Restaurant review: Zwickl, Munich, Germany (*****)

One of the many benefits of travel is trying (and hopefully enjoying) new kinds of cuisine that your palette may not have encountered before. Zwickl’s signature meatballs, found near the busy Viktualienmarkets (fresh food markets running daily just south of the city square), were one such culinary experience I was glad to enjoy while in Munich.

Meatballs aren’t a common occurrence at home for me in Australia, with only the now bustling Meatball and Wine Bar flying the meatball flag for its hungry guests in Melbourne. Having tried and tested its tasty but slightly expensive produce, I was eager to see if the German touch resulted in a superior taste.

Only opened in July of this year, Zwickl is still not widely known. It was quite bereft of visitors while we were there, so we were fast to get seated and served. I opted for the Bavarian white sausage (Weiswurst) meatballs with curry honey mustard and hearty vegetable soup, while my friend chose the meatball of baked chicken with potato cucumber salad.

Bavarian white sausage meatballs with curry honey mustard and vegetable soup (left)

Meatball of baked chicken and potato cucumber salad

One more with yumminess: close-up of those bavarian white sausage meatballs!

That delicious (but slightly strong) honey curry mustard

My meatballs were crunchy, succulent and mouth-watering to the taste. Who knew that three small balls of protein could pack so much flavour? The honey curry mustard added an extra zing to the dish, but large amounts made the mouth quite dry. Luckily, a small bowl of hearty vegetable soup was provided, which nicely counterbalanced the bitterness of the mustard.

My friend’s baked chicken meatballs weren’t quite as good as my white sausage ones, but were nicely formed and delicious. The supporting potato cucumber salad was aces though.

Andy’s traveler rating – Zwickl

Address: Zwickl – Gastlichkeit am Viktualienmarkt, Dreifaltigkeitsplatz 2, Munich

Price 5/5:  Very good for the budget, our meals were no more than 8-12 euros.

Service 5/5: Fast and responsive waitress quickly took our order, while the food arrived very speedily.

Decor 5/5: Bright windows and indoor and outdoor seating options provide an ideal location for people-watching while you dine.  

Food 4.5/5: Tasty and wholesome, Zwickl’s food is fresh and different from the other offerings in the city.

Rating: 4.75/5 – Zwickl is a must do if you are in the city and needing a tasty feed.

Note: The rating for Zwickl has been rounded up for simplicity’s sake.

Airline review: Lufthansa Airlines (*****)

In my third airline review, I put the spotlight on Lufthansa Airlines, the full-service, national carrier for Germany. I used to travel return from Munich to Rome. Continuing my favourable experience with European full-service carriers, Lufthansa proved to be another stellar example of excellent customer service and generous value adds to maintain a competitive edge.

Date flown: October 4 (Munich to Rome, 8am departure for 9:30am arrival), October 9 (Rome to Munich, 3:20pm departure for 4:50pm arrival)

Airport: Munich Flughafen Airport (October 4), Rome Fiumucino Airport (October 9)

Class: Economy

The good

• Instant mobile alerts for change of gate: As often happens with airlines, there was a last minute change to our gate number. Thankfully, we were notified by text of this which enabled us to be on our way.

• Friendly, bilingual flight attendants: Lufthansa staff were attentive, friendly and excellent in both German and English. This made dealing with them a breeze.

• Delicious in-flight food and generous drink options: Our flight was only one hour and thirty minutes long so I wasn’t expecting anything, so imagine my surprise when I was offered a generous snack (natural yoghurt and muesli for a morning flight; Johannesbierre cake for an afternoon flight and numerous drinks (a choice from water, apple and orange juice, water, soft drinks, beer, wine, etc). After selecting one drink, you’re even asked if you want any other drinks and provided them with a smile! This beats the no-frills service provided by budget airlines such as Norwegian Air.

Johannesbiere cake – delicious!

The generous drinks provided on the Lufthansa flight – water, juice and beer!

• On-time and pleasant flight: The flight had no noticeable bumps or disturbances and departed on time

The not so good

• Shuttle bus service required from terminal to plane: I wasn’t sure if this was a Lufthansa or Rome airport issue, but it was slightly annoying having to stand on a rather slow and packed shuttle bus to reach our plane. How hard is it to connect planes to the terminal?

