phillips and rogue

the lovely beer pairing dinner of last week:

here we all are with our pre-dinner pints
the ginger beer arrived first at 7:15
i had already had several pints by this point
not so much that i couldn't appreciate the lovely ginger beer
but enough so that food with my beer would have been welcome
(note to self:  stop drinking before dinner!)

course one - meat option - cured pork belly soup

course one - pescetarian option - ahi tuna soup
unfortunately my first bowl of soup was mushroomed
fortunately my server loves me and got me a new one

everyone raved about the amazing pairing of ginger beer with the pork belly soup
but there was a request for more kimchi in the soup to improve the pairing
me, i just love ginger beer and think it goes with most things!

"what is the creature on top?" asked theresa
"pork fat" replied tasha
happy eye rolls and licking of chops ensued
"porktastic" exclaimed alison

originally the ginger beer was just a limited run by phillips
but people in victoria extolled its virtues enough that they brought it back
keep extolling the virtues people, my world needs more ginger beer!


course two - meat option - polderside chicken roulade




course two - pescetarian option - mahi mahi

slipstream cream ale
the cream ale works well with the chicken
but was a bit too malty for the mahi mahi
apparently there's a sweetness about the chicken
and the beer was used in the jus so it all goes very well together
i found the nuttiness in the beer came out when i munched on the hazelnuts
course three - hot & sour sablefish

hoperation belgian triple ipa
the hoperation triplecross may be a belgian
but its intensely hopped so its alright by me!
still don't want a whole pint of it though, this taster is just the right size
everyone else very much enjoyed it

the sablefish was done to perfection
so buttery, tender, rich
totally the best part of the food portion of the evening

"if yer gonna go up against this [beer] you gotta throw some chilis in there" says tasha
and i would have to agree
with a beer that hoppy, the hot part of the hot and sour could have been hotter
the hops nicely cut the richness of the sablefish though
and the cabbage wrapped potato ragout and edible flowers rocked my world

longboat chocolate porter

course four - coffee & doughnuts
"ooooh, that's nice" said theresa as she dove into the chocolate (even though she gave it up for lent)
"one should avoid being rude.  someone made it for me and it was a gift" she used as her excuse
i held fast to the no chocolate for lent
but i did drink the chocolate porter

everyone simply loved this dessert
i enjoyed my beignets immensely - and the icing sugar made me want to dance
fights broke out around the table over who would get to have my mocha "coffee"
but all's well that ends well, and this dessert went over very, very well

"i had my finger in too many pots... no just the right amount of pots.  one more and i would have been over the limit" said alison

jonny, curtis and simon of phillips pose with chef cory chapman

the lads of phillips were very friendly
and quite delighful to talk to during and after the meal
as was chef cory as always

it was another great meal
and delightful meet the makers of your favourite beers
at $35 i'm not sure why these nights don't sell out in record time
i think its the best beer pairing deal in the city
and their willingness to accomodate all food allergies and preferences makes me a very happy picky pescetarian!

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