The Brewhouse and Kitchen Lichfield lies close to the centre of the city, and was very easy to find. We arrived at the restaurant just before 7pm and parked in the public car park a couple of minutes walk away.
This restaurant is the latest in the Brewhouse and Kitchen family of restaurants across the UK. They pride themselves in offering a wide selection of craft beers from across the world. The Lichfield restaurant even has its own microbrewery and dedicated brewer on site!
Incidentally, all of the photos for this post were taken on the amazing Samsung Galaxy S8+ which Three kindly loaned to me. Click here to read my full review.
And the ‘twist’ to the evening that I mention in the title of this post? Each item on the menu is matched to a particular type of beer, much in the way that you may have seen wines matched to food before. I usually drink wine when I eat out, and even then I tend to stick to the same Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio nine times out of ten! So as I wasn’t driving for this evening, I decided to try out some of the beers on offer.
We ordered our first drinks while we perused the food menu. There’s a wide range of beers available, and you can even try out a ‘beertail’ – a cocktail made using beer.
But I opted for a Belgian lager to start the evening. Bellerose is described in the restaurant’s beer guide as being inspired by 1950s beers, which were ‘intensely hoppy and stoutly refreshing’. I really enjoyed this beer for its smooth flavour – it’s quite a strong beer though at 6.5%.
For our first course, we’d decided to take advantage of the ‘3 starters for £14.50’ offer. We shared a plate of nachos, lamb koftas, and B&K chicken wings. The nachos were loaded with jalapenos, guacamole, spicy salsa, sour cream and plenty of melted cheese. It was a huge portion that would have been enough on its own to share as a starter!
The lamb kofta was very tasty with just the right amount of spice, and a cooling tzatiki sauce. But I think my favourite starter was the B&K chicken wings. We’d opted for the spicy buffalo variety, but we could have chosen barbecue sauce if we’d preferred that. The wings had just the right amount of heat, and they came with celery sticks and cooling blue cheese sauce.
It took a while for us to work our way through the starters, and by the time we’d finished that course, I was ready to try a second beer.
This time I went for a lighter, German lager as I had really enjoyed the lagers that I had tried in Berlin recently. This Fruh Kolsch, which is brewed in Cologne, was equally refreshing and had a really crisp dry flavour. At 4.8%, it was a lighter drink than the Bellerose.
I was very impressed by the selection of beers available at the Brewhouse and Kitchen, and the bar staff certainly seemed to know their stuff. They were able to advise me on which beers might be suitable and recommended a couple for me to try on my next visit as well.
Before our main courses turned up, I took the opportunity to have a quick look around the premises. The Brewhouse and Kitchen has a quirky decor that I really liked. I spotted plenty of little knick-knacks dotted around the restaurant and on the walls. The lighting was quite bright and cheery when we first arrived, but as the evening drew on, the lighting was lowered to give a more relaxing, intimate atmosphere.
There are also a couple of decent sized function rooms upstairs, which you can hire for special occasions. I think it would make a fantastic venue for a birthday or Christmas party.
Soon enough, our main courses turned up. The menu has a wide range of options, from steaks and pies, to burgers and salads. There are even a range of dishes for sharing, such as Beer Can Roast Chicken and a BBQ Platter. There are a small number of vegetarian options on the menu as well.
The Cajun Gumbo is a homemade spicy gumbo, which is packed with tender chicken, chorizo and prawns. I was pleased to see that it uses ‘real’ chicken and not the horrible reformed stuff. I had a small taste, and I felt that the spice could have been upped a little. But what would have been a good level of spice for some, might be too spicy for others. It’s not easy to strike the right balance on these types of food really.
On the other hand, my fish and chips were magnificent! I don’t often order fish and chips when I go out, because usually there are more interesting options on the menu. But as this fish is coated in IPA batter, I was keen to see how good it would be.
I’m very happy to tell you that it was fantastic. The fish was well cooked – I hate overcooked fish – and the batter was light, crisp and not soggy at all. It was definitely one of the nicest pieces of battered fish that I’ve ever had. The side portion of onion rings that I ordered were also coated in the same light IPA batter.
The menu recommended pairing this with a lager, and it did go very well with the Fruh Kolsch.
But the chips did steal the show a little. They were cooked with the skin on, and had that divine combination of crispy outer and fluffy inner. The chips were seasoned with a garlic and hop salt, and there were masses of them.
That’s because we really felt we had to save a little room for pudding. The menu only has a small selection of puddings, but you’re sure to find something that appealed to our sweet tooth.
The Glazed Doughnut Ice Cream sandwich was served with strawberry compote and whipped cream. I had a little taste of the ice cream, and it was very smooth and creamy with a good vanilla flavour.
Meanwhile I had chosen the Cherry Bakewell Cheesecake. Although I knew what I had ordered, the flavour did come as a little bit of a surprise because it tasted exactly like Cherry Bakewell! The combination of cherries, almonds and smooth creamy cheesecake was utterly delicious.
Oooh the food looks incredible. I love the beer-matching!
Wow this place sounds incredible. Love the added twist, it makes it super fun as well. The food sounds delicious and I could devour those chips right now x
I’m usually not a fan of beer, but with the right meal it can really be delicious. Beer and Korean fried chicken is my personal favourite combo.
That’s awesome that each meal comes with a matched beer, and that ice cream sandwich looks amazing x
The food looks amazing and the outside of the brewhouse looks so adorable. I love spicy food too, so it probably wouldn’t have been hot enough for me.
I know a couple of people that this idea would really suit. Good food and good bear, you cannot really fault. Having said that, I’m not sure I would enjoy the combination (like you, it’s usually a glass of Chardonnay). The food looks really good, and the desserts perfect.
The fish and chips looks delicious! I love the idea of beers being paired with dishes, it makes such a refreshing change from wines, which is what you usually find. This sounds much more appealing to me!
The glazed ice cream sandwich looks incredible! Actually all ththe food does. I would definitely eat here if it was local! It’s interesting that the menu is based around beer tho!
Salivated throughout the post, I love the idea of matching the food and beer as you would with wine. I would definitely love to give Brewhouse and kitchen a try one day
Usually you match you wine to your food so this sounds really interesting doing it the other way and matching food to complement beer. The food looks delicious especially the donut ice cream!
Wow that is a fantastic deal on the starters isn’t it. You get a fair amount too. I think if I had that I’d struggle to eat a main and dessert would be out for sure. It all looks soooooo good it’s making me drool!
Those fish and chips looked so good, this is a place I would eat at!
This sounds like Hubby’s idea of a perfect meal – love that they match a dish to the beer
Food matched to specific beer? Now that sounds like one heck of an interesting experience… Haha
Oh wow. I really shouldn’t have looked at this at breakfast time, because now I am craving nachos. They look SO good.
Wow those Nachos looks just incredible and you can never beat skin on chips!
Oh YUMMY!! The food here looks so delicious, especially those Nachos!!
Not only do I like the sound of the ‘beertail’ -yes please- but I also like the sound of the cheesecake which is one of my favourite deserts x
Me too, Ana, I usually go for a cheesecake when I spot it on a menu x