Beer is all about creativity, fun and passion. Those ingredients not only lead to great beer, but that is what the brewery experience is all about. Golden Road Huntington Beach has put together all those ingredients as the cornerstone of their beer, the food they serve with your beer, and the experience you get every time you visit.
Beer is always front and center with Golden Road, but the food continues to be on par with the beer, making it as much of a restaurant experience as it is a brewery one. Executive Chef Joe Torres serves up a lot of wonderful food that you would come to expect from a brewery, but he takes everything up an extra notch. A few specialties that set Golden Road apart are avocado tacos, brussel sprouts with crispy pork belly and one of the best pub pretzels you will find anywhere.
Golden Road and Chef Joe are now looking to take the menu to a whole new creative level and that is going to make this location as much about the food as it does the beer. Recently Golden Road and Chef Joe put together a beer pairing dinner named “La Vida Aquatica” that was a perfect way to showcase some incredible beer with dishes that are unique to Golden Road and gave a little glimpse of what the future of Golden Road looks like.
An evening that captured the essence of the sea not only with the setting but dishes that brought a unique flavor to each course. To begin the evening guests were treated to a light and refreshing marinated shrimp dish that was surrounded by fresh and vibrant ingredients highlighted by an avocado mousse that was all placed upon taro chips. The freshness shined through with each bite and was paired with “Mild Construction”, a light beer that matched the dish by pouring the nitro version.
Next on the menu was a unique twist on pasta with a lobster linguine that featured a mint pesto to go with a ricotta cream sauce and fried garlic. While the lobster might look like the star of this dish, it was everything else that stole the show. The linguine would make any Italian restaurant proud and then the rich cream sauce was incredibly flavorful and finally that pesto was very subtle and the mint magically touched your taste buds at the end of every bite. Such a rich dish needed a beer to offset all those flavors and the “In Bocca al Lupo” did just that. An Italian pilsner that was crisp, light and refreshing was the perfect match for so many heavy flavors.
The highlight of the night was the pan-seared scallop risotto. Making a flawless risotto is a challenge in itself, and Chef Joe cooked it beautifully and the seared scallops were a wonderful addition. But what took the dish to another level was the blood orange butter sauce and crispy pancetta on top. Each bite was bursting with flavors, and the unexpected addition of blood orange butter sauce made it truly unique. The “Get On Board” beer that accompanied this dish was a perfect match. The hoppy and orange-forward flavors of this Hazy IPA version amplified the flavors of the dish even more.
The finale of the evening was a wonderful basque cheesecake that was finished off with a caramel sauce that was created from the “Mark’d Stout” which was the beer it was paired with. Finishing off the evening with the “Mark’d Stout” was incredible as this golden stout hit so many notes that you didn’t even need a dessert. This was a truly unique stout as it wasn’t overly heavy, but still gave you the flavors of coffee, caramel and shortbread that all came together in a very subtle way. The beer was inspired by a caramel macchiato and was perfectly described as a deconstructed version of the popular coffee drink.
While those dishes don’t appear on the Golden Road menu just yet, this is a glimpse into what you can expect to see and more as Chef Joe and Golden Road continue to expand and get creative with their menu. The same goes for the beer. Golden Road always pushes the beer envelope with new ingredients and approaches to brewing beer.
As summer approaches, Golden Road Huntington Beach is the perfect setting to enjoy the sunshine while overlooking the marina and from there just a short walk to the beach itself. Golden Road created this location with all that in mind, as they have a great patio to enjoy the weather and an opening that allows you to take in the view while also enjoying that perfect Southern California breeze. Beer might be the reason to get you through the front door, but after one visit you will see many more reasons to stay.
For more information, visit: Golden Road
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