Hofbrauhaus (Munich)

After watching an amazing football match of Bayern Munchen versus Vfl Bochum in which Bayern Munchen won 3-1, we went to Hofbrauhaus for dinner. Hofbrauhaus is the most famous beer house in Munich. It is a huge beer house which can hold thousands of people. We arrived at around dinner time, and the beer house is already filled with thousands of people. Throughout dinner, long lines of people kept walking in and out. We sat down in a long table with a bunch of strangers. The beer house is filled with long tables which people have to share. We sat down next to two couples and a few single guys. At the beginning of dinner, we weren’t talking to the people at our table. However, after my husband and I start drinking each of our 1 litre beer, we became chattier and had a nice conversation with a young couple who sat across from us.







Since HB is a beer house, my husband and I each ordered 1 litre Hofbräu beer. He got the dark beer and I got the original beer. It is the biggest beer that I have ever ordered in my life. The glass of beer is so heavy that I had to use both my hands to hold it up. We ordered the old Munich browned “Milz” sausage with home-made potato salad as appetizer. This sausage is round in shape and looks more like a meat pie than a sausage. It is served with some gravy. It has a smooth texture and the taste is quite mild.




For main dishes, we ordered the veal schnitzel with home-made potato salad, and also Bavarian salt pork knuckle. The veal schnitzel is fresh and hot. It is tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. My husband thinks this is the best schnitzel he had in Germany. For me, I prefer the schnitzel at Andechser am Dom which is more thin. As for the salt pork knuckle, it is a nice try. You honestly need to try both the salt pork knuckle and fried pork knuckle when you visit Germany. The pork knuckle is so salty that it is like the meat has been boiled in salt for days. The skin of the pork knuckle is soft and slimy. It is served with fresh horse radish and sauerkraut. I have never had horse radish before, and so I took a big bite which was a big mistake. The horse radish is so spicy and choky which is worse than Japanese wasabi. On the other hand, the sauerkraut is extremely sour. It is truly a unique dish that is good to try for the experience but not for the taste.




Beside the nice beer, there is a live band of 8 people inside of the beer house playing traditional music. The live music and boisterous atmosphere is perfect for those who love to be in a crowd.



HOKAT Rating:
85/100

Address:
Platzl 8, 80331 München
089-221676
http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/

Café Rischart zur Mauth (Munich)

Prior to watching our most anticipated football match between Bayern Munchen and Vfl Bochum, we went to an outdoor café for some brunch. It is a people watching café, as we kept seeing football fans walking by and cheering for their teams. The chairs are quite uncomfortable, because there is a big split down the middle of the chair. I wonder who came up with the design of the chairs.

We ordered a breakfast set with a perfectly cooked egg, ham, cheese, and some pastries. The egg is so perfectly cooked that it is half solid and half liquid on the inside yet the yolk is not runny at all. We also ordered a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice, a chocolate croissant, and a chocolate raspberry cake. The chocolate croissant has a liquid chocolate paste in the center, but I wish it was served warmer. The chocolate raspberry cake has some nuts in it and is not moist enough.






After eating the brunch, we went to the Allianz Arena to watch the football match. It was truly an amazing experience. The atmosphere of watching a live game is awesome. The fans are so passionate and they cheered their hearts out for their team. During the game, the fans cheered, sang songs, and made waves. The outcome of the game was 3-1. In this game, Bayern Munchen practically clinched the league championship of the year since it is mathematically improbable for the second place team to catch them.

HOKAT Rating:
82/100

Address:
Neuhauser Straße 2
231700340
http://www.rischart.de/

Donisl (Munich)

We decided to try another Bavarian restaurant in Munich. When we arrived at Donisl, it was already very packed. We sat down in a large table and five more people wanted to sit down next to us. Thankfully the waiter helped to the large table into two tables so that we can have a table by ourselves.

Once again, we had to order beer, so we got the Hacker Pschorr House beer. For main dishes, both my husband and I ordered their famous fried pork knuckle with a side of mashed potatoes and kartoffelknodel (potato dumpling), one with bones and one without bones. The fried pork knuckle has a very thick and crunchy skin. It is very different than Chinese style fried pork which has a thin and crispy skin. The meat itself is a little too rough for my taste and not juicy enough. I don’t understand why Germans like to eat pork knuckle at all. It has high calories and not that great in taste in my opinion. The mashed potatoes are chunky and sour in taste. It matches pretty well with the heavy taste of the fried pork knuckle. The potato dumpling has a very interesting texture. It is sticky and chewy, but does not have much taste in it.




For dessert, we tried the birnenstrudel mit vanilleeis und sahne, which is pear strudel with
Vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The pear strudel is a little too dry and not very sweet.



