Oktoberfest may have originated in Germany but it has spread its cheer and beer around the world, including Visakhapatnam that is in a party mood with revelry, food and drink.
The Park calls it the ‘People’s Fair’. Enjoy chilled beer during warm summer evenings by the pool at The Park’s Aqua restaurant. Dressed in a dirndl, Frauleins welcome the guests to a venue done up with flags, coasters, banners and string lights. There is live music too.
Drawing heavily from Bavarian cuisine, the hotel offers a grilled sausage assortment, potato bacon and cheddar soup and rustic bread dumplings. The alcohol menu includes draught beer, Bourbon and honey beer.
True brews
If you are visiting Ironhill microbrewery any time soon, keep an eye for their special Oktoberfest menu . Four flavours of beer brewed specially for the festival are being served along with Bavarian delicacies that include Wurst and Hahnchen. The beer festival started on September 28 and will go on till October 14.
“ People love to experiment with the beer but when it comes to food, they want to stick to the conventional food menu,” says Man Bahadur Thapa, outlet manager of Ironhill. He adds that the strawberry flavoured cider striker is most-preferred by the ladies while men go with Tarzan’s Marzen which is brewed with German two-row malt.
“It is such a delight to see international festivals making in-roads into the city. I could say that the festival makes me aware of their culture but to be honest to me all that matters is the beer in new flavours,” laughs Sanjeev Bora, a software engineer who is at the microbrewery with friends.
The microbrewery’s slogan for the beer fest is ‘pay limited, drink unlimited’. Once you are satieted with beer and food, try your luck at the fortune wheel that might earn you vouchers up to ₹500.
Twenty-seven-year-old-year-old Swaroop Das says he came to know about the Oktoberfest only now. “ I tried a few of the dishes on the menu and loved them. This was also my first encounter with German cuisine. I am a regular at the brewery so different flavours of beer is a welcome change,” he says.
Experiments with beer
It will be the season for stein and wurst at Myz-Uno too this weekend as this microbrewery has revamped its menu for the Oktoberfest. Following the German convention, it has crafted a menu dominated by potato, fish and roasted chicken that can be washed down with four flavours of beer including Stout, Hefeweizen, Belgian Witbier and English pale ale.
“We have been getting enquiries and reservations ever since we posted about the fest on Facebook. I am hopeful of seeing a good turnout as I have observed that people love to experiment,” says the microbrewery’s founder Rasagna R Dharmana. She adds, “ A lot of research was done to ensure that the menu suits local taste. We have introduced the German wheat beer called as the Hefeweizen. This is a traditional wheat beer from Bavaria. We also have imported malt from Europe and hops from the Hallertau region of Germany to keep the flavours authentic.”