Beer is the most popular drink in the gastronomy of Munich and to sample it, you can take advantage of the dozens of Biergärten or beer gardensthat can be found all over the city, where, sharing huge tables in the sunshine, you can enjoy the cheerful Munich lifestyle, try out some Bavarian delicacies or even bring along your own food, but never the drinks!

The Munich biergarten season takes place between Spring and Autumn when the sunshine allows you to enjoy these traditional gardens as well as the many outdoor terraces that together offer in the region of 180,000 al fresco seats

Among the biggest venues are the 8,000 seater Hirschgarten, or 5,000 places at the Augustiner in Arnulf Street and the Paulaner in Nockherberg with space for 4,000.

Other notable meeting places include the biergarten in Viktualienmarkt Square, the one next to the Chinese Tower in the English Garden or the Waldwirtschaft, where jazz music livens up the atmosphere.

Augustiner-Keller

This biergarten overflows with tradition. With more than 5,000 seats under the shade of 100 magnificent chestnut trees, it guarantees the most authentic experience of them all. 45 of these trees are protected species and are duly numbered. The Augustiner-Keller itself appears as a beer store on a map of the City of Munich dated 1812. The cellar belongs to the oldest brewery in the city and is a perfect example of traditional Munich conviviality and its legendary hospitality.

www.augustinerkeller.de
Arnulfstraße 52 80335 Munich

Biergarten in the Viktualienmarkt Square

You can buy anything you feel like for your tea and eat it straightaway washed down with one of Munich’s famous brands of beer that take turns supplying this beer garden situated in the very heart of the Bavarian capital.

www.biergarten-viktualienmarkt.de
Viktualienmarkt 80331 Munich

Biergarten at the Chinese Tower

After a little sunbathing or having enjoyed a stroll around the English Garden, your visit to the park can be rounded off next to the Chinese Tower with “tea” accompanied by a fine beer in the shade of the chestnut trees. On Sundays the atmosphere is enhanced with live music from a wind band.
www.chinaturm.de
Englischer Garten 80538 Munich

Biergarten at the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus

The congenial Hofbräuhaus beer garden is a surprise, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, where you can enjoy the world famous beer and culinary delights of Munich in a truly welcoming environment.

www.hofbraeuhaus.de
Platzl 9 80331 Munich

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One of the most representative meals in Viennese gastronomy is wiener schnitzel (or Viennese escalope). In fact, is the national food, even is originally from Austria, actually.

Is a common recipe in many countries: in Spain is known as San Jacobo or cachopo, also seen as the Japanese tonkatsu, the Argentinian escalope or the Italian cotoletta, among other examples.

The origin has become an intense debate among culinary historians. Most of the agree to point the origin in Spain, where it was introduced by Arab traders, who already covered meat on bread during the Middle Age.

Then we have the legend, which says it was imported from the Italian "costoletta milanesa" by marshal Joseph Radetzky, who sent the recipe to Franz Joseph I of Austria. They said he liked it so much that he incoroporate it to the Austrian gastronomy under the name of winer schnitzel.

Therefore, many countries claim the origin. This happens often for any new invention even sometimes, what happens is that it appears in different countries simultaneously, a each country looks for old gastronomy books to claim the origin.

However, there’s no doubt that is a delicious and crunchy dish, wanted by any tourists that arrives in the city.

To prepare it, a thin slice of veal is softened with a mallet, then is dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, and finally fried in butter. It’s served with potatoes, salad and lemon slices and seasoned with vinaigrette.

Generally, these dishes are easy to cook and delicious, but not so glamorous. That’s not the case with schnitzel, presented as an haute cuisine specialty. It might be because of the elegant way Viennese people cooks it.

Even the veal is the main ingredient for the classic version of this dish, pigmeat is often used and is more popular. There is also a version made of chicken or a veggie made of tofu, seitan or soy.

