One of the BarFlys had to travel to München (Munich), Germany for an industry related tradeshow. In love with the idea of traveling to Europe, the other BarFly tagged along. After preparing our stomachs by visiting the Bavarian-style restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are here again, drinking excellent beers and filling our bellies with plenty of pork.
After a long overseas flight, we quickly checked in and took a stroll through Marienplatz to take advantage of the great weather (click on different parts of the picture to check out the Lytro
We strolled right to Wirsthaus Ayingers after deciding it would be the best first meal for our jetlagged selves. The original brewery was founded in 1878 in the Bavarian village of Aying, located about 15 miles (25 km) southeast of München. A new brewery opened in 1999 with the intention of brewing more varieties of beer; here they offer at least six different types that change seasonally, including lagers, pilsners, wheat, bock and strong barrel-aged beers. With less than 10% of their products exported, we always make a point to drink here when we travel to München.
It was such a lovely evening that we wanted to eat outdoors. The plaza tables were all full, but we luckily didn’t have to wait for more than five minutes before one opened up:
The first sip of Bavarian beer gave us all an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for our good fortune. We started with a tall glass of of Pilsner and a stein of Aying’s Lager. The lager was full-bodied and the pilsner had a very light hoppy taste. We would drink at least two more rounds of these beers throughout the evening:
The table setting includes a basket of Bavarian pretzels that could be consumed at any time before, during or after the meal. Large and soft with a just the right amount of salt, it served as a great beer snack:
The three of us decided to share a starter of their “Bavarian board” listed under the Snacks section of the menu. It was veritable assortment of everything great that Bavaria has to offer: ham, weiner schnitzel, bacon, cream and bavarian cheese, mortadella, headcheese, sausage salad, liver sausage, pickled vegetables, radishes and butter:
Turning the plate around shows the liver sausage, head cheese and the orange Bavarian-style cheese. The generous platter served as a great welcome to Bavaria for us:
It’s spargel (white asparagus) season here in Bavaria and we always have to eat these when they are available since they are thicker and sweeter here than anywhere else in the world. Apparently our timing was great as the season had just started, later than usual due a long winter. The thick white asparagus spears were served with roasted new potatoes and a vat of delicious hollandaise sauce:
The spargel platter can be upgraded to include a side of protein. In one of the dishes, we chose the excellent Black Forest ham served with a tomato slice, red onions and a rosette of mache (lamb’s tongue lettuce):
With the other Spargel plate, we ordered the Wiener Schnitzel made with veal, perfectly fried and crispy:
Lastly we ordered the delicious Munich Pork Roast made with pork shoulder slowly braised in an Ayinger dark beer sauce. It was served with potato and bread dumplings. We realized we were jetlagged when we failed to get in our normal request of replacing the dumplings with french fries. We like the fennel bread dumpling since it is reminiscent of a dressing or bread pudding; however, we’re not big fans of the potato dumpling (Kartoffelkloesse) which take on an overly thick, gelatinous consistency:
The pork roast also came with a fresh coleslaw:
We felt very full walking back to our hotel, but we were glad to have the opportunity to work off some of the filling meal. The weather was perfect which afforded us another great view of a cherub with the roof of the Rathaus (New Town Hall) in the background:
That was a great meal for our first night in Germany. All of the good food and Ayinger beer helped us fall asleep and get over jetlag faster.
http://www.ayingers.de/en/wirtshaus-ayingers.html
Note: The BarFlys are vacationing in Germany. SF posts will return soon; in the meantime, please enjoy these travel-related posts.
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