Tantris

On the last night of our trip, we had dinner at Tantris, a Michelin two-star restaurant in Munich.

The interior was very modern and boldly colored, with interesting lighting:

The table was set with very cute silverware. The knives were super thin but still effective, and the forks and spoons were asymmetrical (the forks had varying tine lengths, and the spoons were tilted slightly to the left, which was awesome for us right-handers but I imagine would have been annoying for a left-handed eater):

There was a 5-course option and an 8-course option, and at first we were leaning towards the 5-course, but in the end we went with the 8-course because it looked much more interesting.

We started with the cocktail of the day; a slightly alcoholic fresh quince drink with Italian soda. It was light and yummy. Soon after placing our order we were served a basket of three breads; one tasted like country French, one was plain white, and the last was one of those very heavy nutty German breads. I liked the country French best, and had to stop myself from eating several pieces of it.

The amuse bouche was a baked pikeperch with cucumber, dill, and cream sauce. They said it was baked but I swear it tasted fried (yes, I actually tried cooked fish), the crust was so good:

We had two options for the first course:
- Terrine of duck liver with figs, celeriac and confit duck breast
- Roasted lobster with marinated pumpkin and apple

I chose the lobster and D chose the duck liver:


With the exception of dessert, this was my favorite course of the evening. The combination of ingredients and sauces was amazing...as D said, there was a "lot going on" but unlike some busier dishes at other restaurants, the flavors actually went together. The lobster was tender and juicy, the thinly sliced pumpkin and radish had great texture, and there were at least four sauces on the plate. The dominant one was a tangy, lemony sauce that acted like a dressing for the vegetables. Then there was a green herb-y sauce that tasted like it might be basil, a white creamy sauce, and a couple dabs of a sauce heavily spiked with fish eggs. Finally, there was a little mound of apple compote. Yum!

Although the main component was different, the duck liver was actually prepared similarly to the lobster, very artistically with lots of sauces and garnishes. It was served with crostini, and D said he liked it very much.

Next came scallops with roasted Jerusalem artichokes, mushroom puree, and curry cream. The scallop itself was good, and the mushroom puree was amazing; I haven't seen mushroom prepared that way before anywhere. However, the curry cream was a bit salty, and I found myself wanting to eat more bread to offset that:


At this point we were supposed to be served red mullet with spinach, cabbage ravioli and port wine verjus. I had asked for a substition earlier, since mullet is fish. To my surprise, I was offered a medallion of veal with artichokes and radicchio risotto. Score!

The veal was quite yummy and I didn't mind the artichokes. The risotto was okay; the texture was not the best I've had, and it was again salty. In fact I think my most consistent complaint at Tantris was that the food tended to be saltier than I like.

D had the mullet, he said it was also a bit salty, and although the skin of the cabbage ravioli was good, the filling was only so-so:

After that, we were served a simple oxtail broth with strips of cut up "pancake" and what tasted like mirepoix (onions, celery, carrots):

The soup was rich and flavorful, if also a bit salty, and the strips were fun to eat.

For our last main course, we had saddle of lamb au gratin with beans and eggplant couscous:

I don't know what "saddle" means, but to me it looked like two parts of the lamb; rack and loin. I liked the dressing on the loin; it was tomato-y, fruity, and tangy. The eggplant couscous was so-so (I'm not a big eggplant fan), and the lamb rack surprisingly had less flavor than the loin. The meat itself was very good quality; no game-y taste at all. However, it seemed to be medium rather than medium rare, which I prefer. Despite that, I think this was my second favorite savory course.

For our cheese course we were served Taleggio (Italian), Chaource (French, cow's), and St. Maure (French, goat's):

The cheeses were accompanied by apple and fig compotes:

The cheeses were all quite good; my favorite was the Taleggio, while the Chaource seemed a bit bland. However, I would have prefered more variety, as all three were soft cheeses.

The first dessert was a coconut souffle with pineapple ragout:

Early in our meal, I had noticed the waiters talking to each other to speed up our service, once they realized that we ate really fast (especially by European standards). Shortly after we finished our cheeses, I noticed that one waiter subtly swung by to peek at our table, realized we'd finished, and hurried back to the kitchen to let them know. Several minutes later I saw him checking his watch, presumably to see if the souffle was ready yet. Great service all around.

Anyway, the souffle was marvelous. The texture may have been the best I've ever had; it was light and fluffy but sprang back when bitten, and it was just the perfect degree of sweetness (coconut desserts are often too sweet). The pineapple ragout was a nice flavor contrast, adding some tartness to the dish.

I thought there was no way that a sorbet dessert could match that, but the "chilled quince soup with sorbets" looked and tasted a lot better than it sounded. I really never knew how much could be done with quince, before this meal. The soup combined quince with champagne, and as a result was pleasantly frothy. The sorbets were pressed together in a pyramid shape, with very thin layers of I think chocolate in between. The flavors were lime, plum, and (of course) quince. Under the sorbets there was a scoop of chocolate mousse:

I know that sounds like way too many flavors in one dessert, but trust me, it was delicious.

Finally, we had a nice assortment of petit fours:

I thought the yellow one was key lime pie, but it didn't taste very tart. It had an almost carrot cake-like texture, and tasted nutty, but I couldn't place the exact flavor until I saw pistachio powder at our breakfast buffet the next morning. That and the raspberry tart were my favorites; there was also a coffee cake, a grape and cream tart, a vanilla bean cream puff, and a jam buckle (again, couldn't quite identify the type of jam). Very nice.

Overall, the food was quite good. I would say that several dishes were saltier than I would have liked, but not so much that it overwhelmed the other flavors. The biggest strength (food-wise) was ability to combine lots of tastes in very creative ways. However, I would say that the service was even more outstanding. The waitstaff were polite, friendly, efficient, and good at anticipating needs. Then, after the meal, we were given a free ride back to our hotel, in a gorgeously-appointed BMW, complete with new car smell. Amazing.