Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 4591 1311; Stubenvollstrasse 1; mains €12-18.50, dinner menu €49; 7pm-2am
Tue-Sun; Am Gasteig)
With its dramatic mood lighting and sexy crowd, this big-city
spot delivers so much eye candy, it's hard to focus on the flavour-intense fusion food.
More elite nightclub than restaurant at weekends.
Drinking
Munich is a great place for boozers. Raucous beer halls, snazzy hotel lounges, chestnut-
canopied beer gardens, hipster DJ bars, designer cocktail temples - the variety is so huge
that finding a party pen to match your mood is not exactly a tall order. Generally speak-
ing, student-flavoured places abound in Maxvorstadt and Schwabing, while traditional
beer halls and taverns cluster in the Altstadt; Haidhausen goes for trendy types and the
Gärtnerplatzviertel and Glockenbachviertel is a haven for gays and hipsters.
No matter where you are, you won't be far from an enticing cafe to get a Java-infused
pick-me-up. Many also serve light fare and delicious cakes (often home-made) and are
great places to linger, chat, write postcards or simply watch people on parade.
Bavaria's brews are best sampled in a venerable old
Bierkeller
(beer hall) and
Bier-
garten
(beer garden). People come here primarily to drink, and although food may be
served, it is generally an afterthought. In beer gardens you are usually allowed to bring
your own picnic as long as you sit at tables without tablecloths and order something to
drink. Sometimes there's a resident brass band pumping oompah music. And don't even
think about sitting at a
Stammtisch,
a table reserved for regulars (look for a brass plaque or
some other sign)!
Beer costs €6 to €7.50 per litre. A deposit of €2 or so may be charged for the glass.
ALTSTADT
Hofbräuhaus
(Am Platzl 9; 9am-11.30pm daily; Marienplatz, Kammerspiele, Marien-
platz)
The mothership of all beer halls, every visitor to Munich should at some point make
a pilgrimage to this temple of ale, if only once. The swigging hordes of tourists, swaying
to the inevitable oompah band, is like something from a film set.
BEER HALL
Braunauer Hof
BEER GARDEN
