Thursday 28 November 2013

Significant Insight from the Significant Other - Heston, Living the Dream

The second of my foodie dream meals!  Upon realising that making it to The Fat Duck really wasn't within our budget, but certainly not willing to sacrifice a date with Heston, we "compromised" with a booking at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in the fancy end of London.  The restaurant is within the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and we had doormen holding doors open for us with many a sir and madam references, which was very different to what we were used to!  They even insisted that they took our coats...  So we sheepishly handed over our attractive rain jackets to be housed amongst the Gucci and Burberry jackets of the fancy folk.  

Service here was THE best that I think any of us had ever experienced.  Despite it being very obvious that we were not made of money, we weren't treated like second class citizens and had multiple staff members legitimately interested in our travel plans and what we were doing.  Heck, Brim was even assisted with removing his flanno and placing it on the back of the chair! 

So a round of cocktails to begin....  Expensive but the list was too amazing to resist.   Mine was the tall thing which was sake and gingerbeer and lemon grass etc....  A kind of mule spin off.  Brim had the thing with the spoon of jam which was cognac based and Matt was a cherry something and probably the tastiest of the lot.  We also splurged on a bottle of Spanish red which I think was the best wine I've had in my memory...  And even got the tick from non-winelover Matt! 


Starters - I had the meat fruit and would happily live off of this for the rest of my life....  Even better than I had hoped!  A deliciously silky smooth blend of duck liver and foie gras, encased in a slightly sweet, mandarin flavoured gelatine case that melted the second it entered your mouth.  Matt had the octopus, which was super tender in slightly a smoked sea broth.  It came with cockles and samphire, the perfect combination.  Brim went for the bone marrow (after holding onto his meal envy of my starter at St. John) which came filled with snails.  It had a very smooth garlic flavour and looked so beautiful with the baby pickled veg on the side.  The pickled cauliflower was a taste sensation in itself. 


Mains - I had another starter which was lamb broth with a soft hens egg and veal sweetbreads.  It's always fun when the liquid isn't actually in your bowl and is poured from a jug on arrival to the table!  Matt decided on a tender piece of halibut, again coming with more cockles and samfire.  The fish was cooked to perfection and had a deliciously herby sauce.  Brim had the pork chop with a barley ragout and braised veg.  All very good again!  I had a side of kale which was delicious and we managed to get a side of triple cooked chips even though they shouldn't have been available - divine!


Dessert - I had the brown bread icecream which came on a bed of salted caramel and some kind of biscuit.  Matt had the tipsy cake which was a boozy brioche baked to order with spit roasted pineapple.  Brim had quaking pudding which was a pannacotta of sorts with poached pear and a warm spiced syrup poured on at the last minute.  Again all amazing!  Then there was little freebie of chocolate ganache with orange and Earl Grey and a caraway biscuit.


We left feeling extremely satisfied although disgustingly full (I wished that vomitoriums still existed!), and went and played with the squirrels in Hyde Park. 


And a thank you to my lovely parents who funded the dream with some birthday moneys! 

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Posh Nosh and Pints in Pommyland

Kerb

From Monday to Friday each week, a handful of interchanging food trucks congregate around the corner from Kings Cross Station and offer up some amazing, tarted up street food.


We went for a beef brisket burrito, fried chicken bap with Korean sauce and a chicken tikka naan.  All bloody delicious.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to enjoy them as much as Nix and Matt after a few too many Guinness and games of pool the night before.  I hit that magical sweet spot between sober and past it and was a man possessed on the pool table.  I was in the sort of form that used to allow me to carry Rick, Tik or Matt in competitions at Miss Q's back in my hey day.

UPDATE* - we've since returned for a salted beef bagel, Indian style lamb rump wrap and doughnut balls drowned in hot salted caramel.  This line of trucks would never disappoint.

Brewdog Camden

Our first beers of London could've been at no other place than Brewdog.

Say what you will, they brew bloody good beer and it was easy to lose a night there after our sixteen hour bus ride from Amsterdam.

