Recommendations in Munich

[waldrons]

I need restaurant suggestions in Munich (we'll be there during Oktoberfest). We will want at least one great dinner, plus suggestions on good (but cheaper) dinners and casual but good lunches.

My big concern is that, from what I've had in the US, I'm not a fan of German food. I'm not crazy about sausages, sauerkraut, heavy sauces, etc. Aside from weiner schnitzel, are there any dishes you would recommend that I try?

I've already collected info from topics on Budapest and Vienna, but we're also going there, so any new info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Susan

[albiston]

I need restaurant suggestions in Munich (we'll be there during Oktoberfest).  We will want at least one great dinner, plus suggestions on good (but cheaper) dinners and casual but good lunches.

My big concern is that, from what I've had in the US, I'm not a fan of German food.  I'm not crazy about sausages, sauerkraut, heavy sauces, etc.  Aside from weiner schnitzel, are there any dishes you would recommend that I try?

Susan,

I'm not very familiar with the scene in Munich but maybe there's a few infos I can share.

Tantris is widely seen as one of the best German restaurants and serves a revisited and french/mediterranen influenced cooking. It's not cheap (menu around 80 Euros I believe) but at this level is not expensive either.

From friends who work in Munich I've heard that there are plenty good Italian restaurants there but I have little infos apart that.

You might want to look at Gault Milllau's online German guide Munich section. It's only in german though.

Concerning which foods to try, given what you say, I think it will not be an easy choice . Specialties are (apart beer) weisswurst, a white veal sausage, leberkäse, a backed meat pate', and unmissable during Oktoberfest Brezel, gigantic pretzles.

Have fun!

[Muffin210]

Hi Susan,

If you like fish, make sure you try the steckerlfish while you're in Munich! These are mackerel cooked on sticks and served up hot at Oktoberfest; they are nice to eat with your beer when you're tired of sausages. I've been having cravings for them ever since visiting Munich!

http://www.munich-city-guide.com/pages/steckerlfisch.htm

Have a great trip!

[Peter B Wolf]

Recommend the following URL: http://www.munichfound.de/dininganddancing.cfm

It's in English, click on choice of type of cuisine, many then show web-sites.

My personal recommendation

Cafe Kreuzkamm, Dallmeyr

[Gen]

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.

[albiston]

Gen,

first of all welcome to eGullet, nice to see another German resident here. Are you German or just living there?

I'm not often in München but I'll definitely save your interesting tips, both here and in the geheimtips thread, for my next visit. Thanks.

[Gen]

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!

[BlackSheep]

Even if you don't think that you like German food, I still suggest trying the Weisses Brauhaus. Every year it gets better. They seem to have modernized and somewhat lightened the cooking while remaining traditional. The seasonal specials can be wonderful -- I don't know if the game will be on in force at Octoberfest -- we are usually there at the end of October. But last fall I had one of the dishes of my life -- meltingly tender filet bits of two types of venison skewered with fresh porcini mushrooms, served with very good, light spaetzel and a cabbage dish. Incredibly delicious.

[Joe H]

Albiston is right: Tantris is superb and well worth the money. Overall it is generally considered the best restaurant in Munich. It is also better than what you might expect-I've found several German two and three stars (Bareiss, Schwarzwaldstube) to be on par with an equivalently starred restaurants in, say, Paris yet at literally half of the price.

By the way, for those reading this: I tried to make a reservation at the three Michelin star Schwarzwaldstube in Baierbronn in the Black Forest for DECEMBER and was told they have as long as a ONE YEAR WAIT for Friday and Saturday night. One year. The one time we did go was with a six month wait and then it was for a weeknight. Still, I believe this restaurant is worth it.

