We went to Surly Brewer's Table the night before my birthday to celebrate and to have a nice dinner. We had plans to go to Jackpot Junction casino on my birthday, and we knew there would be no good dining options there.
I heard a lot about Brewer's Table when it opened over the summer, but I have not heard much lately. I definitely liked the idea of the food menu being created with beer pairings in mind. The four course menu is $65 per person with the beer pairings included in the price.
My first course was fiery hell beer with crudo of marlin, tangerine, cashews. The marlin was raw and not at all fishy. The dried peppers added spice as did the fiery hell beer, which is quite spicy actually.
John's first course was Oktoberfest beer with squash soup with camembert, mole, poblano, pepperonata. The soup was extremely rich tasting and very flavorful.
My second course was watches hat beer with huevos motulenos, a poached egg, smoked ham, harissa sauce, black beans. This had a nice smoky flavor as did the beer this was paired with.
John's second course was West coast IPAwith cauliflower and carrot puree, thai vinaigrette and peanuts. The cauliflower was a bit on the salty side, but very good.
My entree was cacao bender beer with market fish which was lobster. The lobster had to have been poached as it was prepared perfectly.
John's entree was Surly smoke beer with pork with guajillo, candied rutabaga, salsa verde. Some of the pork was a very juicy and tender pork chop and some of it was like pork belly. All of it was excellent.
My dessert course was darkness beer with the chocolate tasting, which was chocolate 5 ways. The ice cream was a bit bitter and the brownie was good. The best was the long rectangular item, which was soft and had the consistency of cheese, but I can't recall what it was called. The darkness beer has a very high alcohol content, you can almost taste it, though it worked well with the strong sweetness of the chocolate.
John's dessert course was Surly bender beer with apple brioche with ginger, buckwheat, darkness ice cream. This was good, but we both thought we should have tried the s'mores dessert.
It was interesting to do a beer pairing menu, as we have never done anything like this before. I thought all of the menu items we tried went very well with the beers they were paired with, though we both thought the desserts were the weakest part of the menu.
The service started out a bit slow, but improved after we ordered drinks. The pacing was excellent and we were never waiting long for the next course. The restaurant was pretty busy by the time we left, but not when we arrived. I would suggest making reservations, especially if you have a larger group.
Surly Brewing
Brewer's Table
520 Malcolm Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN
(763) 999-4040
http://surlybrewing.com/breweries-tap-room/tap-room/
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