Fisch Witte, Munich: Lobster Spaghetti, Halibut and a Touch of the Sea at the Viktualienmarkt

Some of the best meals I have eaten in my life were not served in grand dining rooms but at market stalls, beach shacks and harbour kiosks, where the produce is so good that the kitchen only has to stay out of its way. I have also eaten a great many mediocre fish dishes in places that charged a fortune for the view. So I came to Munich’s Viktualienmarkt with an open mind and a healthy dose of scepticism. This Fisch Witte Munich restaurant review is about a lunch that settled the question quickly: this little fish bistro plays in a league far above its paper napkins. If you follow our restaurant reviews, you know that I do not hand out a 4.8 for food lightly.

A Family Business Since 1985

Fisch Witte is not a restaurant that happens to sell fish. It is a fishmonger that happens to cook, and that order matters. Hella and Klaus Witte have run their shop on the Viktualienmarkt since 1985, and the next generation, Lisa and Michael Witte, is now part of the business. The family travels to source its products: to Paris, Boston and Tokyo, to the great fish market of Rungis, to the auction in Urk in the Netherlands, to Scheveningen for the first Matjes of the year and to the Lofoten Islands for the winter cod, the Skrei. Every supplier, the Wittes say, is known personally and visited on site.

Straight-line distances. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

That is the kind of sourcing you normally find behind the kitchen doors of starred restaurants, not on a market square. And you can taste it.

In 2005, the family added warm cooking to the counter: a bistro with around 50 seats. Their own rule is refreshingly old-fashioned. There is no microwave and no deep fryer, and everything is prepared fresh. The German business newspaper Handelsblatt once counted the bistro among the market stalls “of a special class”, where the food reaches “almost the level of starred restaurants”. After this lunch, I understand why.

The Setting: Ship’s Deck and Sea Blue

Let me be honest about the setting, because it is the only area where Fisch Witte does not quite reach the top. This is a market bistro, not a fine-dining room. It is simply furnished, busy and full of life, with the bustle of the market right outside. That is part of its charm, and you feel the pulse of Munich around you. But it is a place for a long, relaxed lunch rather than a candlelit dinner. Four point three points for the ambiance.

The details, however, are lovely. The wooden tables are inlaid with light stripes like the planks of a yacht deck, the plates carry the anchor of Fisch Witte and its cheerful motto “If it swims, we have it”, and above the dining room, the ceiling glows in sea blue, as if you were sitting under the surface of the water. According to the Wittes, a gallery of photos of illustrious guests decorates the shop. In winter, Fisch Witte also rents out gondolas on the market for private dining with full service, a tip worth keeping in mind for a festive lunch with friends.

The location could hardly be more central. The Viktualienmarkt is Munich’s most famous food market, a few minutes’ walk from Marienplatz, and the S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations Marienplatz and Isartor are just around the corner. The only catch is the market itself: around lunchtime the square is crowded, and reservations are best made by e-mail, because the team is not always reachable by phone in the bustle of the day. Four point five points.

Starter: Salmon Tartare With Avocado

The meal began with a salmon tartare, and it set the standard for everything that followed. A generous ring of finely diced salmon, glistening and bright orange, crowned with a quenelle of avocado cream and a few sprigs of dill. A wedge of lemon, a cherry tomato, a few leaves of lettuce and a scattering of crushed pepper completed the plate.

What makes a tartare great is not the presentation but the fish, and this one was of outstanding freshness: firm, clean, with no trace of the fishy note that betrays a product that has waited too long. The seasoning was precise, with fresh herbs and a little acidity, and the avocado cream added a soft, buttery counterpoint without drowning the salmon. At 24 euros, it was worth every cent. Crusty bread from the basket (2 euros) did the rest, together with a small dish of rouille (2.50 euros), the saffron and garlic mayonnaise the house serves with its fish soup. Order it: it is just as good on bread.

On the table, by the way, stood a small tin of the house spice blend by Hella Witte, which promises to make your fish perfect. I did not need it, which is the best compliment I can pay the kitchen. But it makes a nice souvenir from the counter.

Main Course: Lobster Spaghetti

Then came the dish I had come for: spaghetti with lobster in a crustacean sauce. On the day of my visit, it stood on the daily menu for 49 euros, which is a serious price for a bistro, and I expected a serious plate. I got one.

