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another Munich Food Blog -- actually the recipes section of Saan's blog. Plus wanted to mention that living here means you'll have a small fridge and small freezer. Unless you go and buy one of the expensive "American Style" fridges which are available here -- Whirlpool even. Apartments aren't generally built to accomodate that size though. Our apartment came with a kitchen with a fridge the size of a dishwasher, so we had to buy an additional one. It's good for "all fresh all the time" of course, but a pain if you like to cook from different cuisines and you need to keep your fish sauce and miso and aubergine chutney and harissa and don't even make me list all the alcohol we've got in the fridge. Anyhow if you've got the money, you might really consider getting a really big fridge. Everyone who comes over to your house will think you're arrogant though and "can't do without your wasteful American appliances" which will be annoying, but you don't have to invite them again either. You wouldn't believe how everyone comments on our having a tv in the kitchen. What, should I just philosophize about the meaning of life as I stir the onions? Grrrr, but that's another topic. Actually I don't know where the water comes from that a fridge can pour out its door, and our kitchens here have always only had water for the sink that got tapped for the dishwasher. I've searched and haven't found the answer to that on egullet. Must be possible though, as there are fridges here that do that.

Found a Munich Foodblog via Friends of Toytown: http://www.deliciousdays.com/ Beautiful photos too.

Great post marktfrau. But: This is a myth. This is not a problem. It's not as common here as in the US, but restaurants are prepared to let you take things home -- they have the little aluminum foil trays with lids, sometimes even styrofoam. You will not very often have the need to take part of your food home, as the servings are indeed just normal size, but when you do, it's possible and NOT an insult. At Indian and Bavarian places in particular, the portions are larger, so I very often only eat half the main dish because otherwise there's no room for dessert, and I do want dessert. We don't shop early (too crowded!) -- stores now can be open until 20:00 on Saturdays even, and the Viktualienmarkt has many stands that are open until 16:00. You can find opening hours for each stand here, Rottler for example is open until 18:00 on Saturdays. I agree with the tip, his stuff is great -- he explained that for Maibowle you have to let the Waldmeister (sweet woodruff) wilt for a couple days before you make it, only when it's wilted does it develop the aroma you need. There's a map at that link too. When things are in season, the stands don't run out of them by 12 noon anyhow. We shop also at Elisabeth Stadler, her husband's a butcher in our street and makes fantastic Weisswurst himself, and we know her from there -- and if you know the market people, they'll tell you more about the wares, like "don't buy strawberries this week, they're still too expensive, next week they'll be cheaper." Don't know if she speaks English though. Private persons can also shop at the Großmarkthalle, which really is only open until 12 noon or so. They tend to sell only large packages though, as befits a wholesaler. (You can book a tour through the Volkshochschule, I just took one last Friday. 8 Euros.) There are lots of other markets in town too, not just the ones listed there but really small ones with only four stands that are only once a week. You'll get to know the ones in your area. Munich Found is online too, you can get an idea of the publication before you get here.

Oi! Showdown in my bathroom! My (German) Procter and Gamble Antikal against your US Johnson & Johnson Scrubbing Bubbles! How long's your spouse been out of the country, anyway? Tch. Besides, I suspect your spouse is a male, which may mean his mother always cleaned and he's not got the experience to judge the German products anyhow. Lots of families here still work that way. I think the best way to use up all your stuff is to have a big party. Several maybe. Have you ever made those Japanese rice flour steamed balls?

maple syrup's in every grocery store nowadays. Even organic maple syrup. It's all from Canada. And pumpkin filling is available in certain stores in Fall -- that's really a specialty. G+A German-American Grocery in the Baaderstr. has it, but you have to buy it at the beginning of November as he only imports it for Thanksgiving, and he does run out by the 15th or so. Or yeah, go for a real pumpkin. http://www.toytownmunich.com/wiki/Category:Food -- includes pages on American Grocery Stores Asian food stores British and American foods Crushed ice and ice cubes G&A Grocery Store Ice cream shops Indian and Asian Foods Marmite Mexican Food All in Munich only.

all that is easily available here -- mostly at the asian or indian shops and for chilies, the Viktualienmarkt. If you've already got it and are shipping a container and have space to fill you might as well bring it -- just to save the hassle of buying it all again. Well ok scrubbing bubbles you can't get here, and the water is really really hard in Munich too, so you'll be glad of that -- but there are local products that work just as well. http://www.pepperworld.com/default.asp -- this is a place in Germany to get more chiles and slow-bolt cilantro. I haven't ordered from them yet, but I'll get around to it. They're on the Bodensee, which is a nice weekend trip from Munich anyway.

