Alois – Dallmayr Fine Dining

Rating: 18
Author: Gault&Millau

Dienerstraße 14, 80331 Munich, Germany

18/20
Prestige Restaurant

BOOK

1 PHOTOS

Chef: Rosina Ostler
Cooking: European | Gastronomic | German | International
Style: Elegant | Romantic | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

The first floor of Munich's delicatessen empire looks more like a noble trendy bar than a gourmet restaurant with dimmed lights, dark red carpet, gold or blue crane tap, a stuffed peacock on the fireplace, small black tables with gold rims and a noisy, relaxed atmosphere. The focus also seems to be more on beverage sales at first – the sommelier confidently recommends "a bottle to match the start of the menu" from the 400-euro league. This seems to set the tone – Dallmayr has always been a bit more opulent, and the Munich and international audiences in the two halls can and want to pay for an enjoyable evening. And it then experiences the full enjoyment in a whole round of 16 taste samples from the kitchen of Rosina Ostler, who does not have any bread served throughout the evening, but instead such a variety of ingredients, textures and aromas in rhythmic changes from refreshingly crunchy to creamy-heavy, from ultra-light to profound, that you may almost get dizzy. Fortunately, after seven small courses, the high-speed performance is slowed down by a very detailed and informative product presentation, each for the whole room, and then continues more relaxed for all guests at the same time. The boss herself provides a highlight right at the start: Rosina Ostler serves the first course (as well as the candy salon at the end) personally, no, she composes it at the table. First, she spoons skyr and raw carrots into an eggcup-sized bowl, then pours an intense coffee oil, on top of which she adds a carrot granité from the iced copper casserole and spreads Australian acacia seed powder on top with the tea strainer, which is very similar to the coffee aroma. All in all, a treat and a nice introduction to the following courses, the complex production of which in the kitchen now resonates mentally with the guests. But even without reverence for the craft, they taste simply fantastic: an oyster tartlet with lettuce, then "foie gras substitute" in a Sauternes-coated rosehip meringue with some char liver with a fulminant, creamy taste of its own. For refreshment, a shiso tartlet with cucumber pearls, juniper and gin and tonic, just like the drink, only crispy. It goes on cheerfully with such miniatures: grilled eel in onion consommée with pickled spruce shoots, a wild boar ragout with chestnut tartlet under meadowsweet jelly and a last tartlet, this time made of black salsify with green strawberries. Have you noticed a certain accumulation of words? That just sounds like boredom, because the crispy, wafer-thin dough elements of this finger food parade are all not only holding devices, but also central flavour carriers. This surprises and convinces, as are the finely balanced unusual flavours. This also applies to the classic caviar dump with crème fraîche core, but which is served à part for conscious self-mixing with gossamer potato soufflé with ox marrow cream, which gives the salty-cool freshness of the caviar melting and warm airiness. Equally unusual and unusually good is the confit lake trout from Birnbaum on fennel jam, topped with its fatty, tender matjes and which takes you into unusual aromatic spheres with a high-intensity Chinese smoked tea emulsion. Pickled lavender with Heligoland lobster, salted clementine jus with cured veal tongue: It is these combinations of aromas that make the evening not only a culinary event, but also a memorable one. The fact that the challans duck was served with some bitter hazelnuts and that the patisserie with quince sorbet in goat's milk and saffron broth was much more one-dimensional than the previous - a gift. All in all, a creative and highly tasteful cuisine worthy of a delicatessen in a suitable ambience. Be sure to go!