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by becks
Mexico City, Mexico
January 21, 2005
We were pleasantly surprised to have noticed Wiener’s Der Kafee on our short walk from the hotel to the subway station. The Frankfurt branch of this small Viennese-style coffee shop chain is one of our favorite locales. This is our favorite despite the bad patch it went through around the middle of last year when on two occasions we were told after ordering the standard breakfast, which consists of a few bread rolls, butter, and jam, that the chef has not arrived yet!
As Wiener’s was literally only a minute’s walk from the hotel, we decided to have breakfast here on Monday morning prior to picking up our new car. This branch of Wiener’s has several outdoor tables, but with a slight chill in the light morning breeze, we decided to sit indoors. Typically German, half the lights indoors were switched off, presumably to conserve energy, but were turned on as soon as we decided to occupy a dark corner rather than parking the stroller amongst the tables where suited gentlemen enjoyed an early morning coffee with a newspaper before presumably continuing to the adjacent head offices of Hypovereinbank.
We were pleasantly surprised to find the food menu somewhat more comprehensive than the very limited fare available at the Frankfurt branch. We decided on a Guten Morgen Frühstück (Good Morning Breakfast) that goes for €7,20, which included a number of bread rolls, a platter with cheese, cold meats and jam, a glass of orange juice, and a large portion of muesli with freshly cut fruit. Germans have a thing about old bread – they hate it. The hunger for fresh bread allows bakeries to be open for 3 hours on Sundays while all other shops generally have to remain shut. Fresh bread at breakfast is guaranteed, and the ones we received were still warm from the oven. On the waitress’ recommendation, we allowed it to rest a few minutes before devouring it all.
Hot drinks have to be ordered separately and generally cost just less than €3. Coffees are described using the appropriate Viennese terms – ordering a cappuccino will identify you as a first-timer and eyes will be rolled. In Vienna, a cappuccino is a Wiener Melange – pronounce the Melange in French rather than German. As in Vienna, all coffees here are strong and served with a glass of water with the spoon on top of the glass just so.
I found the atmosphere in this branch of Wiener’s more laid-back and new Munich than traditional Vienna. However, the service and taste of the food and coffee were first class.
From journal Munich – Art & BMW