Given my relative short time in Munich, how is the Augustiner Keller? Just don't want to stress over the tram connection to the Palais Keller.

Augustiner Keller is good. You will not be disappointed.

Palais Keller is a very short walk from rail station - why take tram? :confused:

About 1 Km each way? Not that far but we only have a scheduled 2 1/2 hrs between trains (and want to get back in plenty of time to board the nachtzug), have to stash the bags as well.

Walk to the Augustiner Keller, Palais is too far away and too fancy schmanzy and frigging expensive! OK, its in the basement of the most expensive 5* Hotel in town... Augustiner will give you a much better bavarian experience.

I'm looking for a restaurant in Munich - going to be there right before Oktoberfest, so I'm assuming I'll need a reservation.

It's tough to decide online since a lot of places do no have any English menus.

Can someone recommend 2-3 solid places close to central Munich that allows easy walking distance/short taxi to the nightlife (bars, etc).

I'd love to try something German/Bavarian/etc.

Price isn't an issue as long as it isn't $150/person.

Did some research and saw Biergarten Chinesischer Turm (http://www.chinaturm.de/) and Spatenhaus an der Oper (Spatenhaus an der Oper). How are these.

Other recommendations welcome!!!

Any place that serves Augustiner is a winner. The Helles is the best beer ever, they will likely be serving their special Oktoberfest beer this time of year! Prost. Do try O'Batzda!!!!

I'm not sure about a reservation for this restaurant, but one of my favorites is Zum Dürnbräu, one of the older traditional Bavarian establishments in Munich. It´s on the Dürnbräugasse and very centrally located. I try to stop by once or twice each time I am in Munich.

You normally don't need reservations... the Spatenhaus is a good bet, pricing on the higher end. The chinesischer turm Biergarten is open during the day and definitely has no reservations ;) The restaurant opposite to it closes at 9pm and is far away from the town.

The Weisse Brauhaus is good, relatively cheap and in downtown: http://www.weisses-brauhaus.de/

Close to it is Paulaner im Tal, that is a nice place too, the decor is not that traditional though:
http://www.paulaner-im-tal.de/Paulan...tartseite.html

BTW, most restaturants in town have an english menu.

I have some photos of the Augustiner Keller in our BMW trip report. We really enjoyed it and will go back if we're in Munich again. The spicy sausages are excellent as are the giant pretzels. Ask the waiter for the English menu, a laminated white sheet of paper. The German menu is much prettier but the English, much easier to read. We enjoyed comparing the two menus to try and learn the names of the various dishes.

Any recent recommendations for restaurants in Munich - we're staying near Marienplatz, so prefer something there. Not beer halls - ideally something finer dining in a German/Bavarian style.

No, it's not Bavarian but it is representative of Bavarian culture and tradition. I don't particularly like Schuhbeck either btw. - I believe you mean exception or was it exemption?

Unlike in Vienna, where we have true Viennese fine dining, it would be a challenge to find what people consider to be traditional Bavarian cuisine at a so-called "fine dining" establishment (I hate the phrase "fine dining" incidentally but that's probably the topic for another thread).

Ah, the old contradiction in terms! Maybe we should aim for something bavarian one night and a fancier place the other.

And I'm not wild about the term "fine dining" either but was trying to give some indication I wasn't looking for more basic stuff - something with a bit of good experience (and said "finer") (My main issue is that it's more typically used to define a place that's a step up from takeout - i.e., Oliver Garden instead of Panera)