Established in 1589, Hofbrauhaus is one of Munich’s oldest breweries. I find it incredible to think about what was going on in some parts of the world 400 or 500 years ago. In places like Munich, the dilemma of the day was how to get good beer in the city, while in other places the locals were trying to figure out how to get their meal for the day. My own country, Australia, hadn’t even been ‘discovered’ while the Duke of Bavaria was having council meetings to arrange the construction of the Hofbrauhaus brewery. Life is weird.

The Hofbrauhaus in the centre of Munich is no longer an active brewery and while I am sure there are better beer gardens in the city, Hofbrauhaus is such an institution it shouldn’t be missed. Yes, you’ll most likely be surrounded by other tourists while you’re there but what the hell, it’s a lot of fun.

It pretty much goes without saying that drinking beer is the thing to do. I never drink beer but made an exception here and while I couldn’t manage to drink the entire 1 litre I got, it did make for a good photo op.

The food is traditional German which means a lot of sausages, roast pork, pork knuckle and other meats. Not my kind of food. They have a few vegetarian options but they’re not very appealing. You can see the full menu here. I don’t remember what I ordered but I know I didn’t like it.

If you like meat and potato type dishes I’m sure it’d be alright but I suspect there isn’t too much love and attention put into the meals, it’s all about feeding the masses.

Even though I didn’t enjoy the food and I don’t drink, the atmosphere was great and I’d go again.

While I always knew Hofbrauhaus was big business, I didn’t know just how big until recently. Hofbrauhaus pub franchises can be found all around Europe, in the US, Dubai, South Korea, Thailand, and even in Melbourne. I wonder how successful they are outside of Munich.