Other than that, I really have no complaints about Lufthansa, the service and experience was excellent. Something to note is that Lufthansa does however, use the traditional in-person safety demonstration as opposed to the digital one adopted by many airlines these days – not a criticism, just an observation.

#wingshot

How to improve:

• Provide a direct connection from the terminal to the plane: Passengers would rather not take a shuttle bus if they can help it, airports are large enough. Hopefully shuttle buses will be a thing of the past soon.

Andy’s traveler rating:

Service: 4/5
Food and drink: 5/5
Comfort: 5/5
Safety: 5/5

Overall: 19/20 – An excellent in-flight food and drink offering and stellar customer service sets Lufthansa apart from other full-service and budget airlines. A direct connecting link to the plane would be my only suggestion.

Have you ever flown Lufthansa Airlines, and if so, what was your experience? What is your favourite European airline, and why do you like them?

Beer, beer, beer at Oktoberfest!

After yesterday’s enthralling yet exhausting trip to Europa Park, any hopes I had of a relaxing day were dashed as Oktoberfest was on the menu. The world-famous Bavarian tradition was in town, and was not to be missed.

Set in Theresienwiese in the center of Munich, Oktoberfest is a homage to the Bavarian tradition of beer and celebration, with hearty German meals on offer that are traditionally washed down with Oktoberfest beer supplied in always-packed beer tents. Both men and women dress up in traditional Bavarian dress, with the men donning lederhosen and the women sporting dirndi.

Not exactly lederhosen (Bavarian traditional attire for men) but an example of the garb seen adorning the fellas at Oktoberfest

Traditional Bavarian hat (Tirolerhüte) with tufts of chamois hair (gamsbart)

But Oktoberfest isn’t just about alcohol – it’s also host to a large variety of rides, games and Bavarian food (nuts, sausages, sweets, drinks and lollies) that make it otherwise a family-friendly event. It was a unique experience simply wandering the packed grounds (I went on October 2nd, which was a public holiday in Munich) and seeing everything in action. The ride I went on had five upside down loops, yet another scary and exciting memory for the archives!

Sweeeeeeets

We all scream for ice cream!

Traditional German gingerbread is on offer at Oktoberfest – it’s a couple gift for a guy to buy and give to his special lady. Apparently it’s not meant to be eaten but hung up in the house.

No day is complete without a sky high drop!

After seeing the sights on the ground, it was time to move into one of the tents to try out the local brew. That’s where part of the challenge lies in Oktoberfest – tents are in high demand, with a limited number of seats available for the food and drink on offer. Companies (who frequently use Oktoberfest as a team building/celebration activity) and large groups have been known to reserve tables at Oktoberfest more than 6 months in advance to secure a spot. Luckily, with our group of two, we found a seat in one of the tents within 15 minutes.

Joining two groups of locals at our table, we promptly ordered a 1L each of the beer. I looked on in avid interest at the groups of German folk indulging in German food and drink as German music and drinking songs pulsated around us. I even spotted a man dance for five minutes on top of a table!

Being not much of a drinker, it took me a good while to finish off the 1L beer. Beer still isn’t really my thing but it was worth it for the Oktoberfest experience, even though I didn’t understand much of what was said or the music playing from the stage.

The infamous Oktoberfest 1L beer

Attraction details – Oktoberfest

Directions: Oktoberfest be easily reached by U-Bahn, S-Bahn and bus as it takes place within the centre of Munich. For detailed transport information, consult the Deutsche Bahn website.

Admission: Admission is free, so you only pay for the rides, food and beer you consume. Note that the infamous Oktoberfest beer is only available in 1L quantities and is charged at 10 euros each. A bit steep for a beer, but you’re paying for the brand and the atmosphere as well as the beer.

Rating: 4/5 – a great experience for any first-time traveler to Munich. I only downgraded it slightly as I don’t really buy into the heavy drinking culture promoted by Oktoberfest.

Traveler tips:

• Oktoberfest beer is stronger than normal beer, so keep this in mind to pace yourself as you drink. Plenty of inebriated people can be spotted leaving Oktoberfest, having misjudged their capacity for grog.
• Eat your food and take the rides you want to before you consume any beer to avoid unexpected surprises later
• If you want to get a table without a reservation, be prepared to wait. The smaller your group, the greater your chance of getting a table. In any case, arrive early to secure a spot.
• If you aren’t a fan the full strength beer, you can order a radler which is beer mixed with lemonade and is slightly cheaper too.

