Ciao Chang — Restaurant in Munich

Cute place, like most reviews said food is hit or miss. Context: I'm ethnically Vietnamese, live in the US, and have lived and traveled extensively to Japan. So my perception is heavily based on my previous experiences. - your mileage may vary.

wagyu (ground beef meatball) skewer: done in the style of tsukune, with an egg yolk dipping sauce, which I thought was clever, but they put the egg yolk in soy sauce (usually in Japan you don't need the soy sauce), and the skewer is already salty, so dipping it in the sauce made it extremely salty (I gave up the sauce which made me sad)

rice; was dry :(

tsukemono, mushroom skewer, duck heart skewer were good

dry pho roast beef: since I'm Vietnamese I was intrigued- it's a creative take on a familiar dish: some pho noodles were deep fried, and the beef was roast beef with a pho-spice sauce, topped with familiar pho herbs. Idea is again clever, execution 80% there :) texture-wise even with the few fried noodles the dish still felt a bit monotonous.

apple pancake/pie (?) dessert with miso caramel: most successful dish of the night. Feels comforting and not too sweet.

Overall a cute neighborhood place to visit but I wouldn't go out of my way to come here. It was near our Airbnb and was recommended by the host, so it was convenient. Service was great - other reviews mentioned slow service but it didn't...

The name is Italian Chinese, the decor is aspirational Japanese and the place calls itself a sort of Izakaya. The food is a pan-asian fusion with sprinklings of German ingredients. I guess it doesn't get more confusing than this. What I do get is what they are going for: something that pleases the hipsters of Munich. On that note I think I am going to open up a new category called Munich Fancy, which this place is. Well I can't ignore the food. Taking circumstances into account, the food is ok for the price point. Some highlights were the Blumenkohl karaage and duck hearts. However the rest were more miss than hit. But this place isn't really about the food, it's about the presentation, the pleasant waitress explaining 'how we do things', the mishmash of cute western porcelain vases, vintage japanese ad posters and a movie still from the Handmaiden, which, incidentally, is of the main character dressed up like a geisha. The movie is Korean, the character is a Japanese noble lady played by a Korean actress, and the story itself touches on pretensions and aspirational Japanese-ness.

Anyway long story short, I had a blast. This place is not too pricey and food is good if I just go with the premise that this place is not made for me or my tastes, it's Munich Fancy. And it achieves perfectly what it is...

More of a 3.5 stars from me. Cool concept of Bavarian/European-Japanese fusion restaurant. The restaurant is a hit or miss depending on the dishes that you order. I really liked the grilled skewers, for example the grilled duck hearts with pickled plums. The duck hearts were grilled to the point that it was slightly charred on the outside and yet the inside still remained soft, juicy and tender. The addition of the plums gave it a sweet and tangy twist. We also ordered Forelle (trout), it's battered and deep fried but it lacks seasoning. It's served with cooked spinach seasoned with sesame dressing. In my opinion, the combination of the different elements of the dish did not come well together, but it's a good try nevertheless. Lastly, we were not pleased with the long pause/wait that lasted for more than 30mins between the appertizers/skewers and the main dishes. It kinda ruined our appetite for the main dishes due to the long wait. Perhaps it's because we went on a Sunday evening. Despite the few misses, it was a novel and innovative concept for creating a new cuisine from combining the East...