Food pairings shouldn't just be for wines; ales work, too

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 17: The gastropub — bars which combine the old-fashioned ambience of the British pub with a higher standard of food — is a growing trend in the UK and now the concept has come to Bermuda.

Once a much-loved five-diamond restaurant, the Newport Room has dropped much of its formality, simplified its menu, and surrounded itself with flat-screen televisions for those who want a beer alongside their major sporting events.

But it’s still a cut above.

UK gastropubs tend to take traditional pub food to restaurant level and accompany it with a handful of selected beers and wines.

But I’ve never seen a gastropub like this — a fresh raw bar, oysters and lobster on ice, and a charcuterie dominate the room on entry; the menu is extensive and draws on locally-sourced produce; and there is a pleasingly lengthy list of top international beers.

The Newport has come up with a nice way of letting you try a few of its selection of ales and lagers: a tasting trio of third-of-a-pint glasses of its draught offerings. This allows you to try a triple tipple while only having to drink a pint, and also to match your beer to your food. People think of this as something to do with wine, and don’t tend to do it with beer. They should. Try it and see.

For my first round, I plumped for Chimay Triple Grande Reserve, Dockyard Black Anchor Porter, and Anchor Liberty Ale.

The first is a hoppy Belgian, light and dry, and an excellent accompaniment to my sausage and kraut starter. Otherwise known as Chimay White, at 8 per cent ABV (alcohol by volume)  it’s the strongest pint on the menu (although not the strongest beer – that honour goes to its fellow countryman Piraat, available in bottles at a hefty 10.5 per cent).

The second is a local, and a fine one. A good, strong (both in terms of flavour and alcohol at 6 per cent) and sweet porter with undertones of bitter chocolate, Dockyard Black Anchor nicely offset the vinegar of the sauerkraut. This would be a good pint with a Sunday roast.

Balanced

I was onto the third, New York’s Anchor Liberty Ale, by the time my main course – a rare steak with tasty rosemary butter, crispy fries, and roasted marrow served in the bone – arrived. This balanced, bitter pale ale nicely offset the unctuousness of the bone-marrow, but now it was time for a second round capable of meeting the meat: I chose Kilkenny Ale, Dockyard Whale of a Wheat, and Dockyard Trunk Island IPA.

Kilkenny I already knew. A red, Irish ale, it was a pretty good accompaniment to the steak. But I preferred the remaining two locals: Whale of a Wheat stands up well against better-known Belgians – in fact I thought it was a Belgian until I double-checked – and it provided a pleasant sweetness as I finished off the fries, while the Trunk Island IPA was a caramel-tinged treat to sip in place of a the dessert for which I had no room. It’s darker than the IPAs I’m used to from the UK, but a fine pint.

The remainder of the draught beer menu reflects some odd choices: Harp and Foster’s aren’t my idea of fine lagers (although the Carlsberg Green Label at 5 per cent seems to be the premium Carlsberg Export) and Boddington’s is too widely available to be particularly interesting. But generally, the Newport provides an interesting range of ten on tap, showing off Bermuda’s own Dockyard ales in the best possible light.

Even more extensive and well-chosen is the range of 21 bottled beers, which includes Chimay Red – the Chimay White’s equally-strong but darker and more unusual brother – alongside some fine choices from the USA, Jamaica, Japan, Australia, Europe and even the Philippines. Prices, ranging from $8 to $19 for the always-expensive Chimay Red 75cl, seem high even by Bermudian standards, but you get what you pay for and the $11 tasting trio gives value on draughts otherwise ranging from $9-$14 a pint.

As a Scot I was happy to see Crabbie’s Ginger Beer also on the menu– it’s 5 per cent to start with, so it could be used to make one heck of an interesting variant on the dark ’n stormy.