Munich's nightlife? "It's all said – but not by everybody.“ Karl Valentin is right once more since Munich is always good for a surprise. Who wants to defy the mainstream beyond the trodden paths has to be fast. For the word is quickly spread what's in and what's out.

The so-called Oma Cafés are also very popular, being a mix of bar and café. Grandmother's chic is on the agenda – and in the evenings there's more than coffee and cake. Café am Hochhaus has been a place-to-be since 2004, especially for fans of electronic music. Party people are welcome seven days a week while American supermarket shelves decorate the wallpapers. The door policy is easy and the crowd is a pleasant mix. 

Not far from Sendlinger Tor you will find Café Mozart on Pettenkoferstrasse. During the day you may see older crowd , before the youngster shuffle in at night. The spacious bar-restaurant with the aged brocade offers different DJ’s, coming up with Dance vinyls. Mozart would be enchanted.

Café Jasmin in Schwabing – let's say officially Maxvorstadt – hasn't seen anybody dance yet, but the cosy place conveys a pleasant 1950s atmosphere in the students' neighborhood. It's open until 1am – often you can see laptops and a flood of paper on the old school tables.

Café Cosmos on Dachauer Straße only reminds of a café with its grandmothers' cabinets. The rest is a huge crowd and wads of smoke on the first floor. It quite feels like Berlin – not only for its unbeatable beer prices (Astra Pils €1,60). Here you feel a bit like home.

Same goes for Ksar Club on Müllerstrasse, which defies all the the city's strange business. Yet the crowd has become quite young, or is it that we have become older? But the electro-DJ’s and the drinks are well worth a visit. For 20 years night owls have been meeting up at Ksar in the now hyped Glockenbach quarter,  where they see neighbors come and go.

Café King a few steps further on Müllerstrasse is not for everybody, but it's somehow charming. The food vitrines in the entrance area refer to vegan food (daily from 11am - 1am). The football table invites for some reminiscing and the ping pong table is ready on Mondays – just like Berlin.

The capital is also the key word when talking about Favorit Bar near Karlsplatz. Packed, smoky and alternative. Augustiner draught beer and electro-DJs do the rest. Who wouldn't want to go here? Yet, Favo is more of a starter compared to the bars mentioned before.

And what unites all these places? They embody the renunciation from a club to a tight and communicative bar style. Here people feel home longing for some Berlin air and abdicating conformity. Karl Valentin would have like that.

by Christopher Willis

A Frederics serviced apartments service – short-term accommodation in Munich - boarding house Munich Schwabing and boarding house Munich Gern

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