Many upmarket restaurants and award-winning eateries in Munich offer a lower cost lunchtime menu – and if you eat then, you have a very good chance of getting a table without booking ahead.
When you think of Munich's star cuisine, you immediately think of Tantris. Since the 1970s, the elegant restaurant in Schwabing has been a culinary and architectural highlight. Back then, under chef Eckart Witzigmann, the aim was to bring French haute cuisine to Munich. More than 50 years later, the vision is still the same: after the renovation, the two chefs in the Menürestaurant and in Tantris DNA are once again cooking modern, French high cuisine. If you want to eat more spontaneously and at a lower price, reserve a place at the special lunch offer!
Three-course lunch menu: without wine 125 euros, with wine 165 euros, Wednesday to Friday from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
Tantris, Johann-Fichte-Straße 7, 80805 Munich
Other French restaurants: Les Deux, Le Stollberg
Based on the format of the American deli, Der Dantler in Obergiesing has now made a name for itself far beyond its local district. Eat here in the evening and you'll pay €90 for your meal. If you want to sample the Bavarian-American world of Dantler, lunchtime is a better option. You'll be served home-made pasta, pastrami sandwiches, Giesinger Ramen (soup) plus the fish dish of the day. And don't forget dessert, of course.
Three-course lunch: €35, Tuesday to Friday from 12 am to 14 pm
Der Dantler, Werinherstrasse 15, 81541 Munich
Other bavarian restaurants: Restaurant Pfistermühle, Spatenhaus an der Oper, Wirtshaus Zum Straubinger, Schwarzreiter, Gesellschaftsraum
The Alois restaurant at Dallmayr only opened in 2018. Whoever enters the velvety-soft star restaurant on the first floor of the delicatessen feels a bit like they are in a Wes Anderson film. Chef Max atmessnig relies on many small courses - so at lunchtime twelve and in the evening a whole 17 delicacies await the guests. These include duck liver with redcurrant, trout with horseradish and wasabi or char with buttermilk and chives. If you go to Alois for lunch, you save about 100 euros compared to the evening menu. Natmessnig has left the gourmet restaurant as of September 2023.
Lunch menu: 160 euros, Thursday to Saturday from 12 to 3 p.m.
Dallmayr, Dienerstrasse 14/15, 80331 Munich
Other star kitchens: Werneckhof Sigi Schelling, Mountain Hub Gourmet
Getting hold of freshly-caught fish in southern Germany isn't that easy, but it's certainly not impossible. If you fancy a selection of different seafoods, you can look in the glass display cabinet at Pescheria in the quarter of Glockenbach and choose your own – there's oysters, loup de mer and salmon fillet on ice. The fish is served from the lava stone grill direct to the plate. If you have lunch here, the changing lunch time menu at €11.90 – including salad buffet – is a must. And in the summer, grab a table in the wonderful terrace in the rear courtyard.
Lunch menu: from 11,90 Euro including salad buffet, daily from 12 noon to 3 pm
Pescheria, Fraunhoferstrasse 13, 80469 München
Other fish restaurants: Papazof's, KOI Restaurant, Kokumi, Matsuhisa
Already the entrance area of the restaurant Anoki makes a strong impression. The upscale Asian restaurant have just opened in autumn – but the people of Munich have already taken it to their hearts. Here you can meet suit-wearers and Maxmilian Street fans at lunchtime. The menu includes the finest Japanese and Vietnamese cuisine – and there are also differences in price: for example, you can spend quite different amounts of money between the rice noodle bowl with tofu and the Wagyu steak. In the evening, the choice is bigger, but also a little more expensive.
Lunch: main courses between 18 and 33 euros, daily from 11.30 am
Anoki, Hofgraben 9, 80539 Munich
Other asian restaurants: Banyan, Cochinchina, Schreiberei
From the outside, this place looks more French – but that might also be down to the district because Haidhausen is still known today at the French Quarter. But what the Vinaiolo serves up is fine Italian cuisine and a selection of wines that are not just for looking at. The countless wine bottles sit in a 100-year-old merchant's chest that lines the walls of this romantic restaurant. On the menu are pecorino ravioli with shrimps and caviar, sea bass with salt crust or shoulder of veal with truffle and potato purée – and just because it's lunchtime doesn't mean you can't enjoy a glass of wine.
Two-Course business menu: €31, three courses: €44.50, Monday to Friday from 12 noon to 3 pm
Vinaiolo, Steinstrasse 42, 81667 Munich
Other italian restaurants: Osteria der Katzlmacher, Acquarello, Il Borgo, Acetaia