[jamiemaw]

Even those who disavow sausages and other pork dishes become converted pilgrims at Bratwurst Glöckl (am Dom), which is converniently located near the Frauenkirche. It's a century old tavern that survived the bombing and serves excellent Bavarian food, including wood-grilled, marjoram-laced Nürnberger-style bratwurst. (Frauenplatz 9 80331 Munich; phone: 29 19 450). Behind the glass, generously-shaped fraulein cook and plate; at the stammtisch table, regulars drink away the afternoon over very good beer. Newly arrived, it's always our first stop for unique flavours and atmosphere that simply cannot be appeased elsewhere.

[mdibiaso]

An Italian place called Aquarello gets very high reviews from a person who really knows Italian food. Check out the link for a very detailed review.

http://www.gastroville.com/archives/the_re...ope/000027.html

[Gen]

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.

[TGullet]

Any updates?

[John Talbott]

Nick Lauder, writing in this weekend’s FT wrote about two mixed experiences in Munich; very good food after a one-hour wait at Tantris and a good first but disappointing mains at Ederer.

[TGullet]

Any word on G-Munich?

[TGullet]

Anyone been to Cena Lounge?

[Busboy]

The New York Times weighed in this weekend.

This all-vegan, part raw-food establishment sits in a house more than 700 years old where wild game used to be skinned and butchered, just around the corner from the world-famous beer palace the Hofbräuhaus, in the heart of Munich.

Quaint, grandfatherly, Munich — long considered about as cool as polka music on cassette — is Germany’s hot spot of the moment. And, like Saf im Zerwirk, it is offering more than weisswurst and weissbier to those willing to explore it anew.

[This mention of the Hofbräuhaus reminded me of one unfortunate difference between my son's generation and mine. On my high school field trip to Europe, several of us between 16 and 18 got quite gloriously and legally hammered there with the acceptance, if not approval, of our chaperons. Indeed, we had been taught the Hofbräuhaus song by our German teacher, before departing. Skip ahead 30 years...My son had two classmates expelled for drinking legally -- but unapprovedly -- on a field trip to the Caribbean (it was actually a real trip, not a junket, despite the Caribbean destination). When did we become such tightasses?]

[John Talbott]

Sunday, April 13ths NYT has an article on Munich that mentions G-Munich, Saf im Zerwick + Cena Lounge.

[Forest]

Any word on G-Munich?

←

I second TGullet's question re: G-Munich?? I'm heading to Munich next weekend and looking for a few interesting dinners.

Thanks for the tip, John, I did check out the NYT article...but looking for some feedback for any members.

[legourmet]

Any word on G-Munich?

←

I second TGullet's question re: G-Munich?? I'm heading to Munich next weekend and looking for a few interesting dinners.

Thanks for the tip, John, I did check out the NYT article...but looking for some feedback for any members.

←

I've never been at "G" but liked chef Holger Stromberg's dishes at a charity event. He is currently the German soccer team cook at the European soccer championship and he was the youngest Michelin star cook ever.

I can't follow Nick Lauder's report about the "Ederer". Have been several times there and food and service were nothing like disappointing. May be chef Ederer was on tour and not present when Lauder had lunch or dinner there.

[John Talbott]

Another NYT article today by Gisela Williams on the "New German Cuisine" in Munich says that it can be found at:

Schubecks in der Sudtiroler Stuben, Das Wirsthaus zum Herrmannsdorfer Schweinsbrau + Broeding

as well as these "beer hall-style restaurants" Der Pschorr, Weisses Brauhaus, Zum Durnbrau + Spatenhaus an der Oper.

[IFS]

Thanks John, for pointing me to the article. Munich and Bavaria are the wrong places to look for the "New German Cuisine". The low-end examples are nice, but very traditional. So is Schuhbeck and the wrong high-end example of "The New German Cuisine". I have just posted some correcting remarks on my blog...

Anyway, if anybody is coming to Germany to discover our cuisine, this articles is great but misses out on the real protagonists on the second German Küchenwunder namley Amador, Elverfeld, Bau, Erfort among others...

Edited September 8, 2008 by IFS (log)