Hofbraukeller: Bavarian Beer Garden and Pub/Restaurant, Munich

We went to Hofbraukeller once for dinner during our short trip to Munich in May 2022, thus our experience and knowledge is very limited. Nevertheless, we very much enjoyed our experience here and found the food, drinks, atmosphere and service in this dog-friendly traditional Bavarian tavern to be great. Hofbraukeller is located in Winer Platz, a historical market square (Wiener Markt) in Munich.

First, it is important to note that this review is not about the beer garden, but instead is about our experience eating inside the Hofbraukeller tavern. Actually, on our visit we had planned to eat in the Beer Garden, but as it was massively busy and we were still a bit nervous of big crowds as the pandemic was not quite over/still fresh in our minds, we decided to eat inside. However, the decision was not just based on the crowds and was equally due to the fact the food being offered (hot held) outside did not look particularly good; the focus seemed to be on volume and speed rather than care and quality. Therefore, if you are looking for reviews of the beer garden, while we don’t want to lose you, it may be better to look elsewhere.

Now to our experience of dinner at Hofbraukeller. Overall, we were super happy as the staff were friendly and helpful (like at Augustiner am Platzl, giving great recommendations), our dog was welcome, the food was delicious, the beer was great, and the atmosphere was lovely.  It did not feel like a tourist trap at all, and in addition to tourists, there were locals enjoying the food and drinks also, therefore, we think it is a great place to enjoy some traditional Bavarian food while in Munich.

Next to the food. The menu is not as broad as those at Augustiner am Platzl  and Weißbräu Huber in Freising, but offers a good selection of snacks, starters, mains, sides, and deserts with a few vegetarian dishes available. As noted, as we only ate here once and just shared two main courses and a side salad, we do not have an extensive knowledge of the menu, but what we did have was great, and all the other food we saw (and smelled) looked similarly great quality.

Now a little more about the specific food we thoroughly enjoyed. We shared and very much enjoyed two mains from the “Our Classics” section of the menu. One dish was the Pork Roast (€16.90) with caraway gravy and potato or bread dumpling, and the other was the Pork Knuckle (€18.30) with dark beer sauce and potato or bread dumpling. Both the main courses were extremely tasty and well cooked; the roast pork was succulent and soft and the roast pork knuckle had deliciously crispy crackling on the outside and fall of the bone meat inside. Both sauces were full of flavour and complimented the dishes very well. Also, we had one bread dumpling and one potato dumpling, and while they our not really our cup of tea, they seemed very similar to what we have experienced elsewhere, for example, Weißbräu Huber in Freising. The only other thing we ate was a side salad, which was fresh and crisp with a pleasant dressing.

All of the food was simple yet very flavoursome and well executed, thus, we thoroughly enjoyed everything. As noted in other reviews, our experience of Bavarian food is quite limited, but the food here seems great and I think much better than you would get in other more touristy equivalents. That being said, we do think that when comparing the same two dishes served here and at Weißbräu Huber, the latter wins by a nose, but not enough to warrant a 40 minute train journey if you are staying in Munich only (but we thoroughly recommend a night in Freising if you can).

Next, in terms of drinks, our experience is limited to a few of the local draft beers, but all of them were delicious and reasonably priced. Traditional Bavarian style beers which were well kept, well served, and matched the food perfectly.

To sum up, if you are in, or want to head to, the Wiener Platz area of Munich and have a hankering for some very solid Bavarian cuisine and drinks in a dog-friendly and welcoming atmosphere, then we highly recommend Hofbraukeller. If time and food-cravings permit, we very much recommend one meal here and another at Augustiner am Platzl.