Beerfest at The Avenue on 2nd Road

[Evil Penevil 7,610]

 

Beerfest, a microbrewery and restaurant, has begun operation in its new premises in The Avenue shopping mall on 2nd Road.

 

 

After six years of operation on 2nd Road between Sois 5 and 6, that restaurant closed in February. Beerfest now has spacious quarters next to Au Bon Pain in The Avenue.

 

 

The big attraction of Beerfest is the draft beer that's brewed on site. You can see the vats in the pic above. The new restaurant has only been open a couple of days and its still not up to full speed. Only mass-brewed bottled beer was available - no draft of any sort - and some of the food items on the menu (the same as the old restaurant) were marked with a "No" sticker.

 

 

When I stepped in at 8 pm Monday, there were seven other guests eating or drinking. However, they all soon finished up and no other guests arrived during the hour or so I was there.

 

 

It's difficult to characterize what type of restaurant Beerfest is. The menu includes dishes from a half-dozen cuisines- Russian, German, Thai, generic European, Indian and steaks - and it's hard to pin an exact label on it. From what I've heard, the owner is Russian and Beerfest is a Russia-based operation with branches in several countries.

 

 

My visit to Beerfest Monday night got off to a rocky start. The SML I ordered came half-frozen and the service girl wouldn't change it out. I'll skip the details, but I decided to drink a beer slushy rather than demand to speak with the manager. My experience of calling managers' attention to problems while in the restaurant hasn't been all that positive in Pattaya. The beer thawed quickly and in the end, I didn't notice any ill effects on the taste or carbonation.

 

 

I ordered two dishes: pork meatballs with mashed potatoes and gravy at 185 baht and pelmeni, Russian-style meat-filled dumplings, aka Russian ravioli or Siberian dumplings, at 150 baht.

 

 

Both the meatballs and gravy had a subtle but distinct pork flavor. The creamy mashed potatoes were great. The fresh potato taste came through clearly, but there was a background flavor as well, probably from a combination of butter and a little sour cream.

 

 

The meatballs were light and juicy and had been cooked just to the right point. I couldn't tie them to any specific cuisine. They hadn't been heavily spiced, but were well seasoned with salt and pepper. Simple but good.

 

 

The pork had been very finely minced and perhaps panko (Japanese bread crumbs) had been added as a binder. That would also help account for the meatballs' lightness.

 

 

Dumplings of any sort, Asian or European, have always been a favorite of mine and I was pleased Beerfest had pelmeni on the menu. Pelmeni resembles mini-ravioli, except the dough covering the meat filling is paper thin.

 

 

The filling is usually made from a mixture of beef and pork and that appeared to be the case with Beerfest's pelmeni. It was topped with fresh dill, with gave the rather bland dumplings a good taste. Pelmeni is traditionally served with sour cream and/or vinegar. The sour cream was there, but no vinegar,

 

 

Beerfest also has Ukranian varenyky on the menu. Varenyky are crescent-shaped filled dumplings that are larger than pelmeni and closer to Polish pierogis.

 

 

Bottom line: It's very early days for Beerfest at The Avenue and it's still experiencing some start-up hassles. But I was happy with the meal I had and will be back in a week or so to try the draft beer as well as the varenyky and okroshka, a chilled Russian summer soup based on kvas, a beverage made from fermented bread. According to the menu, the kvas is made on the premises.

 

Prices for food seem reasonable at Beerfest, with a lot of dishes under 300 baht and snack items around 100 baht. While the menu itself isn't heavily Russianized, it's clear that it has been set up with Russian guests in mind, i.e., the emphasis on snacks and soups. So far, it looks promising, but the draft beer will probably make or break it in the end.

 

Evil

Edited May 11, 2016 by Evil Penevil

[Saddic 31]

The old Beerfest seemed to cater to the Russian crowd... From Mr E's wonderful report, that seems to not have changed... (I'll check in a couple of weeks when I return...)...

 

Hope they have other than the commercial beer's when I get there...

 

...and out of curiosity.. I thought it was considered "illegal" to brew beer.. (if you weren't otherwise well connected)...

 

Hope Mr G tries out the food and lets us know how authentic it is (or not)...

[Evil Penevil 7,610]

 

 

...and out of curiosity.. I thought it was considered "illegal" to brew beer.. (if you weren't otherwise well connected)...

 

 

I've only heard this, so I don't know if it is accurate or not, but the story goes that microbreweries which only sell their beer to customers at an attached bar/restaurant can obtain a license/dispensation from local authorities. It is entirely possible that tea is the microbrewery's secret ingredient.

Evil

[Gabor 296]

Evil... your report about the pelmeni is simple perfect....

[MM 6,562]

Is pelmini like pieroggi? I used to eat a version of that in the USA.

[Evil Penevil 7,610]

Is pelmini like pieroggi? I used to eat a version of that in the USA.

 

Pelmeni are much smaller than pierogis, which have a thicker dough covering and are mostly (but not always) crescent-shaped. Polish pierogis can have either sweet or savory fillings, while pelmeni are virtually always savory and mostly meat-filled, although regional variations with vegetable fillings do occur. The pierogis widely available in the U.S. are mostly filled with mashed potatoes flavored with onions, cheese, bacon or another ingredient, but there are many, many kinds of fillings (mushrooms, sauerkraut, meat, cabbage, etc) in Poland, not just mashed potato. Sweet pierogis often have a berry filling.

 

Pierogi is considered a national dish of Poland with a lot of regional variations. Different types of pierogis are served on holidays such as Christmas and on special occasions like weddings, wakes and christenings. There's a lot of tradition associated with pierogis.

 

The menu at Beerfest features varenyky, which are Ukrainian dumplings very similar to pierogi.

 

Pierogis from the Web:

 

 

Evil

Edited May 11, 2016 by Evil Penevil

[Kev 158]

Thanks for the review Evil, might check it out in August when I'm over there on holidays :-)

[Evil Penevil 7,610]

I said I'd wait a week or so before visiting Beerfest again to give them a chance to get the draft beer flowing, but the hot weather hastened my return. A couple of days ago, the 95 degree heat and high humidity really got to me as soon as I I stepped outside. I just didn't have the energy to go further than the nearby Avenue Mall, so I had another meal at Beerfest.

 

 

I had wanted to try the okroshka (Russian cold summer soup, 100 baht), but it wasn't available. I instead had a small cup of cream of mushroom instead (60 baht), which had a darker color and deeper flavor than you usually get with mushroom soup..

 

 

Beerfest also has Ukranian varenyky on the menu. Varenyky are crescent-shaped filled dumplings that are larger than pelmeni and closer to Polish pierogis in size and the thickness of the dough covering. At Beerfest, the varenyky filled with cabbage and bacon (100 baht).

 

 

 

It was OK, but I didn't like it as much as the pelmeni. Beerfest had been a bit stingy with the filling of the varenyky, resulting a low ratio of filling to dough. Th filling tasted fine, but was somewhat watery.

 

 

 

 

If I want to have Russian dumplings again at Beerfest, I'll stick to the pelmeni. But no doubt, the soup (60 baht), varenyky (100 baht) and Coke Zero (40 baht) cost a total of 200 baht, which is cheap for a filling meal.

 

My next report should be about their craft beer.

 

Evil

Edited May 15, 2016 by Evil Penevil