We worked or way through the tap list which included the wonderfully tart Blitz Apricot (the poor man's Fou' Foune), their hoppiest beer yet, Jack Hammer, and Dead Metaphor pulled through the Hopinator that held plums and Columbian coffee beans.  All very "drinkable".


We also tucked into a Tex Mex sort of spicy pizza and a meat and cheese sharing board before joining the weekly, Monday night beer tasting.  Merry is a word that sums up our night well.

And this is the moment where Matt agreed not to shave his "moustache" before mid 2015.  Whether he's upheld that deal 'til now even I'm not sure.


Craft Beer Co - Clerkenwell

Whilst offering a fairly good tap last (that was maybe a bit too heavy on low percentage pale ales and IPAs) our general experience at one of London's top rating beer bars was pretty disappointing.  The setting is nice, the service pretty average and as mentioned the tap list is OK.  We have no reason to return.


Cask

Cask is owned by the same people as Craft Beer Co and whilst a slight improvement on CBC Clerkenwell, it's more of the same really.  A better tap and bottle list but once again let down by poor service and a fairly average atmosphere.

However, they did have bacon dusted chips!


I think at this point we were still suffering a bit of a Belgian hangover where even an average bar there is comparatively great elsewhere.

Euston Tap and The Cider Tap

Located on opposite sides of the road from each other are two old Victorian Gatehouses where one is Euston Tap itself, which has a fairly solid beer tap list, and the other houses The Cider Tap which, you wouldn't believe, serves cider.  And what a tap last it has.

Euston Tap is OK but is more of the same really however The Cider Tap is where it's at.  It has a much grungier feel and is a lot more homely and after so much beer over the preceding couple of months, the change to cider was a welcome one.


We had a few rounds at Euston Tap, that didn't really include anything of note, and then headed across the road and had a couple more.  Most interesting were Razberry, a slightly sweet apple cider with raspberry juice added to it, and West Milton, a 7% almost dessert style cider that was absolutely delicious.  Maybe a full pint was a slight bit of overkill though.

UPDATE* - we've also returned to The Cider Tap for more good cider and a quick couple of Calvados before running out the door.

The Queen's Head 

The Queen's Head proved again that the most well renowned and highest rating things, whether you're talking about a bar, restaurant, cup of coffee, whatever, a lot of the time aren't the best or most interesting.  It's quite often the places that you stumble upon when heading somewhere else that prove to be the most enjoyable.

We settled in on a couple of old couches and proceeded to work our way through some exceptionally good English craft beer that included stuff from Kernel and Weird Beard.  The pale ales, IPAs etc. that English craft brewers offer up pretty much deliver what they say on the label but they really hit their straps when it comes to stout.  Give me an English stout by an English brewer any day over any stout that the Americans produce.  Boom.


Sigur Ros

For the second time within a year we were privileged enough to see the world's current greatest band.  Our UK plans were turned on their head when Sigur Ros announced a London gig, hence the updates.

We lost our sh*t and annoyed everyone around us who was only there to hear their most recent album.  It was a great night.

Thanks Matty Brim!


The Beers

Brewdog Punk IPA, Blitz Apricot, Libertine, Jack Hammer, Dead Metaphor, Dead Metaphor with additional plums and coffee beans, Hello, My Name Is Mette Marrit, Matt's Girly "Beer"
Dieu du Ciel Rescousse Alt
Partizan Strong Golden Belgian Ale, Smoked Blonde Ale
Firestone Walker Reserve Porter
The Lost Abbey 10 Commandments
Green Flash Barley Wine
Thornbridge Black Harry, Jaipur, Wild Raven, Otters Tears
Magic Rock Dark Arts
Kernel Citra Galaxy, Export Stout, Pale Ale, Amarillo
Beavertown Black Betty, Smog Rocket
Kuhnhenn Double Nut Brown
Amager Bryghus Sloth
Lervig Rye IPA
Weird Beard Milk Stout, Amarillo
Brooklyn Winter Ale
Cromarty Brewing Co Brewed Awakening
Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout
Buxton Saison, Black Rock
Redemption Fellowship Porter
Arbor Goo Goo G'joop
Lagunitas IPA
Harbour DIPA
Sierra Nevada Belgian Blonde IPA
Thornbridge/Odells RIPA
Camden Gentleman's Wit
Evil Twin Assisten IPA
Siren Big Inflatable Cowboy Hat
Dugges Celebration Ale
Evil Twin/Siren Even More Jesus XIII
Against the Grain Save Ferrous
Tempest Saison du Pomme
Flying Dog Belgian Devil

