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


Once 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.

Restaurant review: Trastevere La Scala, Trastevere, Italy (****1/2)

As I’ve said many times before, when in doubt about where to eat, go where the locals go. A quick bout of research online confirmed the Trastevere region in Rome as the place to go for authentic, tasty and cheap Italian food. A particular restaurant, Ristorante La Scala, was singled out as a favourite of many so dinner had been decided!

A twenty to thirty minute walk from the nearest metro station, Trastevere lies past a bridge atop a beautiful river that is positively magical by night. Watching the billows of water pass under the bridge was the stuff postcards are made of.

Reaching our destination with some help from Google Maps, we settled into the attractive seating of the restaurant, with a great view of the adjacent piazza square with traffic, cyclists and people in constant motion.

By this point, we’d become sick of eating pizza and pasta all the time, so we both elected to deviate from the norm.

I ordered a orange, fennel and shrimp risotto and my mouth began to water from the very first bite. The rice was moist and toasty, delicate with the grains nicely separated and full and flavour. The shrimp added a nice touch to the dish, with the meat inside the head succulent and juicy. After tossing up between this dish and a pasta dish, any regrets I had simply melted away.


Shrimp, fennel and orange risotto

My friend chose a traditional lasagne served in a terracotta tin, some fresh salad and Coke. I was intrigued to know that lasagna comes in two main varieties, ‘soft’ and ‘hard’, with the terracotta-set lasagna being a guarantee of a soft variety. I tried it and indeed, it was the soft variety my friend had tried and failed to find yesterday at another restaurant in the city. While I don’t think it quite matched my amazing risotto, the lasagna was indeed delicious. The portion was a little on the small side so I’m glad he ordered the salad as an accompaniment.


Lasagna served in terracotta tin

The food was so good I was sufficiently tempted to opt for the dessert. After observing what everyone else was ordering, I ventured out of my comfort zone and ordered something I’d never heard of before – mille fleuile with chantilly cream and wild berries. My friend ordered berries with chantilly cream and another type of cream. It turns out the mille fleuille is a type of wafer, which proved to be quite nice when coupled with the cream and wild berries. It wasn’t as awe-inducing as the risotto but it was a nice finish to the night. My friend’s tried and tested berries and cream combination was another winner, leaving us very satisfied and very full!


Mille-feuille with berries and cream


Berries with Chantilly cream

Andy’s traveler rating – Ristorante La Scala

Address: Piazza Della Scala, 58, 00153 Rome, Italy (Trastevere)
Directions: We walked from the nearest metro stop in Rome, which is quite a walk away. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Price 5/5: Very affordable, mains can be bought for 8 – 15 euros.
Service 4/5: Meals took a little long to come out, but the ambience and people-watching made up for this.
Decor 4.5/5: Nice location on a quiet piazza highlighted the moody lighting and cosy atmosphere of the heated venue.
Food 4.5/5:  Food was tasty, flavourful and authentic to the palette. A definite treat.
Rating: 4.25/5 – If you’re looking for impressive Italian food that doesn’t break the bank, you could do worse than try this little Trastevere gem. It was so good we wanted to go back but we unfortunately ran out of time!