In Vienna you can try this meal anywhere in the city centre. This is a list with some of our favorites so you don’t leave the city without trying the Viennese schnitzel.

Figlmüller
Wollzeile 5, | Bäckerstraße 6, Vienna

Schnitzelwirt
Neubaugasse 52, Vienna

Gasthaus Poschl
Weihburggasse 17, 1010, Vienna

Strandcafé Wien
Florian-Berndl-Gasse 2,1220, Vienna

Café Einstein
Rathausplatz 4, 1010 Vienna

There is not only wiener schnitzel in Austria gastronomy. Even it’s a little country, it has a long culinary tradition, mixing many European specialties. You shouldn’t miss a chance to try more typical dishes like tafelspitz (boiled beef), milling trout (Forelle nach Müllerin Art), Kaiserschmarrn (sweet), Palatschinken (Crêpes), Apfelstrudel (apple cake) or Sacher cake. Yummy!

Picture by Kobako

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By Silvia Artaza from Gastronomistas

That Frankfurt is a place of contrasts is something you take in at first sight when you land at this German city. A skyline that rises over buildings from another era; a busy Turkish restaurant full of suited executives at lunchtime; a Japanese pâtisserie where you can just as well buy macarons as sit at its sushi bar.

We got away to Frankfurt for three days to find out what the city has to offer apart from the famous sausages it gives its name to. And we found out.

We used NH City as our headquarters. It's a very well located hotel, a stone's throw from Konstablerwache Square, where the pedestrian shopping area (Zeil) begins. There is a train station of the same name right there, with a direct line to the airport, which is an advantage worth considering when planning your trip. And if you like markets, the square has an interesting market of regional products at the weekend, with heaps of things to try from small-scale producers.

At Christmas, as in many German cities, street markets take centre stage, making this is a great time to visit Frankfurt. But undoubtedly the event in the city with the greatest international impact is the Book Fair. Held in October, it is the largest and most important book fair in the world, a showcase for publishers that attracts over 250,000 visitors each year.

It wasn't October, but we found a good book and headed off to look for those ten cafés where you could spend hours reading.

1- Iimori Pâtisserie & Restaurant. Macarons and Sushi Bar.

Very close to the cathedral, in the heart of Frankfurt, two discreet Japanese women welcome us to this original pâtisserie. A charming café to settle into and enjoy any of the sweet snacks from behind the glass counter: macarons, pastries, fine cakes, including green tea cake, fresh fruit tarts, etc. If you like tea, it's a place not to miss. And the same goes if you like Japanese food. Because upstairs you'll be surprised to find a sushi bar with a great choice of dishes both for lunch and dinner, as well as to take away.

There is a daily buffet breakfast with pastries, croissants, bread, fresh fruit with yoghurt, jams, chocolate cream, sausages and cheeses. And on Saturdays and Sundays there's brunch, where Iimori's sweet side is combined with a great selection of sushi and other Japanese specialities. (Braubachstraße 24)

2-Bitter & Zart. The pleasure of chocolate.

Without leaving this street, we switched from tea and pastries to chocolate in all its varieties. Bitter & Zart began as a shop offering fine chocolate. Tablets, pralines, chocolates, truffles, cocoa... of all the imaginable intensities and flavours (toasted almonds, Ceylon cinnamon, caramel, etc.).

But in 2012 an adjoining room, which they call the "living room", was opened. A cozy and inviting place to enjoy a coffee, tea, chocolate drink or juice, with something sweet or savoury from the counter display. If you come here you have to try the Bitter & Zart chocolate cake. (Braubachstraße 14)

 3-Frankfurter Kunstverein café/bar.

Located in the heart of Frankfurt near Römer square, Frankfurter Kunstverein is an art centre that pioneers in the production and exhibition of young and experimental artists. Its café/bar is, as you'd expect, a meeting place for creative minds, where artists and advertising people are to be seen with their laptops while having a cup of coffee.

