Munich Restaurants - Milagros (Mexican)

Within the foreigner community in Munich, people are always discussing new things to see and do.  "Have you eaten at [restaurant X]" is one of the most popular topics.  Therefore we decided to blog some Munich restaurants for both locals and visitors alike.

In this case, the first one is the easiest, because we can say it up front:  Milagros is the best Mexican restaurant in Germany.  Together Frau A and I have sampled places in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Bonn, and Munich, and there's no contest.  (Granted, Germany doesn't do Mexican very well as a rule, but Milagros would make it in Manhattan.)

Milagros opened its doors 10 months ago -- October 2010.  It sits in the city center, not far from the Viktualien Markt and Oktoberfest Museum.  Great location.  The owner, Scott Myers, is a Mexican-American who married a German woman and moved back with her.  It's certainly no Taco Bell -- his mentor David Sterling is head of the Los Dos cooking school in Mérida (Yucatán)!

We ordered the "Fiesta Mexicana" platter for two, which includes steak arrachera (marinated & grilled), cochinita pibil (slow roasted pork in homemade tortilla), barbacoa de pollo (marinated/grilled chicken), and carnitas (braised pork in homemade tortilla) with condiments of guacamole, refried beans, and salsa.  It's a great way to try different items, and they taste as good as they look:

To drink we had a top-shelf margarita (no salt when the tequila is this good) that uses fresh juice (no mix):

Above, you'll notice on the chair the familiar Yucatan striped pattern textile -- the decor is pure Mexican.  Below, notice the hanging lamps on the right, textile patterns in the upper left (on the ceiling), and the Virgin Mary in the bottom left.  (With Mary, it fits perfectly in Bavaria.)

It is important to clarify that the food and decor are not "tex-mex".  Most Germans (and Europeans in general) would not differentiate, but it's important here because the dishes are so authentically Mexican.

To finish, we shared a chocolate flan -- not sticky sweet at all, but a rich cocoa instead, with some fresh fruit:

Milagros claims that key or special ingredients are sourced from Mexico (e.g., chiles, Mexican oregano), but where possible local (Bavarian) produce is used.  Also, they use the traditional cooking methods:  tortillas pressed by hand, wood oven and grills using mesquite from America, and real banana leaves for slow-roasting the pork.  It's serious food, and should be a perfect match for the organic, quality-focused Munich diner.

And people are noticing.  The "Restaurant Kritik" wrote a very positive article (with interviews of the owner and mentor), reviews on Tripadvisor are good (it's already in the top 100), and Google reviews are excellent too.  Since it opened we're probably been 4-5 times already, it's that good.  (And Frau A lived in Dallas, so is a tough critic.)

Locals should try the best Mexican we've had on the continent so far, and visitors can take a break from a steady diet of Bavarian food with fantastic authentic Mexican.  Higly recommended.

Mmmm....Mexican Food

Food in Munich has been a pleasant surprise - Not only is Bavarian food quite tasty, but Munich also has an incredible variety of cuisines available. There is great Thai, Afghan, Persian, Italian, French, Vegetarian, Spanish, and even some good old American burgers and ribs.  There is not, however, much good Mexican. There are some Mexican restaurants here, but they are most loved for their cocktails - the food is only a side to help absorb the sugar and alcohol.

El Gordo Loco has always been pretty good and authentic, and if you ask nicely, they'll make frozen margaritas from scratch. Luckily, we have a new Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood - Milagros, between the Viktualienmarkt and Isartor. It's great food and very authentic Mexican - and the margarita menu is impressive. Both restaurants are Mexican, not Tex-Mex. And I recommend reservations....they're small, and fill up quickly.

For the most part, however, you just have to cook Mexican or Tex Mex yourself. Finding the ingredients, however, is not easy....we have many Asian markets carrying almost everything you could want, but I've only found two Mexican stores: Mercado de Mexico near Donnersbergerbrücke and La Tortilla out in Unterschleißheim. I asked the lady at the cheese counter if she could suggest a cheese that I could use in cooking Mexican food or for quesadillas. She just looked at me, frowned, and said there are none. I highly doubt that, but I got a similar reaction from the butcher when I asked what cut of beef he would recommend for satay. He informed me that you cannot make satay with beef, only with chicken.  Much of Thailand and Indonesia would disagree, but...he's the expert, right????

Herr J gave me a great cocktail shaker at Christmas, so margaritas were a good first test.

I came home from Mercado de Mexico overjoyed at finding queso blanco, tomatillo sauce, canned and dried chiles, and homemade (frozen) white corn tortillas. Using some rotisserie chicken, white cheddar, and tomatillo sauce, i threw together some tasty enchiladas verde, topped with queso blanco. Yum, and so easy! Using some extra chicken and cheeses (we had some yellow cheddar left from cheeseburgers last week and some chips from turkey taco salad), I threw together some chicken nachos as a snack. A tasty treat, and very cute served in cazuelas.

We started with the classic margarita recipe of 3 parts lime juice, 2 parts tequila, and 1 part Cointreau. Perfect! Using up the last of the lime juice, the second ones were a little too limey and tequila-y, so we added a splash of Licor 43 (the secret ingredient to our traditional Dallas Easter Sangria). A very tasty twist on the classic margarita! And it will sweeten it and cut the tequila taste.

Another Tex-Mex fave of mine is Brisket Tacos. I have to order them every time I go to Taco Diner or Manny's in Dallas - no point in even looking at the menu.... 

So, a couple days later, I decided to use some more of the tortillas and give brisket tacos a try. Homesick Texan recently published a great recipe on her site, and it looked pretty good. Surprisingly, it worked perfectly! I still hadn't found fresh chiles to roast, so we just went with the meat, gravy, and queso blanco. They were soooo good! I'm definitely going to make them again. No changes needed to this recipe - for those of you in Germany, the tafelspitz cut of beef is the closest match to brisket. I used a hunk of tafelspitz and a hunk of rinderbrust. Both cooked perfectly, but the rinderbrust has too much fat running through it.

The cooked meat will also freeze well, to pull out for a very easy impressive dinner.

After the empandas, tacos, and enchiladas, I'm inspired to try some other new dishes. Borracho beans (in the crockpot) are high on the list, and I'd like to experiment with some other taco fillings and make some homemade tortillas.  There is a defintely a Cinco de Mayo party on the horizon this year!