Beer Hall Putsch

Dumping my lug-gage at the hotel, I head straight for Marien-platz— the centre of all the glitz the city has to offer.

The Marienplatz, or Mary’s Square, is a large open area with a tower at the centre. In the Middle Ages, markets and tournaments were held in the square. It represents the essence of Munich, juxtaposi-tion of the old and new—Bvlgari outlets in Baroque-style structures, the glass-and- steel BMW headquarters in a city whose official colours are still black and gold, colours of the Holy Roman Empire.

No trip to Mu-nich is complete without a visit to its most famous beer hall, Hof-bräuhaus am Platz, which can seat upto 4,500 people. It was here that Hitler made his first public speech to the German Workers’ Party in 1919 before it became the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Once inside the 147-year-old beer hall, I settle for Hof-brau Original, a beer with a brewing heritage of over 400 years. Bright and golden, with a smooth, clean finish.

Before me is an astonishing array of Bavarian delicacies, ranging from the innocent homemade broth to the sinful whole pickled pork knuckle. I start with the weisswurst, a white veal sausage which comes with brezze (oversized pret-zel with a sprinkling of rock salt) and sweet mustard. The re-sult of a culinary accident in 1857 (the butcher packed in the right meat inside a wrong skin), weisswurst is never boiled, it must be gently simmered or steamed.

For the main course, I bark out for Original Hofbrauhaus braumiestersteak. The tongue-twister translates into brew- master’s pork steak with a potato salad and sauerkraut. What arrives is a well-done steak on a layer of thick brown beer sauce. The meat is marinated in HB beer. With it is Ger-many’s favourite vegetable—the sauerkraut.

Dessert at a beer hall is beer itself. I continue, mug after mug… And suddenly, I am transported back in time. I think I can hear Hitler shouting outside: “A revolution has broken out. The hall is surrounded.”

PUB CRAWLING IN INDIA: A USER’S GUIDE

The pub or bar scene in India has just about reached its legal drinking age – it’s far from being adult or mature.

BANGALORE

This IT city is the beer capital of India. The present craze is NASA on Church Street, which has a futuristic neon-lit Star Wars interior. IT whizkids discuss computers and swim in beer which comes for just Rs 35.

DELHI

In the capital, you would have to be lucky to even have a watering hole close by. Why? According to Delhi excise regulations, only places serving food are allowed to serve liquor. Therefore, you can only have restaurant-cum-bars in the capital. Delhi govern-ment does not issue license for pubs. So, Delhi has no Irish pubs, no draught beer pubs, no theme pubs. Beer halls are a distant dream.

Resto bars in the capital, while being held captive by var-ious strictures with regard to serving alcohol, really get experimental when it comes to food. Shalom, a Mediter-ranean lounge bar in south Delhi, serves an entire Lebanese repertoire along with Spanish, Moroccan and Turkish delicacies. Casablanca introduced tapas in Delhi. 1911 at The Imperial offers everything from Shepherd’s Pie to Peking Duck.

MUMBAI

The famous Athena or Not Just Jazz By The Bay are li-censed to serve only alco-hol, not necessarily food. Neighbouring Goa is a 24-hour watering hole where ordinary households often throw open their balconies/gardens to tourists for a swig of chilled beer.

KOLKATA

Remember, even cinema halls serve liquor here. Some-place Else at the Park combines beer with Bangla rock. Heady cocktail, eh!

AHMEDABAD

Gujarat is a dry state. But never mind! The state capi-tal is full of lounge bars that have nothing to do with alcohol. Instead they offer hookahs. Step into Passa Hookah Bar or Dhuan and you’ll find groups of young people “lounging” in a smoky haze.