Meine Culinarische Reise durch Münster : Cafe Malik

After hearing my friend raved about carrot cake , we eventually made a trip to Cafe Malik, situated opposite to the Schloss. Established in 1983, Cafe Malik is a full service cafe serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and homemade cakes and ice-cream. The cafe was named after an anti-war novel Der Malik-1919 (written by Else Lasker-Schüler - a German Jewish poet and writer) and Malik-Verlag which was a German publishing house started by Wieland Herzfelde & John Heartfield.




  • [food] I started with 'Tortellini Isabella' with mushroom cream sauce. It was simple and dull - not full of vegetable, a little bit flavorless and the sauce was too watery. The carrot cake was the highlight of my meal! It was a moist & dense cake, loaded with grated carrots and walnuts and not overly sweet - luv it :)
  • [atmosphere] The atmosphere is what makes Cafe Malik a pleasant place to visit. It has the ambiance of a traditional coffee house - simple, nice, cozy with a little touch of modernity. It has a separate dining area for smokers. In general, a good option to catch up with friends, to read something or to enjoy a relaxing cup of cappuccino :)
  • [price] affordable! cake + tortellini + cappuccino = 11 euros...
  • [food rating] Carrot Cake - 4 stars ; Tortellini Isabella - 2 1/2 stars
In conclusion, a great place to kill time & to chat with friends..if you can spare the calories, go for the carrot cake!

Meine Culinarische Reise durch Münster : Pham's

We had our first MUSIL dinner event at the Pham's (a Thai & Vietnamese restaurant) on last Saturday. Previously, Pham's was located at Stiftsherrenstr (btw, Google map is still showing the old location!). The current location of the restaurant is Neubruecken Str 35. The restaurant is small, so be sure to make a reservation in advance. It has simple decor. Hanging on the walls is a collection of 'bamboo' photographs and a huge old photograph of couple - perhaps, Mr Pham with his wife... In general, I like the environment - cozy and a nice chatty atmosphere!

@PM - Thanks for the photos :)
  • [food] While the menu is limited compared to many traditional Vietnamese/Thai restaurant, there is a fair selection of main dish which are prepared with your choice of meat or shrimp. Also, some vegetarian options are available. I had some Thai chicken curry cooked with bamboo shoots , aubergine, broccoli, etc. and served with a small cup of white rice. Overall, I was very satisfied with the food. The white rice was just *right* - sticky and moist! The portion was small - a good way to get rid of empty calories hu-hu..^O^ The curry was mild - I guess the level of spiciness had been adjusted to fit European taste. A small remark - I wish they would make the curry sauce thicker though..and, some extra fish sauce would have made a perfect curry taste! The Ananas Schorle - not much to say, it is my all time favorite!
  • [service] The service was slow (one chef and one cook's helper), but friendly.. Don't miss the chef's trick of stir-frying!
  • [price] Great portion and reasonable price. Chicken Curry & Rice + Pineapple Juice ~ 17.00 euros.
  • [food rating] 4 stars
The last word - the best Southeast Asian restaurant in town, so far...

Meine Culinarische Reise durch Münster : Pinkus Müller

Yesterday, I made my first visit to Pinkus Müller , a family owned German brewery and Westphalian restaurant operating since 1816. I was instantly impressed with the dining area. The inside of the restaurant (the dark wood-paneling, timbered ceilings, comfy chairs, old-fashioned fireplace, hanging Westphalian hams, etc.) offers a rustic dining atmosphere.



  • [food] I started out with an alcohol-free beer called Pinkus Honig Malz’. It smells ok..How does it taste? Well, I cannot find a proper word to describe it….I am not going to say it is bad as I have never had alcohol-free beer before. It tastes like ‘cold fizzy roasted barley tea with some honey and (maybe) mild Indian spices’?!...Pork and beef are featured main dishes offered by the restaurant. There are few vegetarian options (I was told by my Muensterian friends that those are not really local specialties). Since I want to experience the regional cuisine, I opted for a bacon dish (after about 20 years of being ‘meat-reducer’!!). I ordered the Westfälischer Topf’ comprises Kasseler (smoked pork chop), a Mettwurst (sausage made from raw minced pork) and a gebratener Speck (fried bacon) served with Surmoos (sauerkraut = cabbage relish) and fried potatoes. The portions were really big. While I appreciated the different flavor combination, I wasn’t too excited with the smoked pork chop and sausage as they were bland and salty; I was just content to enjoy the fried bacon and chunks of fried potato ;)
  • [service] The service was slow - very slow!! We waited more than 10 minutes for the waiter to take our order and more than an hour to be served. The hard surfaces and high ceilings combined with the huge crowd made the restaurant loud, but somehow it was tolerable.
  • [price] Little pricey, Beer + Westfälischer Topf + Water = 25.00 euros!
  • [food rating] 3 1/2 stars
My overall experience with Pinkus Müller: Slightly better than average - it’s kind of place to try Westphalian food, but I am not sure whether it will be on my regular list of places to dine.