This appeared elsewhere, but I though it might be useful to start a separate thread on good places to eat in Munich.
The center of Munich is dominated by large Brauerei Ausschank, or brewery establishments. Often people will have a regular place that they go to, perhaps because they like the beer. Most offer decent food at a reasonable price.
In the city center I like the Spatenhaus am Oper and the restaurant Alter Hof. Both are a cut above the usual brauerei establishment. Fransiskaner is ok too, and is huge so it’s easy to get a seat there. All of the above will have a Tageskarte or daily specials in addition to the regular menu, and most entrees will be priced at 15-25 Euros.
Please note that Hofbrauhaus is terribly touristy and to be avoided at all costs. Unless of course you must.
As far as beer gardens, you need to go to Chinesicher Turm if you never been. A must do before you die. I also really like the Paulaner am Nockherberg which is more laid back and closer to the city center, just over the Isar.
Finally, while not strictly a biergarden, Hirschau in the Englischer Garten has a nice outdoor area and really good food.
These are all kind of traditional places that I have gone to for years and are generally reliable. For anything more trendy you would probably need to check locally.
Finally, for quick food there are a bunch of kebab stands and middle eastern places around the main station in Munich. They seem to change from year to year. Look for one that looks busy, it’s bound to be good for a quick bite.
What’s so special about the Chinesischer Turm? We’ll be in Munich at the beginning of January for a few days, and are looking for some good places to eat.
Any other places you recommend? I just read about Le Cezanne on Chowhound. We’ll be going out with a friend who would not, I think, appreciate a beer garden. I suppose that Spatenhaus and Alter Hof would both have wiener schnitzel?
Dallmayr is a famous delicatessen that has a a really good cafe and also a newly opened 2 star Michelin restaurant. I’ve been to the cafe and delicatessen which are Munich institutions. It would also be worth a visit.
Spatenhaus am Oper is in a really nice setting right across from the Opera downtown. They feature Bavarian specialities on the first floor, and a little more elevated food upstairs. All is good, I’ve never had a bad meal there.
Alter Hof is also close by in the same block as Dallmayr, it’s in a side street by the former royal residence (or Alter Hof). They have a daily lunch menu, or Tageskarte, at around € 10 which is a great value.
I just looked at the menus of Spatenhaus, Alter Hof, And Dallmayr. The first two look pretty good. Dallmayr makes even Swiss prices look reasonable. But we’ll try at least one of the first two, Spatenhaus or Alter Hof. Or both.
We had two really good meals in Munich at places you recommended. The first was at Spatenhaus an der Oper, where I had the roast duck and my wife took the cordon bleu. Both portions were too large for us to finish. But we enjoyed the evening, the service, and the wine – a Zweigelt. The other good meal was at Alter Hof. Here the portions were a little smaller, and they served me a Dallmeyr espresso afterwards. Also very enjoyable. We had two more meals that were much less enjoyable. In one case I had no say in the choice of a restaurant; in the other, I opted for a pizza. This was not a wise choice.
We went for a kebab, and looked for Westends Best, but it was cold, it was getting late, and we saw place on Trappentreustrasse called Rami’s (I think), advertising home-made Dönerkebab. So we went in and had one. It was good, but not terrific. But it was clear that the column of meat on the skewer was not one of those industrial wonders that offer no gustatory pleasure.
Unfortunately, we were surprised by the snow. Since our feet were frozen most of the time, we did not get about as much as we would have liked. But we’ll keep Spatenhaus and Alter Hof in mind.
Glad to hear you liked these, I have found them reliable over the years. Central Munich can be a little difficult just because it is so dominated by the Brauereiausschank.
Sorry to hear about your feet. BTW you could have used a taxi, especially to get to West End. German taxis are like NYC for medium short distances, reliable and relatively inexpensive for tourists.
You know, I – rather stupidly – just assumed that the place would jump out at us as soon as we got to Trappentreustrasse. We took tram 19 to the Trappentreustrasse stop, which was about 5 stops from the main train station. And I guess we just sort of chickened out because of the cold.
Did you eat Leberkäse? Would have been a nice change from pizza, probably. A thick slice (still warm) in a Kaiser roll with mustard. I ate it (standing) with a beer, at a stall in the middle of the market in Munich.
VikingK, Munich is nice but in Bayern I much prefer Franken, especially the small(er) medieval towns and villages.
I’m not a Munich expert but I have been there several times for day/weekend trips. I always make it a point to visit the Viktualienmarkt, of course, and while I’m in that area, I usually have a meal at a place called Der Pschorr, located near the south end of the market. I would say the food is modern German - there are certainly traditional dishes, but many things are updated with lighter sides, fresher vegetable preparations, etc. Prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is quite nice.
Well you know I’m a Schwab not Bayrisch, but that said everything in Germany is better south of the Weißwurst Äquator, ie the River Main, which runs straight through Franken.
Small country restaurants in Southern Germany, Alsace, Northern Italy and Burgundy certainly uphold a higher standard of service and usually serve delicious local food. They are often hidden gems. Much better than what you can expect elsewhere under similar circumstances.
But German country and small town restaurants would be another thread altogether.
And butchers and bakers in Germany also deserve their own thread. So many delicious things.
Absolutely everyone should do this. Just remember it’s mostly outdoor, so Viktualienmarket is usually more fun when it’s warm out.
While there are some stalls there that serve prepared food, the emphasis is on ingredients. It’s great to go buy delicious things for a picnic.
Pschorr is the Brauerei Ausschank for the Hacker Pschorr brewery. All of these serve good meals, and a lot of it depends on which beer you like. You really can’t go wrong eating at anyone of them, but you may need to watch the specials (Tageskarte) to get something a little better than the usual.
