Five Guys Neuhauser (Munich, GERMANY) ★★★☆☆

My son has been hounding me to take him to Five Guys for a frosty shake ever since we spotted its outpost in Old Town yesterday afternoon — and he simply won’t let it go.

This location sits right on pedestrian Neuhauser Straße and spans over three stories. Apparently, the locals are crazy about their smoky burgers, fries, and shakes. So before the popular American burger joint officially opened at 10:30am, there was already a modest line waiting outside. 

Milkshake (€7.65) — Unlike Five Guys in Hong Kong, you don’t choose the flavor of the ice cream for your shake. It defaults to vanilla, but you can customize it with up to 10 add-ins — think Oreo cookies, bacon, pistachios, peanut butter, strawberries, and more. They enhance the vanilla flavor, but mainly serve as accents rather than taking center stage.

To be honest, I was kind of glad little guy brought us there, because by the time we arrived, I was super thirsty. 

I guess the 12-hour flight had quietly drained us.

Price: €€€

Address: Neuhauser Straße 1, 80331 München-Altstadt-Lehel, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Karlsplatz / Marienplatz

Tel: +49 89 2354-8362

Website: https://fiveguys.de/

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 11:30pm (Sun - Thu), 10:30am - 12:00am (Fri - Sat)

Leger Am Dom (Munich, GERMANY) ★★★☆☆

We’re going back to Munich’s Old Town for our second day of action but first thing first, we started things off with breakfast at Leger Am Dom. 

Leger Am Dom is a modern restaurant and bar right in the heart of the old town, adjacent to the top tourist attraction, the Frauenkirche (聖母教堂). 

It offers a casual yet stylish atmosphere that blends regional specialties with international flair. We had a choice between sitting indoors or outside on the terrace. And on a summer morning like this, it was a no-brainer. No surprise the indoor seating was completely empty.

For breakfast, they have a relatively short menu, centered around their omelettes and bagels.

Bagel with smoked salmon (€13.5) — A whole-wheat bagel with smoked salmon, avocado, herb cream, and dill, assembled in the middle like a burger. 

Pretty tasty, but a bit heavy for breakfast, I thought.

Omelette (€9.5) — This was made with three eggs, and you pay extra for additional toppings like tomato, spinach, ham, goat cheese, and smoked salmon. I decided to get diced ham (€2.5) as the only topping, but because the omelette already came cooked with savory butter, the ham made it a little too salty for me.

The space just outside Leger Am Dom seemed like the perfect spot to catch the entirety of the Frauenkirche, so we spent some time snapping a few photos there.

We are going to have an in-depth look at the Old Town today. Hopefully, I get to try a few more pastries.

Food Rating: 5.7/10

Price: €€€

Address: Kaufingerstraße 24, 80331 München-Altstadt-Lehel, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Marienplatz

Tel: +49 89 2102-0532-0

Website: https://www.legeramdom.de/

Opening Hours: 9:00am - 10:00pm (Sun - Thu), 9:00am - 11:00pm (Fri - Sat)

Café Luitpold (Munich, GERMANY) ★★★☆☆

After a very disappointing dinner at Rocco Riviera, they decided to take a slow walk along Brienner Straße, the vibrant cultural, academic, and artistic heart of Munich. Situated just steps from the grand Odeonsplatz public square, the neighborhood is best known for seamlessly blending luxurious, neoclassical 19th-century architecture with a lively, trendy urban energy.

We ended up stopping by Café Luitpold, a historic coffeehouse and checked out their chocolates, gourmet cakes, and more. Opened in 1888 during the Gründerzeit era, this iconic café combines a grand cafe setting with a mix of traditional and contemporary offerings.

The pastry counter at Café Luitpold draws on storied royal traditions, reimagined with a contemporary flair.

We originally came here for their French-style Schwarzwälder Kirsch — a refined, elevated twist on the classic Black Forest cake but we ended up finding something else instead.

Himbeerkuchen (€5.9) — The raspberry cake is a light, classic German fruit tart featuring a shortcrust pastry base, rich vanilla cream filling, and a dense topping of fresh raspberries that looked as if they have been caramelized.

It was surprisingly good, with a perfect balance between sweetness and acidity.

When I was reading online reviews about Café Luitpold, service consistency seemed to be the main reason it received a poor rating despite its exceptional pastry reputation. Reviewers pointed to a few recurring complaints about how staff handle patrons. To be brutally honest, I could see the same from my personal experience tonight. While the service wasn’t totally unfriendly, I thought it could be more courteous and cheerful.