The spaghetti were perfectly al dente and coated, not swimming, in a deep orange crustacean sauce with the concentrated, slightly sweet flavour that only comes from roasting the shells properly and reducing the stock with patience. On top lay generous pieces of shelled lobster, tender and juicy, not a second overcooked, with fresh parsley. No cream to hide behind, no tricks, just lobster, pasta and a sauce made by someone who knows exactly what he is doing.

This is the Mediterranean light cooking the Wittes say they prefer, and it is exactly what I want from a fish restaurant. I would happily come back for this plate alone. And, as you can see, I enjoyed every forkful.

Main Course: Halibut on Herb Risotto

The second main course at our table was a halibut fillet on herb risotto, for 32 euros. Two pieces of fillet, the skin side golden and crisp, the flesh white, moist and just cooked through, which is harder with halibut than it sounds, because the lean fish dries out in an instant. A little herb oil on top, a small red pepper for colour and a touch of heat, a wedge of lemon and fresh parsley.

The risotto was creamy, green with herbs and generously sprinkled with dill and chives, with grains that still had bite. A dish that looks simple on the plate and only works if every component is right. Here, everything was. Four point eight points for the menu and the food, and the menu offers plenty of reasons to return: the daily board changes every day, and the house classic, the “Bouillabaisse Witteillaise”, a clear fish soup with mussels, scampi and large pieces of salmon and monkfish, served with homemade rouille and toasted baguette, is already on my list for the next visit.

Dessert: White Chocolate Mousse

To finish, a white chocolate mousse, served in a glass bowl. Smooth and light, with fruity orange segments on top, a few crunchy biscuit crumbs for texture and fresh mint leaves dusted with icing sugar. Not an elaborate patisserie creation, and it does not want to be one. At 6 euros on the daily menu, it was the perfect sweet ending to a fish lunch: light enough after two courses, with just enough fruit acidity to balance the sweetness of the white chocolate.

Drinks, Service and Cleanliness

The drinks fit the bistro. With the fish, we chose a glass of Château Ollieux rosé from the south of France (13 euros), fresh and dry, exactly what Mediterranean fish cooking asks for. Alongside it came a large bottle of S.Pellegrino (8.50 euros), a Coke Zero and, this being Munich, a Weissbier, the alcohol-free version (4 euros). Not a long list of rarities, but everything you need for a fish lunch, at fair prices. Four point five points.

The service was the pleasant surprise of the day. In a busy market bistro, you might expect a team that rushes from table to table and has no time for the individual guest. Not here. The team at Fisch Witte was attentive and friendly throughout, and above all very much on the ball: an empty glass, a question about the menu, the next course, they always seemed to notice a moment before we did. Four point eight points, a score many restaurants with far higher ambitions never reach.

And everything was spotless: the tables, the plates, the glasses and the cutlery. For a fishmonger, cleanliness is not a detail but the foundation of trust, and Fisch Witte earns a full five points.

Luxury Starts With the Product

Fisch Witte is not a luxury restaurant in the classic sense, and it does not pretend to be one. But luxury, for me, starts with the product, and here the product is outstanding. A family that has been buying fish on the Viktualienmarkt for four decades, that knows every supplier personally and that cooks with no microwave and no fryer, serves a salmon tartare, lobster spaghetti and halibut that would not be out of place in a far more expensive restaurant. The lobster spaghetti at 49 euros are not cheap, but the quality justifies the price, and the rest of the menu is fairly priced for what lands on the plate. Our bill for two, with salmon tartare, two main courses, two desserts, two glasses of rosé, water and soft drinks, came to 164 euros. For produce of this quality in the heart of Munich, that is fair. Four point seven points for value.

Overall, Fisch Witte earns 4.7 out of 5. If you are in Munich, whether for a few hours or a few days, skip the beer hall for once and have lunch at the Viktualienmarkt. And if you are flying in, our review of a Lufthansa Business Class flight from Munich tells you what to expect in Lufthansa Business Class.

Fisch Witte, Viktualienmarkt 9, 80331 Munich (Germany) · fisch-witte.com

About the author

Roger Hohl

Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.