Hofbräuhaus – Munich, Germany
Yes we made it to the one, the only, the big HB. One of Munich’s most historic and popular tourist attractions, the Hofbräuhaus has expanded to multiple locations here in the states in the last few years. Though this unfortunately makes it less special in my mind, I was still glad to enjoy some beers and lunch at the original location.
The HB in Munich is a HUGE place. I’d been told to stop by for a beer and skip ordering food because the service is normally poor. Our waiter, however, was as attentive as one would reasonably expect. I will admit this was probably because we were there for a late lunch during the middle of the week. I didn’t happen to take any tasting notes here (whoops) so I actually remember more about how the traditional weisswurst veal sausage tasted more than the beer. Annnnd in case you were wondering: yes it was weird to eat a white sausage (that’s what she said?) but it tasted great. I’d definitely order that again. As far as the beer goes, I think based on my pictures I had their dunkel and my wife had their Munich weisse, and I think both were pretty good. Informative, right?
Just based on what others have said, I’d recommend doing like we did and going at an off-peak time so you can actually get your waiter’s attention.
My wife was very surprised that our food came within a reasonable timeframe:
FYI, having a “traditional weisswurst” for a late lunch is itself untraditional — they are traditionally eaten only for breakfast, allegedly because of their extreme perishability (in pre-refridgeration days).
The traditional beer to pair with Weisswurst is Weissbier (yes, at breakfast), and looking at your photo, I suspect you didn’t stray as far from tradition as to have an ordinary Dunkles (dark lager), as you suggest; that would have come in a mug as illustrated on the menu you photographed. Instead, I suspect you managed to get your hands on their dunkles Weissbier (literally dark white beer). In the US this seems to be often called by the less paradoxical name “Dunkelweizen” (dark wheat) but even though that is a German word, in Bavaria they almost always use the more paradoxical name, in my experience. In fact, Hofbräu further accentuates the paradox by naming theirs “Schwarze Weisse” (literally black white).
In any case, I’m glad the trip went so well. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.
July 2, 2011 at 1:41 pm