The Cider

MillWhites Rioja Cask Cider
Sheppys Rasberry
Hogans Dry, Somerset
Somerset Draught
Sandford Bumbleberry
West Milton
Gwatkin Farmhouse Stoke Red
Orchard Pig Cider

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Significant Insight from the Significant Other - Meating at St John

This is surprisingly not a rant - well, not a complaint or whine anyway!  This is all about our lunch at St John in London and one of my foodie dreams coming true.

Since realising that I have a slight obsession with food and all things food related, I have started a list of things I must try and places I must eat.  St John is one of those places and has been very high on the list ever since I discovered Fergus Henderson and his philosophy of nose to tail eating.  His use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat is absolutely fascinating and a delight to discover.

St John is located in the premises of a former bacon smoke-house so is full of character and immediately fills you with a lust for meat.  On receipt of the menu we were all immediately salivating and could not wait for the eating to begin!  We started with a bottle of their own St John Rouge, a delicious blend of Cabernet and Syrah, made our menu selections and hoed into the freshly, house baked bread.


Then our starters arrived - boy oh boy!  Matt chose the duck hearts which came on a bed of swede mash and a meaty jus.  They were cooked to perfection and each bite was a heavenly combination of earthy richness combined with the sweetness of the swede.  Brim went for the venison saddle with beetroot and watercress.  Again the meat was perfect and the balsamic on the beetroot pulled the whole thing together.  Both were delicious however I must admit that my choice was the standout!

Roast bone marrow and parsley salad - what I would do for a plate of that right now.  Four pillars of roasted bone marrow with char grilled, freshly baked sourdough, a parsley, onion and caper salad perfectly dressed and a pile of wet sea salt.  It even came with its own little tool for marrow removal to then spread on the toast.  Delightful!


Feeling completely satisfied after the consumption of our starters, it was Mains time.  Matt went for one of the day's specials which was a whole roasted partridge with bread sauce, jus and a whole roasted red onion.  The meat was deliciously gamey and succulent whilst being rather difficult for Matt to dissect.  Brim had lamb kidneys, which came with sautéed chard and were swimming in a juicy reduction.  He was happy with his decision however I have confirmed that kidneys are definitely not my thing.

I decided to try the calf's liver and braised witlof, again with a delightful reduction.  I was worried that I'd made a mistake with my choice, being overwhelmed with the liver to veg ratio, but was quite sad when it was all gone.  Cooked to perfection and so soft and sweet!  We shared sides of sprout tops and welsh rarebit (glorified cheese on toast) .


Last but not least was dessert - this was after our waiter had asked if "we are in the industry", which made us giggle.  Matt picked a chocolate mousse with creme fraiche, which he absolutely loved. Certainly not a sweet dessert and very rich.   Brim chose lemon sorbet with vodka, which was extremely refreshing and clean.  I decided to go one of the signature dishes, an Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese, which was incredibly tasty and the cheese was so good with it.


We left very full and sad that the meal was over.  St John certainly lived up to all expectations and we would have no hesitation in returning again and again.

A special shout out of thanks to my wonderful brother for his very thoughtful birthday gift of a voucher for Brim and I.

And a dishonourable mention to Matt for his shakey photos!

Monday 18 November 2013

Amsterdam Part 3 - Full Penetration and Pussy

Our night out in the Red Light District, brought to you by the sale of Matt's and my Pokemon card collection.

