The Schweinshaxe Pilgrimage

A roasted pork knuckle with crackling that shatters like glass, a couple of dumplings, and a litre of beer in a glass you can barely lift. Bavaria isn't subtle.

Photo: The Meatwave

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Why this dish?

Schweinshaxe is a pork knuckle roasted slowly until the meat is tender and the skin crisps into glassy crackling, served with a potato or bread dumpling (Knödel), sauerkraut or red cabbage, and a dark gravy. It's enormous, primal and built to soak up beer - which, in Munich, is the entire idea.

The pilgrimage is as much about the room as the meat: a Bavarian beer hall or garden, long shared benches, an oompah soundtrack, waitresses carrying impossible numbers of one-litre Maß, and a knuckle the size of a small football landing in front of you. It's gluttonous, joyful and unmistakably Munich - and a 1h50 flight from the UK.

Our Picks

Wirtshaus in der Au

Address: Lilienstraße 51, Munich
What to order: The Schweinshaxe with a Knödel and red cabbage, plus a Maß of the house beer.
Book ahead: Yes, especially weekends.
Pro tip: Order a "halbe" (half-litre) if a full Maß is daunting - and ask for extra crackling.

Augustiner-Keller

Arnulfstraße 52, Munich

A vast, chestnut-shaded Bavarian beer garden where you self-serve a Maß and grab a long bench for the full local ritual.

What to order: Schweinshaxe or Weißwurst with sweet mustard and a pretzel.

Good to know

Beer comes by the Maß (1 litre) - pace yourself. Weißwurst (white veal sausage) is traditionally a morning food, eaten before noon with sweet mustard and a pretzel. During Oktoberfest (late Sept–early Oct) the city is heaving and pricey; lovely, but book far ahead.

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