Wednesday, October 24, 2012

River Kitchen (2)

Back to the River Kitchen, because it was good last time.  This time, I brought M with me.  The food was better than last time, even. I think I made a nicer choice. I always like the idea of eggs benedict more than I like eggs benedict. Oh well.

This time I had beans and black pudding.  That worked out tremendously.


Mel had salmon and peas on potato, topped with an egg.  This too worked out brilliantly.



It is still good. Their website is still woeful.
http://www.theriverkitchen.co.nz
07 839 2906
email: info@theriverkitchen.co.nz

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Einstök: Icelandic Toasted Porter

How often do you see beer from Iceland?  Around here, I have seen it... once, that I can recall.  That time led me to this intriguingly named Toasted Porter.

Classy label

Nice and dark.

It does taste toasty, and it hits your standard porter notes, but I found the flavour a little too light.  It didn't linger on the palate like I want a porter to, and I was tempted to quaff it rather than drinking slowly.  Now, that isn't always a bad thing, and I would be happy to drink a few of these, but when I have a porter, I often want to sit and savour it, and soak in the flavour.  That kind of approach wouldn't be right for this beer, I don't think.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Epic: Double Stout

Epic's 2012 Double Stout doesn't appear to exist on their website, which is a little disappointing because I want to see what they say about it.  I felt it was (typically of Epic) well loaded with hops.  Not too traditional a stout flavour. But you could get the more standard coffee/chocolate richness coming through despite the hops.  Head was a rich dark brown, and the beer smelled incredible.  I am a sucker for a good tagline, and 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark' sold me on this right from the start.


Pretty.

If you want a traditional stout, maybe buy something else.  If you want a beer that tastes like Epic beer, but darker... well.  Stout it is.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Harviestoun: Old Engine Oil

Not the most appealing of names, I have to admit.  But the beer makes up for that by being very good.  It is hoppier than I would have expected, and very smooth, rich and chocolatey.  Has a good thick mouth-feel, which goes some way to explaining the name.  Nice and dark, to boot. They don't have the most link friendly website, but what are you going to do?