Seehaus beer garden

A look behind the Seehaus beer garden in Munich's south, near the Isar River


But first, this is how I pay for my Weisswurst and sweet mustard...

LAKESIDE: Next to a lake in a huge city park, what a location.

Where it’s at

You can’t get much better than this.

Not only is Seehaus in the midst of the vast Englischer Garten park, it sits on a lake bank for maximum chill-out factor.

It’s the only place in Munich where you can rent a paddle-boat and cut a few laps around some little islands.

The crowd is a tad on the yuppie side. To be sure, the venue doesn’t attract the same diverse crowd as down at the Chinesischer Turm. Still, this was the first beer garden I went to in Munich so it will always have a special place in my liver.

Beer and food

Serves Paulaner beer. There’s a stall selling wine in one corner. Food’s top quality and there are good vegetarian options including frozen yogurt.
Prices here are above-average – both a drawback and a good reason to go traditional and pack your own snacks.

ACROSS THE LAKE: The Seehaus from the far side of the Kleinhesselohe See, a lake in Munich's Englischer Garten.

The garden

There are traditional wooden benches and chestnut trees lending shade all the way down the water’s edge.

Seats 2,500, with an extra 320 in the restaurant. There’s a paddle boat rental station and a healthy swan community nearby.



Backstory

The amber liquid first started flowing here in 1811. The garden and restaurant have been expanded and upgraded through the decades and the existing chow-house was opened in 1985.