Food Rating: 6.3/10

Price: €€€

Address: Brienner Strasse 11, 80333 Munich, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Odeonsplatz

Tel: +49 89 2428750

Website: http://www.cafe-luitpold.de/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 8:00pm (Mon), 8:00am - 10:00pm (Tue - Sat), 9:00am - 8:00pm (Sun)

 

Rocco Riviera (Munich, GERMANY) ★☆☆☆☆

Our dinner venue was right next to quiet Wittelsbacherplatz, just a few steps from bustling Hofgarten (皇家花園). We thought it would be a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of Old Town but this meal turned out to be much busier than we all expected (more on that later).

Rocco Riviera is a hugely popular Italian restaurant and bar. Judging by the crowd there even before 6pm, you could tell it was a crowd favorite. We decided to join the atmosphere by grabbing a table just outside the restaurant, but that choice turned into a nightmare. 

Constant disturbances from flies, wasps, and bees made it impossible to enjoy the meal. We had no choice but to move inside before our dishes arrived, and the restaurant staff was kind enough to accommodate our request.

Vitello tonnato (€19) — The veal fillet was a little on the rough side, but the tuna sauce was a decent touch. There was plenty of rocket leaves, which added a good freshness and mouthfeel.

As newcomers to Munich’s dining scene, we’re definitely not experts, but this first dish reminded me how truly blessed we are as Hongkongers — we have so many great vitello tonnato options in Hong Kong. This one simply didn’t measure up.

Primavera Riviera salad (€16) — This was a sharing-style salad with garden greens, pickled artichokes, carrots, and olives — basically everything you’d expect in a classic primavera. For me, though, the dressing had a little too much acidity.

By this point, the flies and bees had clearly noticed our move inside and decided to follow. It made dinner really uncomfortable. With constant effort to fend off our “enemies”, we found it hard to relax and enjoy the meal.

Seafood spaghetti (€31) — There was an abundance of seafood — at least one piece each of prawn, scallop, octopus, clams, and mussels.

The al dente spaghetti itself wasn't bad but again, there are plenty of excellent Italian restaurants in Hong Kong that can do a much better seafood spaghetti than this.

Whole charcoal grilled seabass (€42) — The sea bass was served with gremolata sauce on the side.

The texture of the seabass was a little dry and rough, and for someone who isn’t a big fish lover, the number of small bones was also a problem.

In the end, it was a pretty forgettable experience. We were constantly attacked by flies, wasps and bees throughout the night. Little nugget was obviously upset, and while Jelloman and I tried to enjoy the meal, our attention kept being pulled away by the constant need to rebuff our new friends. The food was also somewhat disappointing — aside from the spaghetti dish (which was decent), the rest of the dishes just didn’t work.

So yes, “forgettable” is an understatement.

Food Rating: 5.2/10

Price: €€€

Address: Wittelsbacher Platz 2, 80333 Munich, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Odeonsplatz

Tel: +49 89 2872-4421

Website: http://www.roccariviera.com/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm (Tue - Fri), 6:00pm - 12:00am (Mon - Sat)

Stay Kooook Munich City (Munich, GERMANY)

I had a hard time trying to figure out where to stay in Munich. We needed a place close to München Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) to pick up our rental car in a couple of days, and at the same time, its ideal location should be within walking distance to the Old Town. And oh yes, we needed more than two single beds as little nugget has grown a little more than we expected. Not easy.

Stay Kooook Munich City came onto my radar thanks to its convenient location between the Main Station and Karlsplatz. Walking to either station takes no more than three minutes. The best of all, it’s an apartment-style hotel so for some of the more premier rooms, we get three beds for maximum comfort.

As we have drawn it out, we arrived at the front of the hotel at 10am after taking the train from the airport. As expected, our room wasn’t ready yet (check-in time is 3pm) so we dropped off our luggage at the 1/F public area (there’s a room for storage of luggage) and off we go to explore Munich’s Old Town.

We didn’t get to check out the public area personally, but judging from my first glance, it features a kitchen area and lounge for guests to chill out.

One thing worth noting is that, like many hotels in Munich, Stay Kooook Munich City uses an app or website for guests to control the access to both the front door and the room door. When our room is ready, there’s an alert notifying us that we could come back to complete our check-in. That was pretty efficient.

Our room was a family suite and one of the biggest suites of its kind in the hotel. 

It features a queen bed with two bunker beds on the side, easily accommodating up to four guests.

There’s a small kitchen area with a stove, sink and cabinet full of cutlery, pots and more. Also available was a washing machine for guests staying a bit longer.

The bathroom was a decent size. 

Toilet 

All in all, we really loved the bright and sleek interior. It feels comfortable and surprisingly homey.

Our room was directly facing the pedestrian street so there’s no noise throughout the night.