The fresh homemade food is based on seasonal regional produce. They bake their own bread and the fruit juices are freshly squeezed. It's a great choice if you're looking for a place to have breakfast or enjoy a cocktail in a good atmosphere. (Steinernes Haus am Römerberg. Markt 44).

 4-Café Metropol. A must-do.

Also right by the cathedral, Café Metropol is one of the most common places to get together in the city. A good atmosphere and good prices. At its large wooden tables you can have coffee, one of the best homemade pies in Frankfurt, sandwiches, pasta and salads.

It is very bright and you can spend hours gazing through its large window onto a garden, which, coupled with its simplicity, makes it one of the nicest places we found to enjoy a good read. That said, you should know that for dinner (with its international menu) and breakfast at the weekend it's chock-a-block, so it's best to book. (Weckmarkt 13-15)

5-Breakfasts at Café Karin

Another place that is often full is Café Karin, which is a great place for breakfast. The variety is incredible. The breakfast menu uses the names of Frankfurt's various districts, with choices ranging from a classic croissant with butter and jam to a heaped plate of cheeses, meats, sweets... And of course, there are also fresh juices, coffee and muesli, plus the possibility of customising your breakfast with lots of extras. We could call it breakfast, or better still, brunch, because it's available until the evening. (Grosser Hirschgraben 28)

6-Café Albatros. An afterwork place with atmosphere

People had told us about Bockenheim, a neighbourhood we reached passing through a more residential area. Less lively than the centre, but with interesting places like this, Café Albatros, full of young people having a quiet beer after work.

Like Café Metropol, it closes after midnight during the week, so the atmosphere is lively at dinner time. And, of course, there is the Sunday brunch, with some 50 different hot and cold, sweet and savoury dishes. The menu is international, ranging from Italian pasta dishes and salads to tasty Samosas with yoghurt and mint sauce. (Kiesstrasse 27)

7-Roseli. An early evening café

A bit hidden away. This café is located in an alley in an area halfway between the shopping district (Zeil) and the main square (Römer). We liked it because it's small, intimate and very pleasant. And because it has a charming terrace away from the traffic for days with good weather.

Organic teas, coffees and irresistible cakes. But there are also savoury dishes like quiche, focaccia, panini and salads. Nearby Roseli there are other urbane alternatives worth dropping in at, like Brot und seine Freunde (a home bakery with coffees, sandwiches and sweets) and Souper! (with loads of great soups to eat in or take away). (Weißadlergasse 9)

8-History at the tables of Café Liebfrauenberg

Part of Frankfurt's history is definitely to be found here, in this café. Established over 120 years ago, it was and remains a place for social gatherings in the city centre. With its air of nostalgia and of being from another time, it is a must on a list like this, taking in this German city's cafés.

Coffees, teas, drinking chocolate and a variety of sweets to drive you mad. Pancakes, crepes and waffles, and also homemade cakes made with seasonal fruit. Don't miss the walnut cake. (Liebfrauenberg 24)

9-Cocktails and more at Moloko +

Neither Anthony Burgess's book nor Kubrick's film adaptation of it reveal its recipe, but we remember the Moloko Plus as the cocktail drunk by the characters in A Clockwork Orange. Its namesake in Frankfurt also began as a cocktail bar, but has now evolved into a non-stop concept where you can have everything from breakfast in the morning to a mojito at night. The interior design is excuse enough in itself to drop by. (Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 1)

10-Café Süden. Drop in to try its sweets and teas

We love to get off the tourist trail and so one afternoon we ended up in the Bornheim district. We were told that this is an area where locals hang out, which makes us like it even more. With places like this little café. Just four little tables and a bar at the back full of cakes. Really lovely, a place to enjoy a good tea in a candlelit atmosphere. To our surprise, it's the little brother of a Spanish food restaurant in the city! (Berger Strasse 239)

And don't miss…

Operation "Frankfurt beyond the frankfurter" achieved, but we must confess that we also tried a few of them. Which is why, along with all of these recommendations, we encourage you to not miss ...

