the case. There were also two small potato dumplings sprinkled with butter crumbs and natural sauce, everything was great (15.90).
The wood paneling softens conversations. It gets really crowded here in the evenings.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
Every Wednesday, Sunday and public holiday there is roast pork fresh from the oven (12.90) with the same side dishes as with the suckling pig. Both dishes “only while stocks last”. The veal slices from the top shell with hand-scraped spaetzle was a dream, especially the delicious spaetzle (20.90). Also the onion meat “from the fried plate meat”, in the Gotthard garden the mayor’s piece, with braised onions in gravy was wonderfully tender, the accompanying fried potatoes were rather average (16.90). A mixed salad with homemade dressing was served with it, as well as with the sliced meat.
Also the fried chicken in a pretzel coat, plentiful, crispy and the meat was juicy, with a potato and cucumber salad, there was nothing to complain about (15.90). The Hacker-Pschorr beers, such as Kellerbier (4.70) or Münchner Dunkel (4.50), go well with the food and the style of the house.
The dessert of the day was a delicious cream cheese tart with a pistachio topping, a good finish because it wasn’t too heavy (7.50). The stomach capacity was no longer sufficient for the popular, caramelized XXL Kaiserschmarrn with raisins, almonds and applesauce (for four to five people), but delicious aromas came from the next table.
As soon as it gets a little warmer, you can sit comfortably in the pretty front garden, protected from traffic by a dense ivy hedge.
Gotthard Garden, Gotthardstrasse 1, telephone: 089 660060175, www.gotthardgarten.deopening times, Fri.-Wed., 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., hot meals from 11.30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday closed
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 working as a restaurant critic – to be able to describe food and drink, service and atmosphere impartially.