After quite a many beers and things at various establishments, we stumbled into the Red Light District, which exists smack bang in the middle of Amsterdam.

If there's any place in the world where a man can feel superficial contentment, it's Amsterdam.  Countless plastic women wink and gesture at you trying to get your attention and for you to hand over your fifty euros for 15 minutes of whatever you desire.  The ladies come in all shapes and sizes and their quality is distinguished by which floor their windows exists on.  The higher, the better, or the more sought after the product that's being offered.

We lasted all of about five seconds in a peep show together (when in Rome...) before the "performer" booted Nix and Matt out indicating that the show was only for one.  I lasted about fifteen seconds before realising that me being in there by myself was just weird.


So off we went to a sex show, Moulin Rouge offered "Real Couple Sex" so we quickly parted with our 75 euros and in we went.


We walked in on the main event with an over the hill male pornstar going at it with a woman who wouldn't have known what day it was.  You could really feel the passion.  All the while the retired pornstar winked and blew kisses in Nix's direction.  She really felt the passion.

Other acts included a woman pulling metres and metres of silk ribbon from her lady part and another woman who wrote something with a marker (again from the lady part) that was so captivating that none of us can remember what it said.

Here came the highlight of the night though, and almost of Nix's and Matt's lives.  Out came a lady (the best looking lady of the show), dressed in nothing but a sequinned bikini, who danced around the stage and began to drag embarrassed looking young blokes onto the stage.

By this point of the night Matt and I were well and truly feeling it and were clapping, laughing and singing along to songs, having the time of our lives.  But before I knew it the spotlight was on me, the dancing lady was pointing at me and I was dragged up onto the stage to join two other guys.

Amsterdam is a place where you tend to lose your inhibitions and I was loving being on stage, dancing with a beautiful lady and giving Nix and Matt, who were in hysterics by this point, the occasional thumbs up.

So we danced for a bit longer and I got banned from knicker removal duties as I tried to yank them off only to tell the dancer that "I've never done it before".  She didn't really know how to take that.

And then out came the dreaded banana, which was peeled and placed you know where.  The guy to the right of me took a bite, the guy to the left of me took a bite, and then only a bit was left sticking out.  Oh no, my turn.

In I went, cautiously of course, but before I knew it her hands and legs were wrapped around my head and I was balls deep in a mouthful of banana.  Yum.

I left the stage to rapturous applause, most of it coming from Nix and Matt.

Clint Brimson forever unclean.

Off we laughed into the night, quite sure that we'd never forget what had just taken place.

The Pussy

Our airbnb buddy, Nickey.  Not what you were thinking, sicko.


The Barrie-ometer of "Feel" Click here!

The Beers 

Evil Twin Ron and the Bunny
Boont Amber
Southern Tier 2X Stout
Rogue Dad's Little Helper
Brewdog Cocoa Psycho
Dark Horse Sapient Trip Ale
Flying Dog Gonzo
Against the Grain Golden Sower, Tropical Segway Kitten
Frogs Hollow Hoppin' Frog
Cigar City Papso
De Prael Nelis
Emelisse Herfstbock
De Molen Bock
Pampus Melkmeisje
Jopen Extra Stout, Mashing Pumpkins

Amsterdam Part 2 - Ink and Grass

So my lovely wife continued her obsession in Amsterdam, and my innocent little brother began his.


Mary Jane

As everyone knows, cannabis is legal in the Netherlands.  Well, sort of.  Through various loopholes, and the Authorities turning a collective blind eye, you can walk into a "coffeeshop" in the Netherlands and be presented with a menu of about ten different weed strains, a few different hash types, maybe some spacecakes, hash brownies or something similar, and possibly even some magic truffles (the loophole here is that fungi with psychedelic properties that grows above the ground are outlawed - magic truffles grow below it).  So off you can walk with a pocketful of joints, some truffles and hash brownies, and that's perfectly OK.

That's insane, how can a nation continue to operate normally with availability such as that?  Quite well, evidently.

