From weisswurst to schweinshaxe to käsekuchen -- what are these foods and why should you try them?
When traveling, an important part of learning about the culture is eating the food. While spending the weekend in Munich, it was no different, we ate the local food. Most Americans would be familiar with some parts of Bavarian (the region of Germany where Munich is located) cuisine like sausages, Bratwurst to be more specific, sauerkraut, and pretzels, but there are some other dishes that may be lesser known, but no less tasty!
German foods to Try
Schweinshaxe are roasted pork hocks. The textures are amazing — über crispy skin on the pork meat. It’s super filling, I had ordered a half portion and had a hard time finishing it.
Schweinshaxen, Crispy Ham Hock with a plate of Nurnberger Sausages
Sauerbraten is beef that has been marinated in a mixture of spices and vinegar then roasted until it is tender and juicy. It’s usually served with some form of potatoes like dumplings or mashed potatoes.
Sauerbraten with Potato Dumplings and Red Cabbage
Weisswurt, Pretzel and Bavarian Mustard
Sausages come in all sorts of varieties, if you go into a butcher shop you can see the many types available. In Munich, Weisswurst, a white sausage of veal and pork fat, is typically eaten for breakfast with some Bavarian mustard and a pretzel. Nurenberger sausages are smaller and thinner bratwurst sausages, 5 or 6 will be served for an order along with a heap of sauerkraut.
A Butcher Shop at the Viktualienmarkt in Old Town Munich
Inside the Butcher Shop with a Wide Variety of Sausages and Other Meat
Käsespätzle - cheese and spätzle
Spätzle is a noodle type of dish that can also be cooked further in brown butter, or with cheese for Käsespätzle. Topped with crispy onions it is a good vegetarian option at many restaurants.
Käsekuchen, is German cheesecake and compared to American cheesecake, it is softer and less sweet. It is made from quark, a fresh farm cheese and the crust is like a shortbread cookie. Biting into a piece of this is like biting into a soft cloud.
Käsekuchen - German Chessecake
Apfelkuchen is apple cake and one place to get some is at a snack counter. One evening, after walking around for a while after dinner, we figured we were due a dessert so we bought a large piece of apfelkuchen at Rischart. We also couldn’t walk by this display of snacks sweet and savory without purchasing something!
A snack shop in Munich Germany for savory and sweet snacks.
A Closer Look into the Snack Case
Brezels or pretzels have been the symbol for bakeries since the 12th century, and the large thick bread like pretzel can be found almost everywhere in Munich. You can have one for breakfast or as a snack at a beer garden served with mustard to dip them in. In some restaurants there will be a bread basket filled with pretzels on the table. Be aware that if you eat any pretzels from the basket you will be charged for them (about 1 Euro). When the server is ready to add up your bill they’ll check the basket to see how many pretzels were eaten.
A Pretzel as part of a breakfast at the Anna Hotel in Munich Germany
A Potato Dumpling with some slices of Pork Roast
Kartoffelkloesse is potato dumplings, which are round balls made of mashed potatoes and flour, good for soaking up the juices or gravy from the roast pork or sauerbraten.
Where can you Eat?
Food stands in the Viktualienmarkt
If you‘re a foodie, then head to the Viktualienmarkt area in old town. This area has been the food market for Munich for over 200 years! You will find many food stands, such as cheese, honey, vegetables and meats. There are also stands where they sell crafts, spices, ready to eat foods, and schnapps.
The beer stand at the Vikttualienmarkt beer garden
Our first night in Munich, we went to a restaurant — Beml Sedmeyer, a traditional German place — near the Viktualienmarkt and then afterwards wandered around the Viktualienmarkt area. We came to the beer garden where many people were out enjoying the warm Friday evening and decided to grab some drinks and find a table to sit at.
Beer garden at Viktualienmarkt
We came back to the Viktualienmarkt the next day and had the weisswurst at the butcher shop, coffee from the fancy coffee stand with the chandeliers and German cheesecake. It’s a nice way to spend some time and try out different foods.
A pretty coffee stand in the Viktualienmarkt
Seafood shop in Viktualienmarkt
If you do go to the Viktualienmarkt, just remember to look up when they’re open, some of the stands aren’t open in the evening and we noticed that even on Friday evening some of the places with cooked meals closed early. And they’re closed on Sundays!
Interior of an old German style restaurant
The next day for lunch, we went to an old German style restaurant called Nuernberger Bratwurst Gloeckl am Dom near the Frauenkirche, the church with the domed towers. The decor transported you back in time with the dark wood paneling and old Steins decorating small shelves up high. We ate pumpkin soup, schweinshaxe, and nurenberger sausages, washed down with some Augusteiner beer. I highly recommend going to a traditional restaurant while in Munich for the experience!
The China Tower in the Englischer Garten, Munich Germany
On our last day in Munich, a Sunday, we rented bicycles using the Donkey Republic app — it was very easy, there’s even a phone holder on the handlebars and you can use Google maps to show you directions for when you’re on a bicycle — then rode around the Englischer Garten, which is a very large, 1400 acre garden in the middle of Munich. It’s called the Englischer garden because of the style of landscaping which was more of a natural style rather than a formal garden with trimmed trees and shrubs in symmetrical layouts.
The garden has four beer gardens, one near the southern end is at the Chinese Tower, which when we went by was just opening up and there was already a polka band playing. The next beer garden when you head north is next to the lake and called Seehaus. There are two other beer gardens farther north, which we didn’t go near, but it gives you an idea of how big the Englischer Garten is!
Beer gardens are very casual places to eat and hang out at. At the Seehaus there was an outdoor cafeteria style place to get food such as sausage, roast, fries, and salad. After collecting your food, you go to the window where they pour the beer, pay, then find a communal table to sit at. We got lucky and found a table next to the lake, where we could watch the swans, geese, ducks, and coots swim by.
Community tables at the Seehaus beer garden in the Englischer Garten, Munich Germany