Overall, it was an interesting experience to try the fried pork knuckle, but was it good? Not really.

HOKAT Rating:
70/100

Address:
Weinstrasse 1 - D-80333 München
089-220184/85
http://www.bayerischer-donisl.de/

Konig Ludwig (Fussen)

On our second day in Germany, we went on a side trip to the city of Fussen. The main purpose of travelling to Fussen is to visit the world famous swan castle Neuschwanstein. It is known as the most beautiful castle in the world. After visiting Neuschwanstein, we went to a local restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is very close to the ticket office and is opposite of the old swan castle Hohenschwangau.



We sat down in one of the outside tables. The service is very slow since there is only one waiter. Even though it’s lunch time, to keep the German tradition, we ordered a half litre Konig Ludwig Hell beer to share. The beer is too bitter for my taste.

For lunch dishes, we ordered pork loins with Spätzle and schnitzel with fries. Spätzle is a type of egg noodle of soft texture. It does not really have a taste to it and makes me feel like eating processed flour. There are some pieces of pork loins that have not been cooked through and still a little bloody. It is quite disgusting to be eating raw pork. It is served with a rich gravy sauce. I prefer the sauce rather than the pork itself. The schnitzel is better, but is not impressive at all. It is slightly burned on the outside and the meat is too rough. The best item in the whole meal may have been the fries.

HOKAT Rating:
63/100

Andechser am Dom (Munich)

After spending a day in London, we continued our flight onto Munich. Munich is such a lovely city to visit. Comparing to Berlin, it is much more of a European tourist site with old buildings and beer houses everywhere. When we arrived in Munich, it was almost dinner time. After visiting the Theatinerkirche (church with a bright yellow exterior), we went to Andechser am Dom for dinner. This is an extremely busy restaurant, so people need to share tables. This is a very spacey restaurant with wooden tables and chairs. They also have fresco ceilings with beautiful paintings.



We sat down in the corner of a long table, and the waitress immediately gave us the menus and a basket of pretzels. The waitresses are all dressed in traditional Germany “beer girl” clothing. Since Germany is well known for beer, my husband and I ordered half a litre of Andechs beer to share. The beer is very smooth with a slight sweet taste to it. It turns out to be my favorite beer in the whole trip. We tried one of the pretzels and put some spicy mustard sauce on it, but the pretzel is not that fresh and is a little hard.



For main course, I ordered the Veal Schnitzel. It is fried veal in a light beer batter. The schnitzel is thin and extremely crispy. It is served fresh and hot, with a side of mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes are very different than what is served in the United States. It is chunkier and has a sour taste to it. My husband ordered the meat lover plate. It has a generous piece of softly boiled ham, two little sausages, a small piece of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, sour kraut, and some vegetables. The best thing on this plate is the piece of softly boiled ham. The ham is soft and bouncy. Overall it is a very meaty dish and the taste is above average. However, I definitely enjoyed the Schnitzel much more.




HOKAT Rating:
88/100

Address:
Weinstraße 7a, 80333 München
089-29-84-81
http://www.andechser-am-dom.de/

The Cinnamon Club (London)

It’s time to write some articles about the restaurants that we visited during our Germany trip this spring. We spent a total of 10 days in Europe, and we spent half a day in London during transit. When we arrived in London, it was around 7am in the morning. We researched a place that serves breakfast near the famous Westminster Abbey. When we went to London in 2005, we did not go inside the Westminster Abbey because of a long line of people, and so we want to have a second chance to visit it. However, the funny thing is that we once again decided not to enter into the church because of the steep admission price.

The Cinnamon Club is located inside of the Old Westminster Library. The building used to be a library, and the owners kept the décor as such. In of the dining room, there are bookshelves and simple paintings. They use simple white linen on the tables, matched with heavy black chairs. After a 6 hour flight, we were pretty tired and so we took our time to enjoy some English breakfast.





We were started off with some bread with butter and strawberry jam. The jam is pretty rich and sweet in flavor.



For my breakfast, I have a plate of assorted fruits and a plate of assorted pastries with ham and cheese. The pastries are quite cold and would be much tastier if served warm. The cheese is a little too hard for my taste. My husband ordered a Full English Breakfast, which is served with two sunny side up eggs, a baked tomato, a piece of bacon, mushroom, and some sausages. It is a good nutritious breakfast but there is nothing special about the taste of the food.





Overall, the food is nothing spectacular. However, it is a famous breakfast place because of the environment. We felt really comfortable sitting down and enjoying some breakfast after a long flight.

HOKAT Rating:
76/100

Address:
30-32 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU
020-7222-2555
http://www.cinnamonclub.com/html/default.aspx