Just finished up a nice Friday dinner at one of our favorite little bistros. While we were eating dinner, she who must be obeyed and I were having a discussion about the difference between going to a local restaurant in Belgium and going to one in Maryland, where we used to live. There are the obvious things like better beer, dogs in the restaurant, no one speaking english, etc. But the one thing that really stands out is the fact that the food is not tarted up. There are no tall dishes, no compound butter, no instructions on how to eat the meal from the waiter. There are plenty of ingredients that we have never heard of, but that is only because they are in dutch. The interesting thing is that while you cant go to a restaurant in the US without having some kind of culinary gimic, here it is the complete opposite. The food is generally basic, well put together and absent of any tarting up.
It would be nice if restaurants in the US would realize that good quality and flavorful food, trumps fishnets and garish makeup.
The Troublette is a beer that she who must be obeyed wanted me to pick because it had a "cute snail on the label". And it does.
The beer pours a VERY cloudy golden color. There is a pronounced yeasty aroma which carries through to your first sip. The overall flavor is spice and citrus with a bit of Belgian sourness. It is a nice beer. A thirst quencher. Good, but not great.
Oh, and there is the cute snail. Three Drunk Monks.
I almost didn't post this evening. After avoiding all media so that I could come home from work and enjoy the Patriots/Jets game on Tivo, I find that it was not worth the wait. There is always next season, but it worse that they had to get bounced by the Jets.
The first beer of the evening is the Florival Blonde. This one was a surprise. Bought it at Delhaize only to find out after the fact that it is done specially for Delhaize by the Afflingem folks. It may have been the bottle, but I dont think so. This beer is simply not good. Bitter aftertaste and just a generally funky. I dont mind Afflingem. Not a favorite but certainly drinkable but not this one. Half a glass later, the rest of the bottle was down the drain. Not worth the effort, one drunk monk.
Which brings us to the Bersalis Tripel. We picked this beer up at Beer Temple while in Brussels over the weekend. I like tripels so this was a pleasant break from the Florival. It pours a cloudy straw color and has a really nice hoppy bite. A little sour edge with some citrus and spice. A little generic but certainly a keeper. Three Drunk Monks!
Since moving to Belgium, I have been sticking mostly to the widely available and flavorful standard beers of Belgium. Tonight as an aperitif, I cracked open a Girardin 1882 Gueuze. Gueuze is a form of Lambic beer that is not hopped and is blended from an older lambic and a younger to create the core beer, which is then aged in the bottle. As a lambic, it is fermented with atmospheric yeasts and bacteria. According to wikipedia, up to 86 different microorganisms have been identified in a single lambic beer. The result is an extremely crisp and sour beverage.
The Girardin 1882 Gueuze pours a very caramel color with notable head. The flavor is citrusy and fruity with the intense sourness of a gueuze. I enjoyed it with a bit of venison and fois gras terrine, which was a really good combination. The acidity of the beer cutting through the fats of the terrine. She who must be obeyed gave it a sip and said "YUCK!". So Gueuze is not everyone's cup of tea. However, I would not give it a yuck by any stretch. It may take a bit of education, or perhaps just stubborn persistence but I think beer lovers should definitely try it. Gueuze is history in a glass. Prior to cultured strains of yeast, most fermented beverages were fermented with wild yeasts, so it gives you a sense of how beer has evolved. It is also a nice change of pace. Three and a half Drunk Monks!!
Innocent enough statement unless you know she who must be obeyed. Since moving to Belgium, while I have been tied to a desk, my darling bride has been endeavoring to become a power walker. Suffice to say, many kilometers and a couple of hours later, I was ready for lunch and hydrating beverage. Because it was a beautiful day, we stopped at a local restaurant where we could sit outside and enjoy the nice weather. On the menu, I saw a beer that I had not tried before, a Boerken.
The Boerken is a strong Brown Ale. It pours a cloudy mohogany color with a serious head. The tulip shaped Boerken glass does a nice job of collecting the head and putting it on display. Like most Bruins it has a sweet component, but it is much less sweet than many in the style. At 9.5%, you would expect a lot more alcoholic bite, but it does not have that. It is surprisingly smooth with some prune or dried fruit background. Overall a very nice beverage and nice reward for the morning of exercise. Four Drunk Monks!
During the holidays, we passed by a little restaurant on the Rue Paul Devaux in Brussels with a petite asian lady making hand pulled noodles. I said then and there that we had to come back. Today we did. If you have never seen this done, it is an amazing thing to watch. The noodlemaker swings, twists and shapes noodles by hand until the dough is pliable. They then start doubling the noodle over, pulling it each time. Each doubling, doubles the number of noodles and reduces the diameter enabling the noodlemaker to control the thickness. Noodles made this way have a very silky smoothness and great texture. If you want to watch noodles being made this way, see Alton Brown's video here:
When we got up this morning, the weather looked like it might hold, so I suggested to she who must be obeyed that we head into the city to try this little restaurant out. All I can say is that I am glad that we did. The restaurant is very small with an upstairs and downstairs. You walk in, right in front of the noodlemaker. We found a corner table for two upstairs. Last one available. I opened the menu to find a very limited selection. In my opinion, always a good sign. They make a small assortment of dumplings for appetizers, noodle in broth, fried noodles, and fried rice. That's it. And it is plenty. We started with a small assortment of dim sum which was gone before we could photograph it. I got the noodles in broth with chefs choice of accompaniements knowing that I would trash my shirt as a result, but not really caring. Chef's choice had me enjoying a combination of pork, duck, shrimp, tripe and little meatballs. She who must be obeyed got the fried noodles with enameled pork. Both were incredible. I jacked mine up with some of the sambal that was available on the table and was soon sweating happily.
I really love food like this. It is simple, filling and highly varied. We have absolutely found a new favorite place. So if you are in Brussels and are jonesing for some awesome noodles, Au Bon Bol on rue Paul Devaux. Four and a Half Drunk Monks!!!
Living in belgium is full of new and unique experiences. Belgians have an institutional desire to avoid taxes. One of these new experiences is a result of this desire, Lunch Passes. Many companies in Belgium provide their employees with compensation for the money that they spend on lunch in the company canteen. Mine is no exception. Lunch Passes. For every day that you check in before a certain time and check out after a certain time, you receive a lunch pass. The lunch passes are each worth a fixed amount of money, typically more than you spend on lunch. Once a month, you receive a little envelope with the passes. You can redeem the passes at all grocery stores and many restaurants. They also do a similar thing for people who use green transportation. The problem with the green passes is that they are only usable for green products, so you tend to see them on offer all the time on the Expat websites. It's like monopoly money but you get real stuff for it. Odd, but it is Belgium. You learn not to question and just enjoy.