The real question is, would I stay here again if I ever decide to visit Munich in the future? Let me sleep on this one a little… 

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Price: €€€

Address: Schützenstr 9, 80335 Munich, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Karlsplatz / Hauptbahnhof

Tel: +49 89 5419-0310

Website: https://www.staykooook.com/munich-city/

Wintergarten at Rosewood Munich (Munich, GERMANY) ★★★★☆

We tried our best to explore Munich while most of the city was closed for the day. From the city’s most popular shopping streets to trendy FÜNF HÖFE München (慕尼黑五庭院), everything seemed to be shut leaving us with very few options for an early afternoon tea. But I knew there had to be places that would be open for business — hotel restaurants and cafés.

After finishing window-shopping at FÜNF HÖFE München, checking out the afternoon tea options at Rosewood Munich felt like the perfect fit, since it was just a stone’s throw away.

Housed in the former headquarters of the State Bank of Bavaria (Bayerische Staatsbank), dating back to 1893–1894, the building is a historic landmark featuring striking 19th-century architecture from the baroque and rococo periods.

Located one floor below the lobby of Rosewood Munich, Wintergarten is an elegant, light-flooded indoor courtyard lounge offering premium all-day dining with a sophisticated Bavarian flair. 

During afternoon hours, it offers a small but refined selection of drinks and desserts curated by Executive Pastry Chef Shinas Shahida.

The outdoor seats would have been a popular choice if not for the nasty heat this afternoon.

We wasted no time grabbing a sofa seat in the middle of the lounge to chill out and rest up a bit.

Our refreshments finally arrived just in the nick of time.

Citrus Dream (€12) — Inside a citrusy flavored white-chocolate “bowl,” there’s a mix of lemon confit, yuzu ganache, and candied Buddha’s hand. I thought there might also be something sticky there like glutinous rice in play. 

Either way, it’s a refreshing summer dessert, but if you’re looking for a nice, cohesive mix of flavors with exciting textures, this may not be your cup of tea.

Black Forest Twist (€12) — A modern spin on the traditional Black Forest cake. It features hazelnut and chocolate sponge, mascarpone mousse, and sour cherry compote, but the star here is the hazelnut crunch, which adds an extra layer of crunchiness to the dessert. 

I thought the only thing missing here was that signature kiss from the kirsch wine — but since the lounge is a haven for younger guests, it came with little surprise that the dessert came alcohol-free.

At this point, I finally had some free time to check the hotel app and that’s when I realized our room was already cleaned up and ready. Time to head back to the hotel for a quick nap! That’s usually what we do after a 12-hour flight to Europe…

Food Rating: 7.3/10

Price: €€€

Address: Kardinal-Faulhaber-Straße 1, 80333 Munich, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Odeonsplatz

Tel: +49 89 8000190

Website: https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/munich/dining/wintergarten

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 9:00pm daily

Augustiner Klosterwirt (Munich, GERMANY) ★★★★☆

While I was planning out the itinerary for this trip six months ago, I vaguely came across the fact that our two-day stay in Munich would overlap with a public holiday — when most shops and restaurants close for the occasion. Then I promptly forgot… and it came back to haunt us the moment we arrived in Munich today.

With most of Munich closed for business, it was pretty difficult to make use of our five spare hours (while waiting for our hotel room to be ready). Luckily, we found Augustiner Klosterwirt, which helped us steal back at least an hour off the clock.

Augustiner Klosterwirt is a popular traditional Bavarian restaurant and beer hall located in the historic heart of Munich’s Old Town, directly adjacent to the iconic Frauenkirche (聖母教堂).

It’s best known for its vibrant atmosphere and authentic food. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to try the fresh Augustiner beer poured straight out of the traditional wooden barrels.

Klosterwirt sausage platter (€22.9) — This platter came with one large sausage and five small ones (two spicy and three Nuremberg ones), served alongside potato salad, sauerkraut, and grated horseradish.

We were pleasantly surprised by the extra kick from the spicy sausages. Overall, the sausages weren’t bad, but some of them could have been a bit more charred (or meatier). , we’re no experts in German cuisine.

Wiener schnitzel (€29.5) — Of course, a German meal isn’t complete without a Wiener schnitzel. The tender breaded veal escalope came with a wild cranberry sauce, which turned out to be a really nice match.

We also had some French fries on the side to go with the schnitzel.

So that was our first official meal in Munich. We did a good job knocking off an hour, but we still had four more to work with. Next up was a visit to the nearby Frauenkirche and hopefully, we have enough energy to explore even more after that.

Food Rating: 5.6/10

Price: €€€

Address: Augustinerstraße 1, 80331 München-Altstadt-Lehel, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Karlsplatz / Marienplatz

Tel: +49 89 5505-4466

Website: http://augustiner-klosterwirt.de/

Opening Hours: 9:30am - 12:00am daily