It's beer gardens you want? We got 'em! http://www.toytownmunich.com/archive/cat_m...er_gardens.html To food: get the Steckerlfisch as a beergarden is pretty much the only place to find them. Fish grilled on a stick. Leftover Leberkäse is good as a "Strammer Max". Saute a slice, put a fried egg on it, eat it on bread or French toast (in which case you can skip the fried egg). Sweet mustard on that too. The latter is a good way to use up old bread too -- living in Germany means (to me) eating looooots of bread and sometimes it just gets stale before I get to it. You can buy raw Leberkäse in a tinfoil loaf pan at a butcher's and take it home to bake in your own oven. Freezes well too (after baking). The best Biergarten anyway is always the one within walking distance! ;) Yes you can get fined for riding your bike drunk.

New: the Weisses Bräuhaus has declared the first floor to be non-smoking! Only since May 1, 2005! Believe me, this is a rarity in Germany.

http://www.prinz.de/muenchen/eventswm.html http://dnbmuc.de/ (Drum n Bass Munich) http://www.muenchenticket.de/ http://www.gomuenchen.com/ http://ganz-muenchen.de/ http://munichx.de/ http://www.munich-online.de/ http://www.munich-online.de/szeneevent/art18,58309.html http://www.toytownmunich.com/archive/cat_m...nightclubs.html http://www.toytownmunich.com/archive/cat_k...one_munich.html http://www.toytownmunich.com/archive/cat_o...one_munich.html http://www.toytownmunich.com/archive/tollw...r_festival.html http://www.toytownmunich.com/archive/tollw...r_festival.html Just a few links to get you started. Yeah I have a bias to Toytown, but the other sites are helpful too. And don't forget the Süddeutsche Zeitung (http://www.sueddeutsche.de/) which every Thursday has the "Extra" events section. http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/ is the extra website for younger people -- aimed at teenagers etc. but probably has a nightlife schedule in it somewhere, or at least more links to nightlife. I don't go out much in Germany because all the nightspots are really really smoky. Summer's good as the beergardens are open. And of course the various theaters in town and the opera and the Philharmonic and the Bayerische Rundfunkorchester all have their own schedules, but I've done enough linkhunting for now. :)

Just live there. Er, here. Not often in Jena myself, went to the Rosenkeller for New Year's Eve 1992 and they played the Time Warp (with videoscreens) and the East Germans didn't know yet how to do it... sorry if that's too much chat, I'm new!

yeah I haven't gotten anyone to really tell me about the sociology of the zutzeln, but as I say, it's older men doing it. I believe it also sounds disgusting. Onomatopoetic.

A bit late for waldrons, but for future reference: Fischer Vroni -- good link for Steckerlfisch (one above is broken) Fish on a Stick! Cafe Kreutzkamm is notorious for poor service, but the best cake and coffee in town. Dallmayr is like Munich's Harrod's Food Halls, but smaller. Toytown Munich has an entire section on restaurants. All in English.

Recommended Restaurants in Munich from Toytownmunich.com -- I've been living in Munich for four years now and Toytown is a portal for fluent English speakers there. There are lots of restaurants listed (with space for independent reviews!) as well as lists of shops with the food from various countries that's hard to find. The forum is also very active. Don't get too excited about fresh fish though, Munich's landlocked and although the Isar river is almost clean enough to officially swim in, there aren't many fish there. And eating Weisswurst -- anyone who bites into it is not a local. You do NOT eat the skin. su-lin may have seen "Zutzler" -- that's someone who cuts off the end and sucks out the insides. Sounds gross, but this is one of the traditional ways to eat them (more common in men over the age of 70). Wikipedia on Weißwurst (in English) has more. They're not steamed either, just placed in non-boiling water, more steeped than anything else. Like tea. Concur on Tantris and add Katzlmacher -- Italian food. Great. Purpur is a couple years old, Degustini is brand new -- all covered on Toytown. The Weisses Bräuhaus has been mentioned on this forum before, it's the classic venue for Bavarian, and the brewery for the best Weissbier -- Schneider Weisse. Here's a real Geheimtipp -- when you clink a Weissbierglas, you have to clink the bottom of it, not the top. It's more solid and less likely to break as the evening goes on, and the Germans will do it that way. If you don't, you get two glasses like this: // you aiming for the top which is leaning back as the German aims for the bottom of your glass. Hope to get in touch when you get to town!