Have you been to Oktoberfest? What was your experience like?

 

Europe sized fun at Europa Park

For my first day in Munich, a friend suggested we take advantage of the extensive regional train network and journey to Europa Park, a massive theme park that, like its name suggests, is designed according to the different countries of the European Union.

Having arrived at Munich Hauptbahnhof (HBF – Munich Central Station) from Paris two hours later than I intended (after sitting in the wrong position on the 9:30pm train arriving into Munich, which landed me in Strasbourg), I was told that in order to reach Europa Park by its 9am opening time we had to get to the train station at around 3am! As I had only arrived at my friend’s place at around 12:30am and needed time to unpack and have something to eat, I was understandably exhausted and not looking forward to the prospect of even more travel. To throw a spanner into the works, we had missed our bus to the Munich HBF from where our train would depart, forcing us to take a cab instead. Despite the crazy ride, my friend assured me it was worth it, so off we went with no sleep to one of the largest amusement parks in Europe…

The journey there was very disjointed, involving five changes of trains and seven trains in total (Munich to Stuttgart HBF, Stuttgart HBF to Karlsruhe HBF, Karlsruhe HBF to Ringsheim on the way there; Ringsheim to Offenburg, Offenburg to Karlsruhe HBF, Karlsruhe HBF to Sturttgart HBF and Stuttgart HBF to Munchen HBF on the return leg). Added to that, there was another bus we needed to take from Ringsheim to the Europa Park itself. The hop on-hop off journey gave me little opportunity to sleep continuously, leaving me feeling ready to collapse. So much drama before I’d even set foot inside the Park! The kick in the face came when I found out Europa Park is actually 30km away from Strasbourg…meaning I’d basically traveled from Strasbourg to Munich three times in one day, and could have traveled directly to the Park without going all the way to Munich and back.

Forgive the pun, but I was in for one hell of a ride at Europa Park! Traveling through the different countries of the theme park, I was treated to over eight hours of fun through jaw-drop inducing rollercoasters, water rides, shoot-em-ups, cart rides, train rides and any other ride you can think of! The multicultural design of the park lends itself to a multitude of European food options, with Greek, Italian, French, German, Finnish and various others available. The park was also decorated in a fun, bright and engaging manner, with Halloween being the theme during our visit in the first week of October.

The ‘France’ region of Europa Park

The Halloween theme in action at Europa Park

Clogs of Europe!

My favourite rides were ‘Blue Fire’ and ‘Silver Star’, both of which were thrilling, unbelievably high and fast rollercoasters that made me laugh, scream and smile seemingly all at once. I even went on the Silver Star twice at my friend’s bequest!

Attraction details – Europa Park

Directions: Europa Park can be reached by regional train. Consult the Deutsche Bahn website for detailed train and transport information.

Admission: All inclusive admission (entry and access to rides) for adults during the summer season is normally 42.50 euros, but as my friend is a journalist, he was able to obtain a complementary press pass for two. This made it exceptional value for me combined with my rail pass, which provided all day transport to Europa Park and back. Compared to other theme parks such as Tivoli which charge both an exorbitant entry fee and a fee per ride, Europa Park hits the sweet spot of being both affordable and interesting to a broad range of audience groups, with its Europe theme and plentiful options for food and rides.

Rating: 5/5. My friend was right – Europa Park is seriously the real deal. A must-do if you are in the vicinity.

Traveler’s tips:

• Pack some food and drink to avoid the overpriced food options at the Park.
• Get there at opening time to maximise your experience. Also try and go on a weekday to avoid the rush on weekends or public holidays.
• If you’re not the biggest fan of rides, consider taking an extreme ride followed by a gentle ride and then repeating this until you have done all the rides you are interested in
• Upon entering the Park, proceed to the middle or back of the Park to avoid the often congested lines at the front areas. There are signs clearly indicating the expected wait time for each ride.
• As you get more tired throughout the day, consider taking the provided intra-Park train service. The train departs from a central location and stops at several key ‘countries’ in the Park.

What has your experience been at Europa Park? What are your favourite theme parks inside and outside Europe?