Also known as the fifth season in Germany, Karneval is a traditional German festival that can be traced back to the 13th century. It marks the beginning of Lent, and entails copious amounts of eating, drinking and merriment, and usually accompanied by a huge parade combining elements of a circus, masks and social satire.

Fun fact: Depending on the region of Germany you’re at, the same festival takes on different names: Karneval, Fasching and Fastnacht. Read more here.

Karneval @ Brotzeit

From now till 25 February 2018, Brotzeit is bringing the flavours and Gemütlichkeit (a feeling of warmth, friendliness, and good cheer) of Karneval to Singapore! While you can’t get a parade here, Brotzeit has launched a specially-curated Karneval menu, featuring festival favourites and exclusive Karneval-only craft beers from Germany during this festive season.

We were greeted by Brotzeit’s Group Executive Chef Wolfgang Ranner, who gracefully brought us through some of the common menu items that you can get at the actual Karneval in Germany. After starting the party with hearty “prost” over a refreshing pint of Karneval-exclusive Gaffel Kölsch, we were presented with a really long sausage on an equally big bun. #thatswhatshesaid

The Gaffel Kölsch a fresh speciality beer from Cologne with a delicate blend of a bitter yet pleasant and slightly hoppy taste. Brewed according to a time-honored family recipe and the German Purity Law of 1516, Gaffel Kölsch is clearly distinguished from all other Kölsch brands.

Brotzeit’s Half-meter Sausage Challenge

Ready your stomachs, and test your might to take on their Half-metre German Sausage Challenge. Teams of two will each have four minutes to finish a half-meter of Brotzeit’s Deutsche Halbmeter Wurst, featuring classic Nürnberger sausages, served with sauerkraut and potato salad in a baguette. That’s about as long as an entire adult forearm, or about 2.7 banana for scale. Any team that completes the challenge within the stipulated four minutes will enjoy the sausage on the house, and being able to have bragging rights to have TESTED YOUR MIGHT and be called Brotzeit’s Wurst Champions.

We were lucky that there were 6 hungry people to wolf it down, and we probably took longer than four minutes anyway. Accordingly to a manager from the team, the record at that time is(maybe was) 3 minutes 44 seconds!

Another feature of Brotzeit’s Karneval menu is Zweierlei von Huhn (Duo of Chicken), which is basically chicken served two-ways; a tender oven-roasted chicken, and golden fried chicken (done like chicken schnitzels). Marinated generously, the roasted chicken was as tender and juicy as you can imagine, while the fried chicken was on point with the amount of batter and crispiness to it without being dried out. Served with potato salad and Fries, it’s a good sharing dish!

Ever been in the situation where you have a big party and everyone wants everything? Or conversely, you really want that one dish in a platter, but you got to deal with the others that make you go ‘meh’? Brotzeit’s Deutsche Tapas (German Tapas, 3 for $15, 6 for $28, 12 for $45) is the solution for all diners! Choose from a list of TWELVE different tapas items, totally customisable to your liking below. Want 12 meatloaves? Yes please!

Bierbeisser (sausage), super food salad (Chef Ranner lol’d), spicy chicken sausages, currywurst, golden fried chicken, cheese spätzle, meatballs, seabass filet, fried mushrooms, meatloaf in a mini kaiser roll, chicken schnitzel in a mini kaiser roll, and their meat patty in a mini kaiser roll.

To finish off the evening, we were given special off-the-menu Berliners (German doughnuts with fillings), but you can check if you can get lucky too 😉