Restaurants

If you’re out visiting the city’s fantastic museums, this is a great place to grab a bite to eat. 

CyClo is extremely delicious. The food packs a powerful punch in flavor, because the dishes are cooked fresh with the aim to preserve the natural vitamins by not using additives or preservatives in the sauces. My favorite dish has been Ga Xao Gung (ginger chicken). The  Nuoc chanh da (lime soda) is also refreshing. 

Be sure to reserve in advance if you plan to visit for dinner. The restaurant is relatively small, so the chances of showing up and getting a table are slim. 

Another great time to visit is for the Tuesday – Friday business lunch from 12:00 – 14:45 (except for holidays) when 12 dishes are served up with soup or spring rolls for less than € 10. 

Save some room and time for an gelato dessert at Balla Beni, which is right down the street. 

Cash only

Many tourists stay in hotels surrounding the Hauptbahnhof, which seems a bit like every other train station. It’s more transient and diverse than many other areas of the city, but this is one spot not to overlook. There’s a large generations old Turkish population in Munich due to the Gastarbeiter (guest worker) days after WWII and this is one of the ways the city is gaining from the diversity. 

What I love about the Verdi Süpermarket is the really wonderful and affordable produce, a great Turkish bakery – complete with sticky sweet baklava, and a small imbiss with authentic döners.

There’s something special about visiting grocery stores while traveling and this little gem gives the added bonus of carrying authentic Turkish foods. It’s as if you enter the store and suddenly you’re in Turkey; complete with hospitality, friendliness, halal foods, and sun kissed produce. They also carry bulk items, like chicken burgers, if you have a lot of people to feed. 

My favorite items are the teas, 100% pomegranate juice, the array of peppers, cheeses, and those not always easy to find spices, like sumac. Every time I visit, I find something new to sample and cook with. 

Afiyet olsun! (Enjoy your meal!)

I admit I’m not a lover of Bavarian food. I guess it’s one too many encounters with meat-feasts and greasy spätzle.

There are a couple exceptions – my mother in law’s cooking and Paulaner am Nockherberg. The food here is very authentic, high quality, and the ambiance is terrific. Whether you’re inside enjoying a meal, celebrating during one of the fests, or lounging under the chestnut trees at the biergarten in the summer, it’s always a great way to spend a day the Bavarian way.

Despite the Nockherberg biergarten consistently being voted the best in all of Munich and being featured in the Bayern München team photos, it still remains a locals secret. That may be part of the reason local celebrities also frequently can be spotted there and at the restaurant. 

As a side note: it is completely acceptable to bring your own food to the biergarten, although drinks must be purchased there. So you can always soak in the ambiance with the food of your choice.

This is also an outdoor viewing area for the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup, so join the fun and support your favorite team! 

It is also possible to arrange a tour of the brewery for € 8.00 per adult. Pre-booking on the provided link is essential.

Close to the zoo in Thalkirchen is a fantastic Asian restaurant called Mangostin. What makes this so special is that dishes that are authentically prepared using the best ingredients that are flown in weekly from Bangkok. Gastronome and proprietor Joseph Peter was even the Head of Thailand’s national cooking team! 

This is the perfect place to visit after a stroll through the zoo. It’s also nice to visit for the the Sunday Brunch with a wide variety of sushi, satay’s, seafood, and incredible desserts from 11:00 – 15:00 (€ 52.00).

Throughout the week there are a variety of specials in different sections of the restaurant:

Papa Joe’s Monday – Friday Business Lunch Buffet from 11:30-15:00 (€ 19.50).

Papa Joe’s Saturday Lunch Buffet from 11:30-15:00 (€ 27.50).

Lemon Grass’ Family Sunday Buffet from 17:00 – 20:00 (€ 22.50).

For ease, I recommend to book a table online.

On occasion they also offer cooking courses, which are a fun gift for those who have everything.

If you have extra time to spare at the airport, another option is visiting Mangostin Airport from 10:00 – 23:00 in the upper level of Terminal 2. It certainly beats airline meals!

For those who prefer to travel above ground, on bus, tram, or by foot, there are options below that they are missing out on, like this intergalactic looking space.

The Stachus Einkaufszentrum at Karlsplatz is more than just a place to catch the subways. This space just under went drastic renovations to make the it brighter and more modern, so it’s quickly becoming a destination in its own right.

Not only does this passageway provide an easy way to cross the street while avoiding traffic, but it also contains a variety of shops, grocery stores, a movie theater, and several quick and inexpensive food options.

The variety of food covers nearly all grounds: from design your own frozen yogurt at frogis, gourmet pretzels at Brezelina, to salads at dean + david, Belgian French fries at Pommes Freunde, and Asian dishes at both Kaimug and My Indigo.

If you’d prefer a picnic you can always stop by one of the grocery stores – Tengelmann, Kaufhof, or Karstadt – to purchase inexpensive items or bottles of beer for your own ‘Bierprobe‘ (beer sampling). Drinking on the streets or in the parks is legal, provided you do so responsibly, however drinking in the subway is ‘verboten‘ (forbidden).

To see a full listing of shops and foods click here to download a pdf.