Adelaide Belgian Beer Cafe - Oostende's "Beauty of Belgium Dinner"

[rec]

Posted this on Adelaide's Belgian Beer Cafe MySpace page in a fit of disgust...

Jamie Skella Seriously dissapointing assortment of beverages for your "Beauty of Belgium" event. For something that I'd expect to showcase some of the finest export delights Belgium has to offer based on the title alone, only to be told glasses of Stella, Hoegaarden and Leffe will be served is extremely disheartening. How about something not mass produced by Inbev, for starters? I would have happily paid $150 if you offered anything remotely worthy of a "Beauty of Belgium" title. How about something from Rochefort? Westmalle? Bernardus? Hell, even if you stepped it up and served Hoegaarden Grand Cru and Leffe Vieille Cuvee you would have done the title SOME justice. Anyway, that's enough of my whine. I'm sure the day will go great for you regardless, given the type of consumer that populates the largest percentage of our beer drinking demographic in South Australia. *sigh

It really is a sad day when an establishment puts themselves on a pedistal, and is expected to be some all-knowing entity regarding a Belgium, their lifestyle and their beer, and then disrespects it in this fashion.

Belgium's most prized dishes revolve around beer marinade, beer sauce, and a carefully selected beer to match and compliment the dish. It's misleading to attract poeple with an event title such as "Beauty of Belgium Dining" and then offer them Australian wine and entry-level Belgian lager such as Stella which is most certainly not how the most beautiful of Belgian dining is carried out. I'm sure the die-hard traditionalists might even find it insulting.

They're giving unknowing beer drinking Australian's the wrong idea, and it's kinda upsetting for someone as fanatical as I am about Belgian beer.

[Nightcrawler]

meh true, but I still plan to go - sounds good. You purists just take things too far .....

j/k Rec - I understand your chagrin, but to the uninitiated, Stella, Hoegarden and Leffe are the mainstream 'good' Belgian beers. If they have not tried the rest they have no unit of comparison, except to say that Leffe kicks the living snot out of any Australian produced brew, which indeed it does.

[rec]

Yeah I understand that too, this rant is mostly out of feeling let-down.

The food will no doubt be good and the beer fine, but it's hardly the "Beauty of Belgium Dining", and is far from an beautifully authentic/genuine Belgian dining experience.

[ResLo]

So I guess you wont be joining us then

p.s. How did Nyt respond to this so quick if (and I quote) "I have too many other forums to review each day so I don't look at GU"

[UnSCaRReD]

Maybe they based the beers on offer for the event on the beers they actually SELL the most of, therefore catering to the majority of their clientele?

[rec]

That's exactly what I said...

rec Anyway, that's enough of my whine. I'm sure the day will go great for you regardless, given the type of consumer that populates the largest percentage of our beer drinking demographic in South Australia.

Doesn't make it ok, though. Not with a title like "Beauty of Belgium".

[paladin]

maybe they're all being served by buxom belgian wenches.

that'd qualify as beauty of belgium imo.

[rec]

There was no mention of that in the e-mail invite, either.

[Wrathlon]

Yeah see I'm with Paladin. You're assuming that the "Beauty" is the beer. Just because its a beer festival doesn't mean the beer is also the beauty.

[rec]

Erm, you're talking about Belgium here. Their entire way of life and culture revolves around beer. Yes, the Beauty of Belgium's dining is the beer, both the beer used in cooking many of their trademark dishes, and the beer offered to compliment those unique dishes. Fact.

Sure there are lots of typical, uninspiring places to dine out in Belgium, where you may get a lack lustre beverage and a "regular" meal, but that's not where the Beauty of Belgium's Dining lies, and that's what the Oostende is offering.