s´Wirtshaus O´gau Restaurant (Oberammergau, GERMANY) ★★★★☆

After spending a night in picturesque Augsburg, we set off early the next morning for another historic German town — Oberammergau.

Oberammergau is a world-famous alpine town located in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district of Bavaria. Nestled along the Ammer River, the fairytale-like village is globally renowned for its intricate woodcarving tradition and its beautifully frescoed Lüftlmalerei houses. It also serves as our lunch stop on our visit to Neuschwanstein Castle.

Before we even had time to check out the Lüftlmalerei, the vibrant, 3D-style religious frescoes and German fairytales painted directly onto the facades of traditional houses, we first enjoyed a quick lunch at s’Wirtshaus O’gäu.

s’Wirtshaus O’gäu is an inn and an all-day dining restaurant serving authentic Bavarian dishes. It’s known for its traditional alpine charm and classic regional cuisine. This guy can't wait to get things started.

Fried salmon steak (€25) — This isn’t a Bavarian specialty, but little nugget was clearly tired of having sausages and breaded veal cutlets lately. 

The salmon fillet was pan-fried to perfection, and it paired wonderfully well with diced vegetables, soupy rice, and an herb-and-white-wine sauce.

Wirtshausschnitzel (€20) — We had so many breaded veal escalope dishes of late that this breaded pork loin with bacon and onions felt like a welcome change. 

Perfectly breaded with a thin batter, the thin-sliced pork loin was incredibly tender with great texture. It was nicely complemented by a bed of roasted potatoes.

This was arguably one of the better breaded pork/veal dishes we’ve had since arriving in Germany a few days ago, and we’ve had quite a few of them in a very short span.

After the meal, we spent some time exploring Oberammergau’s world-famous wall art known as Lüftlmalerei painted right onto the building facades.

Pilatushaus (House of Pontius Pilate) — Situated on Ludwig-Thoma-Straße/Dorfstraße, this is one of the most famous and elaborately painted houses in the village, where you can often find local artisans working on-site.

Walking around Oberammergau feels like visiting an outdoor art gallery, where your eyes are constantly drawn upward. The amazing Lüftlmalerei frescoes turn the historic alpine town into an open-air museum. I originally had doubts about making a stop here, but after all this, it was clear the detour was well worth our time.

Food Rating: 6.2/10

Price: €€€

Address: Dorfstraße 28, 82487 Oberammergau, Germany

Tel: +49 8822 948770

Website: http://www.swirtshaus-ogau.de/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - late (daily)

Hotel Maximilian's Augsburg (Augsburg, GERMANY)

The moment I drove up to the entrance of Hotel Maximilian’s, I was absolutely stunned. The cobblestone street was a living art-history book, highlighted by the monumental Renaissance-era architecture water fountain. It’s almost as if we’ve fallen into a time machine, traveling back in time.

Hotel Maximilian’s is a premium, historic 5-star hotel located in the heart of Augsburg. Situated directly on the iconic Maximilianstraße, the refined property features 139 elegantly decorated rooms and suites, a top-notch spa, a fine-dining restaurant, and a stylish bar. The premise is directly connected to a multi-story parking garage through an indoor passage.

The hotel is best known for its impeccable service, luxurious spa facilities, and of course, its central location. These were the primary reasons why we handpicked this hotel in the first place.

After picking up our key cards at the reception, it was time to explore our room on the first floor.

They were everywhere... paintings and sculptures seamlessly transformed the corridors into a curated art gallery, turning a functional pass-through space into a striking visual experience.

Our spacious room was beautifully decorated and well appointed with a touch of modern elegance.

To make sure that we had enough sleeping space, we have notified housekeeping to set up an extra bed for us.

But after seeing the king-sized bed (or is it super king?), this might have been unnecessary.

Deep inside the room was a walk-in closet that also housed the refrigerator and more. Not many hotel rooms we’ve stayed in before have boasted a walk-in closet.

The comfortable bedding earned a really serious amount of praise from us.

Apart from the generous space in the bedroom, the massive, luxurious bathroom stood out just as prominently.

The toilet and shower areas, placed side by side, seemed to reflect the “in” design style these days.

Even with a shower room in one corner, they still managed to fit a large bathtub of this size at the other end.

Of course, we did find time to check out the swimming pool on the rooftop of the “new” building—yes, there’s a new building right next to the parking garage.

Maximilianstraße is one of Germany’s most historically significant and architecturally stunning boulevards. Tracing back to an ancient Roman trade route, it grew into the majestic heart of Augsburg during the Renaissance and Baroque golden eras.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Price: €€€

Address: Maximilianstraße 40, 86150 Augsburg, Germany

Tel: +49 821 50360

Website: https://www.hotelmaximilians.com/

Ratskeller Augsburg (Augsburg, GERMANY) ★★★☆☆

Ratskeller Augsburg is a historic German restaurant located directly in the brick-vaulted basement cellar of the iconic Augsburg Town Hall (Rathaus). Known for its rustic, atmospheric setting and robust Bavarian cuisine, it’s a popular culinary destination for both locals and travelers. With the short distance between our hotel and the restaurant, it made perfect sense for us to make it our dinner venue for tonight.

We came in through the door from the alley to the town hall, and after going down the staircase, we finally reached the basement level where the historic cellar was located.

The main dining area was a cozy, atmospheric, 17th-century brick-vault room that offered a lively, authentic Bavarian tavern experience.

The food menu focuses on traditional Bavarian classics and regional comfort food, utilizing locally sourced ingredients.

Gebratene Maultaschen (€12.8) — A traditional pasta pocket filled with meat and spinach, a dish originating from the Swabia region.

The Swabian ravioli was fried and served with glazed onions, onion gravy, and cucumber and potato salad. It wasn’t bad, although our opinions were divided on the gravy itself.

Zwiebelrostbraten (€27.1) — A traditional Southern German dish featuring a pan-seared beef steak with caramelized onions in a rich, savory gravy.

As most Hongkongers do, we’re more familiar with Japanese, Korean, American, and Australian beef cuts, so this unique experience with German beef got us a little excited.

I thought the steak was more on the lean side, but overall, it wasn’t bad except for a few tendons in the middle.

Little nugget had German spätzle for the first time, but we all thought the soft and tender German egg noodles weren’t as pillowy as we would like.

We weren’t in the mood for dessert tonight, partially because I was upset about this guy’s extended screen time throughout the day. His addiction has been driving me crazy for years, and I finally let it out giving him an earful during dinner. He wasn’t pleased when he heard the new rules (which ended up lasting for a few hours), but hey, when I talk in this tone, he better listen!

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: €€€

Address: Rathausplatz 2, 86150 Augsburg, Germany

Tel: +49 821 3198-8238

Website: https://www.ratskeller-augsburg.de/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 11:00pm (Sun - Thu), 11:00am - 12:00am (Fri - Sat)