Lobsterfest 2013 @ Belgo

50 Earlham StLondon 
WC2H 9LJ

Let me start by explaining how much I love lobster. Last time I was in Maine with my parents, I ate about 3 or 4 lobsters a day. There were evenings where all we did was buy a bag of lobsters and then hunker down in the hotel room to feast. I planned another trip to Maine with A, purportedly to show him New England, but mainly so I could eat some more lobster. So when Belgo invited me to Lobsterfest this year, there was absolutely no way I was going to miss it. The evening kicked off with fantastic Belgian beer - one of my favorites was Grottenbier (pictured above), a dark and ever-so-slightly sweet beer. Then Muir, lobster-chef-extraordinaire, demonstrated how to construct a lobster cocktail salad and also how to humanely kill a lobster (and even gave some other intrepid guests a chance to try their own hands at it). S and I were happy to just eat lobster in several forms - the salad had a citrussy dressing that I enjoyed (and we got a chef's tip to microwave lemons briefly if you want them to be juicier and milder in flavor). The grilled lobster was buttery and garlicky and delectable as well. By the end of the evening we were drinking sour beers with Belgo's brand manager and squeezing in some waffles with decadently rich dark chocolate sauce. Thanks to the entire Belgo and Relish PR team that made this possible - I've had quite a few great nights at Belgo in the past but the lobster element made this one even more fun!

Lobsterfest runs until 31st August 2013 and in another charming move, Belgo is paying for a lobster to be set free in Cornwall for every lobster ordered, so don't feel guilty about eating as many lobsters as you want.

Belgo (Oktoberfest)

Belgo is a chain of Belgian restaurants in London - the flagship being the one in Covent Garden which can do 400 covers at a time. While Oktoberfest is German in origin, the Belgians love their beer as well and Belgo has decided to co-opt the idea with a special Oktoberfest menu, matching beers to each option on the menu. I was invited to attend a preview of the menu where we could taste all of the dishes available, along with their paired beers, and also find out more about the beers from the Belgo Beermaster. Every Wednesday, you can book a "Pilgrimage" which consists of a three course meal, with a different beer served with each course, for £33 (which is pretty decent value when you consider that three Belgian beers would usually run you around £15 on their own). Here's the menu:

Starters
Parsnip and ginger soup, paired with Jupiler Pilsner (the ginger frites sprinkled on top were great)
Moules Mariniere, paired with Belgo Witbier (made by the same brewery as Hoegaarden)
Champagne, duck and truffle terrine, paired with De Koninck Blonde

Mains
Carbonnade of braised beef cooked in Faro beer and served with Witcap Stimulo beer
Mushroom Bouchee, paired with Palm Amber
Moules Portugaises, paired with Bruges Zot Blonde (yummy chorizo)

Desserts
Pear poached in raspberry beer served with lemon sorbet, paired with Floris Apple
Belgian Chocolate Pudding, paired with Westmalle Double
Belgian waffle, paired with Mort Subite Gueuze (ohh this waffle was amazingly tasty)

My favorite pairings were the beef with Witcap Stimulo, the pear with Floris Apple, and the Belgian waffle withMort Subite Gueuze. A also really loved the Westmalle Double. I also enjoyed the parsnip soup and both moules preparations - can't go wrong with mussels in a Belgian restaurant! Catch this if you can - it runs through the month of October and is a rare opportunity to learn about how well Belgian beers go with food.