Where to eat in Munich

Bavarian cuisine often includes a lot of meat; vegetables such as potatoes (kartoffel), cabbage (kraut), and beets; and knödel, typical German dumplings. Mustard and pickles are popular as a flavoring, and there are a lot of flour and butter-based dishes.

Typical dishes

Avoid the panic of not knowing what to order in the restaurant, and decide what are your must-try delicacies before you go!

• Bretzel or pretzel: baked bread product usually twisted in a knot. There are sweet ones, but it doesn't get much more typical than a salted pretzel with weisswurst and mustard.
• Kartoffelsalat: potato salad: warm or cold, sometimes with mayonnaise and often made with bacon, vinegar, mustard, and onions.
• Kartoffelknödel, potato dumplings, and Semmelknödel, dumplings made from dried wheat bread rolls, both served as a side to other dishes.
• Dampfnudeln: a steamed white bread roll, sometimes served sweet with a fruit sauce, and sometimes filled or served with meat as main.
• Leberkäse: baked meatloaf type dish, traditionally including liver, and often consisting of ground corned beef, pork, and bacon.
• Wurst: Bavaria is known for its sausages, which are usually made with pork. A particular delicacy is weisswurst, a white sausage often served with sweet mustard.
• Matjes, soused herring, soaked in mild pickling vinegar, and Rollmops, pickled herring fillets rolled around a savory filling, like a gherkin or olive.
• Obatzda: a typical Bavarian soft cheese dish mixed with paprika, onion, and garlic.
• Sauerbraten: a pot roast of marinated meats, and one of Germany's national dishes.
• Schweinsbraten, a roast pork dish served with dumplings and sauerkraut (pickled fermented cabbage); Schweinshaxe, roasted ham hock, and Spanferkel, suckling pig, served roasted especially on holidays like Oktoberfest.
• Tellerfleisch: boiled veal or beef in broth, served with applesauce and horseradish.

Where to eat them?

• Ratskeller is a grand restaurant serving the best Bavarian specialties and excellent beer.
• Weisses Bräuhaus, more frequented by locals than tourists, is an essential part of German beer hall culture. Relaxed and traditional, the pork dishes are a must-try!
• Dallmayr Delicatessen not only has its own brand of coffee and tea, but it also has a carefully thought-out menu with both traditional dishes and contemporary cuisine.
• Cafe Luitpold for melt-in-the-mouth pastries at an elegant cafe.

Beer

Munich is one of the beer capitals of the world. Whether or not you're visiting during the legendary Oktoberfest, there will be plenty of it around for you to try, from wheat beers to pale lagers and radlers (or shandy - beer mixed with lemonade)! Some of the most famous beer brands in Munich include Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten-Franziskaner.

Biergarten

Of course, you've got to have somewhere good to indulge in your refreshing traditional steins! Munich is home to numerous pubs and bars dedicated to serving beer, and their beer gardens are the ideal way to enjoy your drink in the open air while at the same time having the opportunity to taste the local cuisine. Below are some of our favorites:

• Biergarten Hirschgarten is close to the Nymphenburg Palace if you're in the area.
• Augustiner Keller Biergarten is the oldest in Munich, serving Augustiner beer straight out of traditional wooden barrels. There's food too, or you can bring your own.
• Chinesischer Turm, the Chinese Pagoda at the Englischer Garten, unlikely as it may seem, can seat up to 7000 people in its Biergarten. The Biergarten Aumeister is also located in the park.
• Biergarten Viktualienmarkt is the most central of Munich's beer gardens located in the old Viktualienmarkt farmers' market, where you can buy a picnic to munch on as you enjoy your brew.

• Hofbrauhaus Biergarten, located outside the legendary beer hall, is small (compared to the others) but full of atmosphere!