Belated Oktoberfest- Julian

As a testament to my procrastination as-of-late, here's a very belated but nonetheless enthusiastic Oktoberfest blog! It was about our 3rd Oktoberfest celebration and both of our first times to the eastern San Diego city of Julian, which is a quaint mountain town known for its apples and pies... and apple pies! It was a beautiful crisp day, albeit crowded as hell due to the close driving vicinity but far away feeling appeal.

I can honestly say that this was the best damn hot cider I have EVER had. It helps a lot when the apples were probably picked that morning around the corner.

Welcome to the festivities! It was a tiny Oktoberfest in comparison to La Mesa and El Cajon which draw thousands of hungry drunks every year, but it was lively and filled with delicious treats!

The bratwursts were going fast, and there was actually a wait to snag one of the plump delicacies. Absolutely worth the wait, and with some extra sauerkraut and spicy mustard there was nothing to complain about, except maybe the drool stains on my shirt.

Like I said, Julian is one of the top places around to get apples, and their pies are second to none, as evidenced by this line outside the Julian Pie Company. You can get these all around San Diego, or even mail order them anywhere in the country, but there's nothing like getting them right from the source!

Ashton shows us his spoils and bounty of the day. My boy didn't disappoint me.

Kaiserhof!

OH MAN! This week's brunch was un-freaking-believable. Our friends from New York were in town, so before hitting up the zoo we decided to finally go to Kaiserhof in Ocean Beach. We've driven past it many times and the reviews were glowing, so with a bonified German visitor with us, we figured she could point us in the right direction of deliciousness.

From the outside, it looks pretty plain, and the inside was traditionally bland. Still, the biergarten looked stellar and the smells wafting from the kitchen were madly drool-inducing, so I was pretty stoked. Basically everything looked insane, so I went for the Wurstplatte (small bratwurst, bauernwurst, and knackwurst, with sauerkraut and red skin potatoes) because when something gets recommended by a German person WHO DOESN'T EVEN EAT MEAT you know it will be delicious.


Course 1: GOULASH. YUM. I've never had this German soup before, and I was informed that it tasted "exactly like it should". It could been served spicier, but the flavor was hearty and well-balanced. I especially liked the small bowl it was served in.


This is Ashton stealing some of my goulash.


I LOVE A GOOD HEARTY WURST. The sauerkraut absorbed all of the delicious meat juices and provided an excellent addition to the plate. I especially liked the spicy mustard provided, and the potatoes were yum-tastic.


Ashton got something I have no idea how to spell or pronounce, but it was a tender liver in au jus, topped with grilled onions and drowning in yum.


On Sunset Cliffs Road, see you for happy hour?


We finished it up with splitting the Black Forest cake and a homemade Apple Strudel a la mode, which was crispy, flaky, hot, and apple-y good. No pictures of those because by then we had reached Glutton Level Omega and tore into it like wild beasts. Let me just leave you with the promise that you won't find a better strudel anywhere but Germany.