A visit to a traditional cider (Apfelwein) bar, like Apfelwein Wagner in the Sachsenhausen district, with apple/cider wine, breaded cutlets (Schnitzel) with green sauce(Grünen Soße), which they make with “seven herbs” (borage, chervil, watercress, parsley, burnet, chives and sorrel), or a typical cream cheese with paprika served as a spread starter (Spundekas). (Schweizer Straße 71)

And you should also stroll around the daily market at Kleinmarkthalle, where you can stop off at the Schreiber stall to try some of its sausages. At mid morning there is usually a long queue of locals waiting their turn, but if you want a real frankfurt in Frankfurt, this is the place. (Hasengasse 5)

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My Vueling City and Mondo Sonoro will be joining forces over the next few months to focus on the music and pop culture aspects of some of Vueling’s destinations. It couldn’t be otherwise – the alliance made its debut in London, the cradle of pop music. For this premiere we decided to spend a weekend accompanying Joan S. Luna, chief editor of this established music magazine. It was a heady few days during which we found time for everything – culinary variety, from Spanish gourmet drawn through an English filter, to fusion to fast food of dubious excellence, to comics and long strolls along Bankside, Oxford Street and Dalston, the district that is chalking up points to become the British capital’s new Soho. We often got lost in the maze-like network of public transport, and also ended up at the odd party, of course. Here, then, is what we did over the 40 hours we spent in London.

The Warm-up

We hit the megacity on a Friday afternoon. What with the time change, however, it was more night than afternoon. It was a typical London day – cold and rainy to different degrees. But, that was of no consequence to us. We had planned to meet the Mondo Sonoro crew at the magnificent Ibérica Victoria restaurant, the latest to be spawned by the family of Ibérica establishments, the talk of the town in London and Manchester. This is where we first met Joan S. Luna, the protagonist of this post. For him it was “a pleasure to savour the fantastic menu offered by Ibérica. Friendly service, great food and a decor that impacts from the outset. The interior design is really striking”. Indeed, the reception counter is crowned by a sort of cloud made up of all kinds of kitchenware. The restaurant was designed by the architect, Lázaro Rosa Violán, from Barcelona’s Estudios Contemporain. Here you can delight in the finest Spanish cuisine, but with an English flourish, considering that 95% of the guests are local. The head chef is none other than the Michelin twice-starred Nacho Manzano. Prevalent among his offerings are the meats and carefully crafted tapas. Make sure you try their croquettes – Marcos Fernández, Ibérica’s Managing Director, revealed that their secret lies in having a chef dedicated exclusively to tapas. We can also recommend their “twice cooked lamb”, marinated in cherries, tomatoes and red peppers from the Bierzo region. Once we had eaten to the full, the wisest thing was to retire to build up our strength for the Saturday, which we knew was going to run well into the early morning hours.

Just Another Hipster Day

London has been at the forefront of grass-roots European culture since the seventies. The length and breadth of the city is graced by neighbourhoods that operate as veritable incubators of trends. Here it is decided what the “in thing” for the next few weeks is to be. A short while ago it was all the rage to grow a beard, return to a traditional lifestyle and submit to vintage interiors. So, who knows what the trend is now? Maybe stamp collecting will suddenly become the hipster fashion.

We decided to begin with a bit of pop culture, so we spent the morning at the Tate Modern where we saw the exhibition, The World Goes Pop. “More than the exhibits themselves, it was quite an eye opener to discover the somewhat hidden face of the Pop Art boom, or how its shock wave yielded fruit in such countries as Spain, Poland and Japan”, remarked Joan when we emerged from the stunning building, a former power station dating from the forties. We then took a stroll through Bankside, where we came across one of the city’s numerous Christmas markets. “For me Bankside is one of the most attractive areas. You can roam its streets and end up wondering whether you are actually in a big city or a small coastal town”.