And it's not just young people or people who are clearly stoners lining up to get their bags of joints either.  Middle aged women, men in their fifties, they're all there.

The right coffeshop, genuinely does serve good espresso coffee and various other drinks and snacks in a relaxed environment with like mindedly relaxed people, appropriate music and enough strange things hanging from the roof and walls to really enjoy the trip.  Well, that's what I'd imagine it to be like anyway.
Part
Part 3 is already up too - FULL PENETRATION AND PUSSY

Saturday 16 November 2013

Amsterdam Part 1 - Musings and Munchies

It's an old cliché but it works.  Amsterdam is a city of contrasts.

Such beautiful canals but such a grimy red light district.  The ability to purchase cannabis at your will but the city functions so successfully.

This is a place where bucks and hens parties come to write themselves off in various different ways and then attempt to navigate the bicycle choked streets.  Or better yet, get on a bike without a helmet because who wears helmets?

You want a cup of coffee you say?  How about a place labelled "coffeshop"?  Well you could, but you'd get more than you bargained for.

A brown café then?  Nope, that would get you a beer, obviously.

Best to just stick with a plain old café, or maybe McDonalds is a safer better.

I think the people deserve a special mention here too (because my blog is where they come to for gratification of course).  The amount of sh*t they must put up with on a daily basis and to not tar you with the same brush as the previous stupid English speaking person they served, is commendable.

The Munchies

The beauty of a big city like Amsterdam is the range and quality of food that it offers.  Whatever you have a hankering for is a quick Google and generally just a few minutes walk away.  Burittos, burgers, Indian, Nepalese, Australian icecream (yes, apparently that's a thing), kebabs, shawarmas, durum, all within spitting distance.  So naturally, we made the most of that accessibility.

Semi-Traditional Pancakes at Pancakes! Amsterdam

We waited 40 minutes in the cold for these and for two out of the three of us it was worth the wait.  Nix had the camembert, witlof, ham and raspberry, Matt the special of yesterday which was leek, tomato, pine nuts and creme fraiche, and me, the American style with bacon and maple syrup.  Only Nix's were a flop.


Eating our way through the Albert Cuypmarkt

The advantage of staying with someone through airbnb is that you generally end up away from the city centre and closer to things like the Albert Cuypmarkt, which was literally around the corner from us.

We started off with the Dutch classic, poffertjes.  Pretty much little mini pancakes.


Then we went for a roll filled with raw herring (a Dutch staple), a big slab of pickle and onion.


Matt and I had rolls loaded with chicken marinated in a sort of Middle Eastern spice rub dominated by cinnamon and cloves.


Then it was deep fried mussels and cod.


And we finished off with a stroopwafel, which is a hot, crispy waffle filled with a thin layer of super-glue like caramel.  Beautiful.


Croquettes 

...from a vending machine!



Rice table at Puri

The Netherlands still has a noticeable Indonesian influence, which is a hangover from the time when the Dutch occupied the country.  And so Indonesian restaurants, and more specifically rice tables, are a dime a dozen in Amsterdam, but that doesn't mean they're not any good.


We bursted through the door, out of the cold and rain, and before we knew it had a bowl of warming chickeny, noodley soup in front of us.  The soup was followed up by seven small dishes using chicken and beef with two big bowls of rice.  Given how hungry and cold we were, they well and truly hit the spot.


Dessert was lychees and icecream.  Nice.

Chocolátl

You would think that three weeks in Belgium would've offered us the most impressive chocolate shop we'd ever seen but nope, we found it in Amsterdam.  We walked away with salted caramel and pop rock bars, and some bacon nougat.  All great late night treats.


"Frites"

The Belgians "do" frites.  The Dutch should not.  These are apparently Amsterdam's best.  They're cooked in vegetable oil and come with a big blob of oorlog sauce (peanut sauce, mayo and onion).  They're just not frites.  They're average chips, at best.


Wednesday 13 November 2013

Utrecht and the Curse of the White Widow

So after such a wonderful airbnb experience in Rotterdam we couldn't wait for the next one in Utrecht.

