Sunday, June 21, 2009

A Kitchenlander day in Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Or München, that is.

It was the same weekend of our Salzburg day, the two cities are so close, that it made sense to cross another border and see.

We arrived late in the morning, found a hotel a little out of the center, where fares were prohibitive, we relied on old, good Best Western.

The day before the kids had been really good, not questioning too much the fact that we had walked all day and had been to castles and museums, so we decided to take a boyish look at the city.

That means that we only took a quick look at the city center, and by the way, little did we know that they take Whit Sunday so seriously there, so all the shops and the ViktualienMarkt were closed.



As for meals, we decided to make a minitour of local breweries. Which are local, but also very well known out of town because as you know, the Bavarians know a lot about beer and make sure that the world knows they know.

A lot of beer factories have their own little restaurant (Biergarten), with a choice of a few dishes that complement the beer they produce and serve.



Our first stop was on the way from the hotel to the center, and it was Löwenbräu. A nice garden, a beautiful day, we decided to eat outside.




They will tell you to sit at a table provided with tablecloth. I discovered later that you can also bring your own food and use a table without cloth, as long as you order your drinks.



The food is simple and typical, mainly pork meat, wieners and different kinds of sausages

And that's what we had, a "Löwenbräu Classics" for me



which is a crispy roasted pork belly with potato-cucumber salad and dark beer sauce

and some "Sausage Specialities" for my men



a platter with a variation of sausage specialities with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and horseradish.
Goes without saying, we shared a bit of everything.

I loved the presentation of their mustard



At the end of the meal we ordered one portion of apple strudel, always because I was just done with the Strudel Challenge.



Better than the one I had in Salzburg, yet not completely satisfying. Maybe because it was drowning in that vanilla sauce.

One funny thing (at least to us, it's probably normal) is the closet where the pitches of regular customers are held



A note about the beer: it's very light indeed, and pleasant to drink; I usually feel the buzz in a short time, with this I didn't. I bet they don't want loads of drunk people walking around in the middle of the day!

We spent the afternoon at the Olympiapark, visiting the stadium and enjoying the view from the Tower:



For dinner, we headed to the Augustiner Brewery



The place was packed with people, it took a while to even ask someone if we could sit. We sat at a table with another family, and took in all the festive atmosphere that was in there. The 6yo didn't like the noise too much, but the 4yo... oh! he absolutely loved the place, the waitresses in their dirndls, the brass band playing



He could only stand up and dance! Oh, and he would also steal the notepad from every waiter's pocket he could see, thus messing the orders up.
We are not telling him about the existence of something like that, only multiplied for 10.000, just because I don't think it would be nice to bring a 4yo at the Oktoberfest!

It was a bit late to have a real dinner, though, just some cheese and snack, but very funny indeed!

The morning after we went for a visit at the BMW Welt



What wouldn't I do for my kids!



Well, they had fun.

On our way back home, we thought we would have something on the road.

But then we saw the Paulaner Brewery and well...



This was by far the best beer we had in the weekend, unfiltered, complex in taste, enjoayable, really good. We're actually buying it regularly at the supermarket, now.

I had a vegetable strudel



with broccoli, turnips, carrots, cheese in a sauce of cauliflower and chives and topped with fried arugula. I must say, this time I was really satisfied, it was tasty, filling yet light.

Hubby wasn't so light, going for a Braten G'Rosti



Pan fried meat with knodeln, onions and eggs.

As for the kids



They would live out of cold cuts, so they are easy to please.


And that was the end of it, our last Bavarian meal was indeed the best. It's always nice to close a holiday this way, we'll be back for sure!

To the next trip!

3 comments:

  1. I was in Munich for the October Fest and was blown away by the huge beer glasses and the women carrying 10 in each hand.

    Glad to read you enjoyed the food.

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  2. I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip to München! Paulaner is also my favorite place for Bavarian foods / beers. Were you at Nockherberg - the restaurant / biergarten on the hill?

    I seriously think I need to try that veggie strudel.

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  3. Emily, I don't think it was that location, I don't remember any hill around. I didn't even know that there was more than one restaurant or I would have taken note of it, having lunch there was totally serendipitous.
    If you can help me trace where I've been, this is the building:
    http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/7303/paulaner.jpg

    It was on a round "platz".

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