More Munchen: Manfred Vollmer

This classic Munich menu gives a little sample of what dining would be like outside the walls of the Oktoberfest tents, while remaining stolidly within the cultural stereotypes. While the multilingual menu makes it clear that this is a tourist establishment (the restaurant was across from our hostel), we still got a taste of old-tyme authenticity. Especially because those brave enough were wearing our dirndl and liederhosen to the meal. I ordered cheese spaetzle, which became a fan favorite for the rest of the trip, but the knuckle of pork caught our eye and stayed in our hearts after we tried it the next day at the festival.

Also of note is the "brewer master special"- a combination plate the likes of which I long for in a menu like this, where all I really want to do is have them give me an assortment of random local specialties. I recall that much of our table wanted pretzels, and they were done for the night but our waitress appeared with a small bucket of broken bits, which may or may not have come from other tables' discards. Such is the spirit of sharing in Germany.


Germans love salads made of unconventional ingredients (for a salad), such as meats. I don't know if they share our delusion that "salad" is always a healthy option as long as that word is in the title, but the "sausage salad" certainly sounds like a dieter's delight. Instead, why wouldn't they let people order from the "seniors and children" section, which is most likely just a more reasonable portion of the same delicious delicacies? Surely this is discrimination.

Not very surprisingly on the menu: beer in abundance. However, although each of us ordered a separate variety from the list, we were all delivered large steins of the same light amber lager: Augustiner's real house specialty.