The owner wasn't going to be home when we arrived at 1230pm but said he'd leave a key out for us.  On our way there though we received a text saying he'd forgotten to put the key out but would be back by 130pm to let us in.  No problem, we'd just hang around for a while until he got there.  Wrong.

We soon received another message saying due to shocking weather in Amsterdam trains weren't running and he might not be back until 3pm.  That was OK too.  We left our bags next door with a very confused old lady and headed off to have something to eat and grab some food shopping.

But then on our way back we received another message saying he was stuck somewhere between Amsterdam and Utrecht and that he'd be back by 5pm, at best.  So we convinced the old lady to hold our bags for even longer and our shopping and to also hand over her map of Utrecht.

To make the most of a bad situation we headed off, in the pouring rain, in search of Utrecht's infamous intergalactic baked treats only to arrive just as the particular establishment was closing.  So we settled for a few special muffins instead.


Finally, we were let into our accommodation at 6pm and the old lady next door could rid herself of our bags - however she was no less confused.

The night was fairly low key.

The next morning we headed off to De Molen to try the best beer the Dutch have to offer.  And the best by some way too as we would later discover.

We started off slowly but were soon into the massive, dark, almost flat beers that De Molen is so famous for.  Poor Todd.


Lunch consisted of a never ending toasted sandwich, a classic club sandwich and a works burger.  Pub food at the next level, and all huge too!


We headed home with a few hot tips from the brewer's daughter, which we got around to once we'd overcome the effects of all being bitten by the White Widow.


The Beers

De Molen Brewberry, Citra Pale Ale, Heaven & Hell, Ruby (brewed with Oersoep), Lief & Leed, Rook & Leer, Storm & Avierij, Goed Gejat, Alive & Kicking, Goths & Vandals Barrel Aged, Wilde Porter, Bommen & Granaten Giovanni

Monday 11 November 2013

Significant Insight from the Significant Other - Rabid Pigeons of Rotterdam


It's that time again....  Rant time!  This time my rage is fully focused on our Rotterdam accommodation, so much so that poor Rotterdam doesn't get a post of its own, just the rant, and will forever be tainted in our minds.

So we had booked accommodation with airbnb (for those who don't know it's where you book a room or apartment directly with the owner for short stays) and had a nice apartment lined up for our first few nights in the Netherlands.  Two nights before we arrived we got an email from the owner saying there had been emergency maintenance on the property and as such we could no longer stay, however he had arranged an alternative apartment for us which was actually more expensive and in a better location etc.  Sweet we thought...  Nice of him to do that for us and certainly happy with any kind of upgrade.

Oh dear.... We arrived and whilst in a brilliant location, about 5mins walk from the station, that is where the ticks ended.  As soon as you entered the 'apartment', and I use this term extremely loosely, you were hit with an overwhelming smell of mould, old and damp.  After dumping our bags in the bedroom, I noticed black hairs on the pillow and doona case, and dumbly I decided to check in the bed..... Novice move!  Matt's bed was two blow up mattresses on top of each other making it so high up that he could hardly get on it (but at least his sheets were clean!)

Next fun discovery was the kitchen.  The utensils consisted of cutlery, a broken wooden spoon and a pair of disposable chopsticks.  Certainly not the "well equipped kitchen" as promised.  The frying pan was still full of grease and one of the pots was so rusty that I wouldn't have dared eaten from it.  The plates were covered in little specks of rust from the hinge on the cupboard door.  The fridge was on such an angle that you couldn't open the door if there were beers in it.  The power board that had the kettle, toaster and microwave plugged in didn't actually work.  And the kitchen space was non-existent because a table and chairs had been moved there from where Matt's bed was because it turns out the apartment was only for two people.

And then there was the outside....  Wow!  Welcome to the pigeon ghetto!  This is what we found directly outside our door.


