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Showing posts with label Beerhall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beerhall. Show all posts

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Munich: The Oldest Beer Hall @ Hofbräuhaus, Platzl

Munich’s oldest beerhall Hofbräuhaus is almost half a millennium old.  It is from this very hall that the smooth Wheatbeer was created and some even that this good old beer hall saved its residents from the plague.   The Hofbräuhaus layout span several floors.  A grand dance hall on top where admission is only for those dressed in folk clothing, a classic gastro pub in the mid levels and a celebratory beer hall at its base.  After spending the night before drinking with other travellers, I was convinced that Hofbräuhaus was one of the finest watering holes in Munich.  It is very similar to the Augustinerbräu, but how was Hofbräuhaus’s food?
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The beers in Munich were really nice and not just plain bitter.  But more than half of my praise for the alcoholic beverage lies in its texture rather than taste.  It was smooth, with a creamy top, but unfortunately still no clearly defined malty flavours from the wheat! Or maybe I was just looking for something else haha.  

The lunch at Hofbräuhaus was my final meal before leaving Munich, so we stuck to the usual Bavarian classics.  A serve of Schweinshaxe and a Wurst platter.  Both dishes did not take long to come out but I did not feel wow-ed by its visual presence.  Neither did they look generous or lusciously meaty/crispy!  Instead it was, very dull. First up the Wurst platter.
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Taste wise, the Wursts felt very “standard” in a way that if you were to go out on the streets you could easily pick a better one I would think. In fact, I think we had a better one on the street.  

The Bavarian classic the Schweinshaxe
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The  Schweinshaxe is a grilled pork knuckle dish that present itself as a colossal piece of meat that is going to be impossible to finish yet the crispy skin makes any attempt worth the eater’s while.  But at Hofbräuhaus, the knuckle was tiny.  Looks like it was from a tiny pig!  But that was the least of my concern.  Instead I was more disappointed by lack of crispy skin to munch on!  For comparison, see the one I had in Berlin.  That was absolute proper!

For dessert, I just had to try the famous Bavarian Apple Strudel and challenge it to see whether it was a worth opponent to some of the best apple desserts I have had.  
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As whole the strudel was OK.  It was not bad or anything like that but it failed to gather momentum beyond the ordinary.  The strudel layers were poorly defined, but I liked how the apple filling were more fragrant than sweet.  A pool of sweetened custard spiked with vanilla helped smoothen things out but still it did not bring me to a state of foodgasm.

Hofbräuhaus is the oldest beer hall that maintains its tradition.  While food is not its strong point, Hofbräuhaus boasts other bragging right Chilling the night away, enjoying folks music, and the company of foreign travellers all around the world is why Hofbräuhaus remains a popular choice among tourist and locals alike.  For the most local experience, avoid the Oktoberfest period which does not start in October but rather mid September onwards. Locals and Europeans tend to desert the area during Oktoberfest because accomodation is too pricey as it is geared towards people fro the States, the UK and Australia.

WenY

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Munich: Augustinerbräu the unexpected find @ Landsberger Straat.

Germany is a country known for its beer, football, precision engineering and really tall people.  But there is more to Germany than what meets the eyes.  A rich cultural heritage paired with modern influence has resulted in a diverse European landscape.  In the next few posts, I re-visit the sights and feeds that made me love this systematic country.
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A few weeks after my weekend in Berlin,  I was on a plane to Germany again.  This time to Munich, the land of beer and the home of BMW.  After a 45 minute train to the city and another 10 minute ride to the hotel, I was super hungry.  But being so far away from the city square in Munich, means I relied on some handy tools like Siri and Trip Advisor to find my dining place. Eventually,  I decided to go to Augustinerbräu which was not too far away from my hotel.
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Its wooden accented beer hall was filled with a boisterous crowd and every table seemed more welcoming than the last as we walked through the hall.  Eventually, my colleague and I settled for a sit some 10 other people at the table.  

For drinks we had none other than the famous Augustiner Lager which I have no picture of.  This is some seriously crisp beer and it was fresh because there were no sulphates.  I did not get stomach ache or itch!  But the drinks were not the reason I was there, it was for the food.  I ordered the Augustiner platter €14.50 while my colleague called the Wurst platter €11.50. No pictures of his because his was essentially a plate of 6 sausages which consisted of 3 pork sausages and 3 white sausages (presumably turkey?) all of which was on my platter too!
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2 sausages, a duck thigh, a slice of roast pork and half a pork knuckle served with a side of stewed cabbage, enough said my platter was massive. Looking back, elements on the platter like the duck tight and pork knuckle were cooked perfectly.  The scheiwntaxe was super crisp from its roasting while the duck was mildly gamey with a nice caramelised skin.  Sausages were “OK” but it did not taste as meaty as I expected it to be.  The bummer of them all was the chunky slice of roast pork which was dry. But 3 above average dishes definitely trumped over 1 poor one.  More importantly it was more than just a quantity meal, it was a delicious.   This meal along with the sausage platter could easily feed 3.  I was really hungry but could not even finish my meal.
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After the meal, we sat around and chat with the lovely people around the table for awhile.  It was really interesting to have conversations with everyone on the table.  You had a guy that was totally drunk and infatuated with his girlfriend.  Then there was the underage kid with his dad drinking his 3rd stein and not to mention the American couple from the hood that worked in Alaska.   Augustinerbräu is more than just a beer hall.  Its a social scene paired with quality food in an amazing venue.

WenY