A Delicious Weekend in Munich

Go for Three Michelin Stars and Stay for the Pretzels

While Munich has no UNESCO sites it is an emerging foodie destination from great pretzels and weiswurst to Fine Dining. We will start with the amazing pretzel and countdown our experience at 5 restaurants with 11 Michelin stars. We identify our favorite restaurant at number two before highlighting the best restaurant in Munich at #1 - we include a note on our opinion of how that gourmet temple could be even better (Hope that doesn’t sound arrogant!).

The Pretzel

This spectacular pretzel is from the vast Augustiner beer garden (1893). This place is not for me with 1000 dudes drinking giant steins of beer at 11am - I got three of these pretzels to go. Your average German pretzel is thick and chewy. This beauty - baked by the venue - has a beautiful crunch on the outside and is soft on the inside - also the differing widths of the strands provides differing textures..the salt crystals are thick and crunchy. Definitely superior to the famous Pretzels “Kolb” from Nùrnberg.

Paul Grinberg went on to try 5 fine dining restaurants with 11 Michelin Stars ⭐️ in 3 days (Jeffrey 8). Here is our verdict counting down to our favorite and best experiences:

5. Alois ⭐️⭐️ - The tasting menu is a roller coaster of ups and downs. Of the 19 bites, all were beautiful and 9 were world class delicious. The 10 others..counting the amuse bouche and petit fours individually, were less compelling. Chef Rosina is a fantastic chef as evidenced by the 9 stand out dishes. I wonder if she would benefit from offering fewer courses / bites and making them better. I would like to return next year as this is a chef on the way up. If she did make fewer dishes - she could go ahead and make this stunning char dish 3 times bigger!

   

   Fantastic Char...

On the downside, this deer ball which was gorgeous, was too big for the recommended one bite - too gummy to chew and subsequently too flavorless:

If we had been served only the best 9 bites, Alois might have been our favorite spot.

4. Brothers ⭐️ This place is super charming although I kept mixing up which twin I was just talking to. The short a la carte menu was easy to order from. We split some of the mains in order to try everything but could easily have each ordered one of each without splitting anything! Each dish was thoughtfully prepared and was very approachable. We found most desserts on this trip to be disappointing - but the one here was the best of all. I think it was Madagascar vanilla and Mauritius chocolate (or the other way around?).

   

   Brothers is a perfect one star Michelin restaurant without the puffery. The 3 Michelin star chef from Jan and his staff love Brothers and so will you.

3. E-Senz ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - From my dining Pal: Paul Grinberg: Located on gorgeous Lake Chiemsee, an hour south of Munich. Chef Edip Sigl serves a menu combining local classics with dishes from around the world. The standout snack was cotton candy with bacon and breadcrumbs. This was not your typical county fair cotton candy! Another hit was the langoustine, pumpkin and lardo, which was beautifully plated. But nothing could beat the barbecued pigeon leg, with the most incredible glaze. I would have eaten a dozen of them. Fantastic meal. The 3 stars are well deserved!

   

   The Stunning Pigeon Leg

   2. Tantris ⭐️⭐️ - Many distinguish between “Best” and “Favorite” and here is our vote for our 2nd best meal and favorite restaurant in Munich. Tantris. Housed in a UNESCO worthy building with a commitment to classic french cuisine and their sauces. Plate after plate of the best ingredients in luxurious sauces in an unforgettable room. Four grand chefs have past the torch since Chef Eckarrt introduced Munich to world class French cuisine in 1971. I had the honor of dining with Chef Heinz Winkler in 1991 although I don’t recall anything beyond loving it because that pre-dated photos.

Pate en Croute

I apologise for putting the best restaurant in Munich behind a paywall but I have to save goodies for my loyal, paid subscribers! You will also find a brief commentary on widespread Caviar mis-representation.