Munich

We spent three days in Munich on our trip, and it was wonderful! I’d heard fabulous things about Munich, but wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of its size. It was a much larger city than I had anticipated, but the public transportation was FANTASTIC. We could get anywhere we wanted through public transportation, and the hotel we stayed at even included a pass for all trains with our room.

Mike and I didn’t waste a lot of time when we got in…we headed straight for (you guessed it) the nearest glühwein booth!

The glühwein mugs kept getting nicer and nicer as our trip progressed, but since we were in Germany, we couldn’t go the whole trip without making the rounds to some bierhalls!

I will be forever partial to weissbiers…I don’t care if it makes me “such a girl.” Because I am. So hmph!

As evening fell, we decided to stuff ourselves silly on streetfood instead of going for a balanced meal at a restaurant. This is mostly what we did throughout the trip to keep costs down on the meals inbetween our Michelin-star restaurant excursions. More on that in a bit.

Now, it was all really the same from market to market. There weren’t a ton of differences besides the amount of people milling around and the mug that they were serving the glühwein in. But even though each market was largely the same, I really, really, really loved all of them. Having so much Christmas spirit in the air made me extremely happy, as did all of the sweets and foods that were delicious and cheap. Everyone that we came across in Munich spoke English as well, so it was also a very accessible city for tourists.

The other days that we were in Munich, it rained, so I didn’t take photos of their incredible day market, where there was produce galore. I could definitely see myself living happily in Munich, with the great public transportation, the shopping, the food, and the markets that were definitely superior to the little ones we have in our area of Spain.

We also went to Tantris, a 2-Michelin star restaurant with fabulous 70′s-era decor. Seriously, “orange carpet on the ceiling” type of fabulous.

In all honesty, we were a little disappointed in Tantris. It makes me feel like the snob-of-all-snobs saying that a 2-Michelin star restaurant wasn’t up to snuff, but there were a few dishes that left us less than impressed, which isn’t exactly what you want when you’re shelling out that kind of dough. Overall, I thought that it wasn’t worth the money or the rating. We had a good meal, but it wasn’t as special as we had hoped.

The other restaurant we went to while in Munich was called Terrine. It’s a one-Michelin star restaurant, and it was HARD TO FIND. We were about 35 minutes late to our reservation because we could not find where it was located. Oh, and it was raining. We were terrified of being charged as no-shows, but we made it and settled in.

Since this was the last restaurant we had planned for our trip, we decided to go all out for it and order the full, 10-course meal with wine pairings for each course. It. was. wonderful.

I won’t post pictures of this experience since the lighting was bad and my Photoshop skills just aren’t good enough to do it justice. Instead, I’ll let the menu speak for itself.

king crab and scallops in lime vinaigrette
tahiti vanilla, air “pata negra”

carpaccio of venison
kohlrabi, black truffle

lobster with squash and watercress
crispy calf’s head

john dory in clear bean-tea
seafood & red bell peppers

wild duck with black pudding and sauerkraut
cassis fruits

red mullet
cauliflower wonton, spinach, curry

chicken breast and leg
beetroots, artichokes, treviso

roquefort creme

grape granité, dark chocolate
cinnamon cake, orange, basil sorbet

warm chocolate espuma, rum banana, kafir lime ice cream

Some of it may sound odd or strange or not super appetizing, but it was amazing. It was a wonderful meal with all of the flavors adding something to the experience. The wine pairings with each meal were especially appetizing and we had a few very, very memorable wines. The service was all wonderful and we learned new things about cooking techniques and different wineries. While the meal was one of our most expensive on the trip, it was definitely worth it.

Munich was, in a word, magical. I loved so much about the city and I can definitely see myself revisiting. The bierhalls were fun, the dining was wonderful, the streetfood and markets were amazing.

Next, I’ll take you to Neuschwanstein Castle and Liechtenstein to round out our Winter Vacation!