Chinese Tower Beer Garden, Munich (Chinese Tower Beer Garden, Munich)

Member Name: SugarSpun

Product:	Chinese Tower Beer Garden, Munich
Date:	17/09/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good beer and food, and a better atmosphere

Disadvantages: Self-service, wasps, oompah music on summer Sundays

The Englischer Garten, German for "English Garden", is a large public park in the centre of Munich, stretching from the city centre to the north-eastern suburbs. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson, and with an area of 3.7 km2 (1.4 sq mi) the Englischer Garten is one of the world's largest urban public parks, larger than New York's Central Park. The name refers to the style of gardening; the term English garden is used outside of the English speaking world to refer to the style of informal landscape gardening which was popular in the United Kingdom from the mid 18th century to the early 19th century.

The Chinese Tower, situated roughly between the districts of Schwabing and Bogenhausen, is a wooden pagoda-type structure 25m high. It's modelled on the Great Pagoda in the Royal Botanical Gardens in London, and looks how a German might think a Chinese pagoda might look having been heavily influenced by a Brit who'd never seen a genuine pagoda up close. If you're looking for accuracy, move onwards.
There are a couple of buses running through the English Garden, the 54 and the 154, and both stop at the stop considerately named "Chinesicher Turm". Get out here and follow the noise.

The beergarden has almost 7000 seats, making it the second largest in Munich. Even so, on warm summer evenings you'll find it hard to find somewhere to sit. Beer gardens are self-service, and beer and food is all to be found inside the corralled zone. Best to organise strategic beer acquisition - put one or two people in charge of guarding the spot you've found (the most proactive of your group, obviously - these are heavily sought after seats) and go over to the corral.

Walk in, grab a tray, and if you need to eat grab something - the Chinese Tower is a pretty good one for food, although it's pretty expensive. If you're planning a heavy night of drinking, Bavarian food is ideal, being composed almost entirely of carbs and rib-sticking starches. I'd recommend a Schweineshax'n (pig's knuckle) or else some sausages and a side of knodel.

Next, the beer. It comes in 1-litre glasses, although you can ask for a kleines Bier, which is a half-litre (just under a pint). If you don't want to drink beer, your options are fairly limited. You should be able to find an Apfelschorle somewhere (apple juice mixed with sparkling water, it's good) or else you could have a Radler (beer-lemonade mix, like shandy). When your tray's loaded with drink and beer, head to the cash register.
Here, an inexplicable thing will occur. Your bill will be larger than you think it ought to be - to the tune of Euro1 per beer on your tray. You will also be given some plastic tokens, again, of a number equal to the number of your beers. This is Pfand, a system of putting a deposit against the safe return of the glass. People steal them, you see. When you're done, take the glass and the token to the Pfandzuruckgeber. Your euro will be refunded.

Sometimes there's music at the tower, but even without it the atmosphere's great. It's worth remembering that the beergarden closes early - about 9pm's as late as you're likely to get, so make plans to move on or go home early.

Prost!

Summary: Better than average beergarden in lovely surroundings.