We are all pretty sure that a pigeon exploded here!  I have never seen so many pigeons in such a small space.  Every apartment we could see was covered in poo and feathers and they made the most disturbing sounds all night.  There's no better noise to wake up to than a chorus of pigeons purring and slapping salmons outside your window.

And this is outside according to his site vs reality.  Hrm.


On top of all this the wifi wouldn't connect and we had to hack into the restaurant next door's so that I could send an email explaining our grievances.  Surprisingly we were told that his friend would contact us the next day to show us an alternative.  Whilst we weren't too excited about having to spend a night here, we were pleased that it would only be one and that the next day would solve all our problems.

Wrong....  We heard nothing from the "friend" until 12pm when there was a knock on the door and there he was saying he could show us the alternative now if we were free.  What a joke!  No warning, what if we had gone out like normal ppl instead of waiting around and hoping he would turn up.  So off Brim and I went for the 30min walk to show us the alternative while Matt was left to start packing up our shit.  On the way we were told we were actually being offered two apartments that shared a bathroom so that there was more room for the three of us... Things were sounding great!  Unfortunately, these two "apartments", again using the term EXTREMELY loosely, were glorified crack dens and were somehow worse than where we were.

So we ended up staying where we were and made do with the shitty situation.  The wifi didn't get fixed until 9pm the second night and still didn't work after we could actually connect so they shouldn't have bothered.  When we left the apartment was in a better state than when we arrived so they had a win there!  The cable TV surprisingly worked so we did get to watch hours of Spongebob dubbed in Dutch, much to our amusement.

Rant over.

Sunday 10 November 2013

Belgium - The Recap

Meeting Matt, drinking the world's highest rated beer, eating lunch at De Heeren, drinking spontaneously fermented beers at their home in Brussels, acquainting ourselves with Todd the Mental Beaver, working our way through Kulminator's amazing vintage list, surviving driving in southern Belgium semi-unscathed and meeting Fantôme's brewer are just a few of the reasons that the our time in Belgium was far and above the best few weeks of our lives.


The Ticks 

  • Beer
  • Frites
  • Vintage beer
  • Mouse javelins with cheese, celery salt and mustard
  • Beer cribs
  • Croissants in Lille from Pâtisserie du Lion d'or (of which no photographic evidence exists) 
  • Sour beer

The Crosses

  • V smelly urinals
  • Matt
  • The Great Rage of Grote Dorst
  • Our lovers tiff in Brussels
  • Leaving


The Food 

Our lunch at De Heeren was everything you could ask for in a beery lunch (LINK).  Just phenomenal.


The Beers

It's extremely hard to pick just one between us and equally as hard to select only one each.  However the below is a fairly accurate estimate.

Nix - 2003 3 Fonteinen Oude Gueuze
Matto - De Struise Black Mes
Me - 1987 Stille Nacht
Very Honourable Mention - De Struise Special Kay


The Beer Count - 167

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Bank Account: Kulminator-ed in Antwerp

So I should be telling you about the amazing view of Antwerp city from the opposite side of the Scheldt, how good the Antwerp Zoo is or about some great Antwerp speciality we tried.  However, when a place has such an extensive and reasonably priced vintage beer last as Kulminator's, it's hard to consider doing anything else whilst you're in Antwerp.

Kulminator is the most ramshackle bar we've ever seen and was the ultimate place to end our Belgian experience, two times over.


The beers pretty much do the talking here so they can do exactly that.





...and we dropped a few euros on this one to celebrate our final night in Belgium 

The Beers

Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux
Buffalo Stout
Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor
De Struise St Amatus (tap and 2010), Black Damnation: Mocha Bomb, Coffee Club, Black Mes and Special Kay, Pannepot Grand Reserva 2005, Black Albert Batch "0", Kabert
Dubuisson Bush Noel
La Trappe Quercas
De Dolle Stille Nacht 1987 and 1999, Stille Nacht Reserva 2005, Oerbier Special Reserva 2002, 2005 and 2006
Rochefort 10 2003
Malheur Brune
Mikkeller Black
De Troch Oude Gueze