Flavours of Germany – Oktoberfest at the Sheraton Grand Bangalore

— This is a Guest Post by Deepika Singhania, who is a freelance writer and friend who was kind enough to cover the event and write about it for The Jeromy Diaries. Thank you, we absolutely loved your take on Oktoberfest! ♥

Picture Credits – Ankit Pathak, a very good friend of mine who went behind the lens for TJD. Fab pictures, brooo! 😀 Thank you so much! —

Last week, the Sheraton Grand Bangalore played host to one of the most loved fests in the world – the Oktoberfest! The largest volksfest dedicated to German delicacies and of course, the beer! Lots and lots of it! 😀

And, it was simply brilliant thanks to the plethora of dishes that they had to offer. It was obviously mostly a non-vegetarian platter because the Germans LOVE their meat! We kicked off with two German classics – the Bratwurst and the Knackwurst. Combined with the sauerkraut and the red cabbage that looked dangerously healthy for a foodie, the Bratwurst hit all the right spots! Though the Knackwurst worked better for me with that flavour and the beautiful skin!

Then came the lentil and sausage soup which was fine, but then for us Indians anything lentil is just a daal at the end of the day. At least that what it felt like when I had it! We then moved on to the Falscher Hase mit Rahmsauce. My German is nowhere close to even understandable, so I’ll give attempting to pronounce that a pass; though you’re most welcome to try! To make it simpler for you, it was a bacon wrapped meatloaf with a boiled egg and a creamy sauce. The chef did a smart thing and kept it light with smaller portions of it. It had a nice flavour but its vegetarian counterpart (bread dumpling with creamy mushroom sauce) was what had me going back for a second helping.

We were then served the beef roulades with a dark sauce that had a lovely flavour to it. But I was expecting the beef to be a bit more tender because breaking it down was quite the task! There was also the Schnitzel mit Zitrone – chicken schnitzel with lemon which definitely did check all the right boxes for a chicken lover like me.

Not to forget the salad portions, the Mayonaisenkartooffelsalat mit gekochtem Ei (yes, that is just one salad) was my favourite! It was a potato salad with egg and mayonnaise that was constant on my plate. The pasta salad with green peas and cooked ham also worked well in terms of presentation and the taste, of course.

We then got to my favourite part of the meal – desserts! I was full to the brim, but like they say, there is ALWAYS space for dessert. There was nothing that knocked me off, but the red berry compote with vanilla sauce was definitely worth indulging in. What did leave me disappointed was there was no German beer. It was just all about the food and celebrating a Volksfest without the traditional beer makes it incomplete.

If you love your meat as well, then you should probably check out the festival. I would suggest that the vegetarians stay away from this one! The spread is limited but a good German indulgence at the end of the day. It is not giving the Germans a run for their money; but if you’re looking for a food festival, then this where you should be.

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