Pfälzer Weinprobierstube

There is no beer here. The Pfälzer Residenz Weinstube at Residenzstraße 1 has served Palatinate wine exclusively since 1950, and the no-beer policy is not a gimmick but a statement of origin: this establishment exists as the Munich outpost of the Landesverband der Pfälzer in Bayern, the association of Palatinate residents in Bavaria, dedicated to preserving the wine culture and gastronomy of the Rhineland-Palatinate region in the Bavarian capital. It has done this with notable commitment.

The cellar stores up to 30,000 bottles of Palatinate wine at any given time — Rieslings from the Mittelhaardt, Spätburgunder from the Südliche Weinstrasse, Weissburgunder and Grauburgunder from producers whose names recur across the list with the regularity of a trusted directory. The wines are poured generously. The staff know their list. The kitchen prepares Palatinate specialties — Saumagen (the region's famous stuffed stomach dish), Lewwerknepp (liver dumplings), Zwiebelkuchen (onion cake) — alongside down-to-earth Bavarian standards and daily specials that reflect the season.

The setting is the defining element. The vaulted cellar spaces of the Munich Residenz — the former palace of the Wittelsbach rulers, whose complex extends across half a city block between Odeonsplatz and the Hofgarten — provide a dining environment that exists nowhere else in Munich. Neoclassical columns, chandeliers, stone arches, and the sense of eating inside several centuries of accumulated architectural authority: it is the kind of room that makes a glass of Riesling feel significantly more than a glass of Riesling. The full dining room holds around 450 guests.

It is not fashionable, exactly — the Pfälzer has the particular quality of places that have been reliably excellent for too long to need fashion. For wine drinkers who want to understand German wine at its most regional, and who can appreciate the improbability of doing so in a royal palace on Munich's most prestigious street, this is the essential address.

Drinking alone in a wine bar is one of the more civilised solitary pursuits available. The Pfälzer Weinstube makes it even more satisfying by providing a wine list of genuine depth, a room of architectural beauty, and a kitchen capable of producing a proper Saumagen if hunger accompanies the thirst. The bar seats and smaller tables accommodate the solo visitor naturally; the staff are experienced enough to guide through the list without requiring you to commit to a tasting vocabulary you may not possess.

Come on a weekday afternoon, when the Residenz tour groups have departed and the room is occupied by Munich's wine-educated professionals who treat this as a regular stop. Order a Riesling Spätlese and a plate of Zwiebelkuchen and account for at least ninety minutes.

"The Mittelhaardt Rieslings are some of the best I have drunk anywhere in Germany, at prices that make the experience almost embarrassingly affordable." — W.F., Wine enthusiast

"I came for one glass and stayed for three courses. The Saumagen is an education and the Zwiebelkuchen is perfect with a Grauburgunder." — M.B., Solo diner

"The room is extraordinary. You are inside the Munich Residenz, under vaulted ceilings built for Wittelsbach kings, drinking Riesling. There is nothing normal about this and it is wonderful." — A.K., First date