Motley Afternoon

After lunch, we set off to indulge one of Joan’s great pursuits – manga, comics and sci-fi. We got to Tottenham Court Road station and, after getting lost for the umpteenth time (along Oxford Street, on this occasion), we managed to locate that temple of cult entertainment, the nerdy store par excellence, Forbidden Planet. “This is obviously a landmark for enthusiasts of comics and fantasy literature. Once a compulsory reference point, it may have lost some of its clout to the slew of similar establishments that have popped up in other cities across the world. Despite that, it is an entertaining venue where time really flies”. And indeed it did. We then headed along Denmark Street and were taken aback by the sight of so many music shops – there were even some specialising in basses. After that we made for Dalston, the city’s new wicked precinct. Dalston is an ugly street, so don’t expect a pretty sight. It is full of Turkish restaurants touting döner kebab. However, it is well known for its night scene and for being one of the gay areas. “It was surprising to see how a suburb – or small satellite town – like Dalston has grown into a burgeoning hub of nightlife with noteworthy cultural offerings”. It boasts loads of sleazy joints consisting of narrow basements and endless lines of revellers queuing up to get in. After ambling about, we decided to whet our whistles at The Victoria. “It was a real surprise, set in the heart of Dalston. A grand programme hosted by DJs of diverse styles and some underground concerts to write home about”. We were also splendidly chaperoned by David García, the floor manager.

Experiencing London’s Nightlife

We then went to dinner at The Richmond, “a restaurant where everything works to perfection, from the delightful before-dinner cocktails to the assortment of unusual and highly elaborate dishes”. In effect. Impressively, some of the cocktails were named after groups. The one we liked best was the Sage Against the Machine, based on Wolfschmidt Kümmel, Cocchi Americano, fresh lime and sage. Of the dishes we tasted we can recommend the Galloway beef sirloin matured for 35 days with brine-soaked onion rings and marrowbone. After the tuck-in, and the excellent service dispensed by Vanita Prasad, the locale’s head waiter, we rushed off to The Scala, “one of the most emblematic multi-purpose venues in London offering a balanced set of diverse events in the various areas. The concerts I saw there are still fresh in my mind”, Joan recalls. Incidentally, that is where the last Mega Spanish Party of 2015 was held, organised by Rock Sin Subtítulos Productions Ltd, a promoter dedicated to hosting Spanish artists in London. Joan S. Luna was actually billed to DJ the best hits from here and there at the party. The night went off well, with a packed venue and the satisfaction of having made the most of our short stay in London.

Recommendations

Above all, we advise you to have a map handy (preferably an analog map, to avoid having to frantically search for free wi-fi areas to follow Google Maps from your mobile). London is a colossal city with – shall we say – an unusual urban layout. If you want to use public transport, you need to first take out a diploma, as understanding its workings is for advanced users only. We recommend you take your time moving from A to B, as you are likely to get lost at some stage or spend some time getting your bearings. If you’re going for a weekend or just a few days, the best thing is to take out an Oyster Card. They can be topped up and this is undoubtedly the fastest, most comfortable and economical way of funding single rides by bus, underground, DLR, tram, Thames Clippers, Emirates Air Line and most National Rail services. Another economical and efficient way of moving about the City is by Uber London, a more flexible alternative to taking taxis. Using their mobile app, you can located the nearest vehicles and calculate the estimated waiting time, fare and journey time. And, you have it all recorded, in case you need to file a complaint.

This, then, is the first of a series of joint experiences between My Vueling City and Mondo Sonoro. Our next stop will be in 2016. Music will of course be the pretext for our forthcoming post. But, where are we headed – Paris, Manchester, Berlin, Ibiza…? Stay tuned, and you will soon find out.

Oh! I nearly forgot – it you want to enjoy all these fun spots in London, check out our flights here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación, Wikipedia Commons, Ibérica Food & Culture Ltd.