NATIONAL BREWS
Belgium’s Delirium Tremens is the beer
that will have you seeing pink elephants
UZBEKISTANAS
FLAVOURS FROM A COUNTRY
DEEP IN CENTRAL ASIA
Wizz Air doesn’t fly as far east as doubly
landlocked Uzbekistan in Central Asia –
Georgia is as far as we go – but you can
sample Uzbek food at this austere but
upmarket restaurant. Happily, the friendly
waitresses speak English, and are happy to
steer confused diners through the menu.
Regulars swear by the lamb dishes – the
lagman
,
an aromatic and slightly spicy
soup made from lamb and thick noodles,
is highly recommended.
Open Mon-Thur
11
am-11pm; Fri-Sun 11am-midnight.
Vienuolio 4, +370 5 261 0429
ŽEMAICIAI
WHEN ONLY LOCAL,
LITHUANIAN FOOD WILL DO
It would be a crime to visit Vilnius without
trying the local cuisine. Here waitresses
dressed like Heidi hurry through medieval
underground cellars, serving vast plates
of hearty, heavy fare. Specialities include
smoked eel, wild boar goulash and
assorted sausage platters, along with the
national dish,
cepelinai
–
a potato-based
oddity.
Open 11am-midnight daily
.
Vokieciu 24, +370 5 261 6573, zemaiciai.lt
5
4
A few countries might claim beer as their national drink – Germany,
Australia, and perhaps Britain and the Czech Republic. But nowhere
is beer brewed and drunk with as much love as it is in Belgium.
Belgians have been brewing since the Middle Ages; their most
famous brand, Stella Artois, originated in Leuven, at the Den Hoorn
brewery, which earliest records date to 1366. Now Stella is part of
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, still in Leuven, a
small town 30 minutes by train from Brussels.
At the other extreme you have the Trappist breweries, six of
which are in Belgium. Each brewery is attached to a monastery,
where the monks actually take part in the production of the beer.
If there’s a beer you must try, however, it’s Delirium Tremens.
Named after the shaking fevers that accompany severe alcoholic
withdrawal, and produced by Huyghe
Brewery in Melle, East Flanders, this Belgian
golden ale is a heady 8.5% abv. Hence the
prancing pink elephants that decorate the
bottle and branded glasses. It also happens
to be a very fine drink, and was named ‘Best
Beer in the World’ in 2008 at the World Beer
Championships in Chicago, USA.
