I was invited along to the ever popular Flame Belfast to experience a night of Gin and food pairings - Flame have taken the initiative and looked at introducing some mid-week events to allow their dinners to indulge the whole week through - what a great idea.
Flame hosted the night in conjunction with Tanqueray Gin. Tanqueray sent Gin expert Niall Molloy to be our host - this was to be a night of learning, fantastic food and creative Gin experimentation - what more could you ask for? So we were met at the front of the restaurant by Ray McMahon - manager of Flame who ushered us to our tables - we really were given the VIP treatment - around 20 of us all followed Ray to the back of the restaurant, to the elevated and private seats, these gave us a great view of the open kitchen allowing us to watch the chefs at work.
When I got to my seat I immediately saw a selection of garnishes, fruits, mint leaves, cucumber etc... and a host of Fever-Tree Tonics, including my fav, the Mediterranean Tonic - ohh this is a tasty one - let's be honest how much do Fever-Tree Tonics elevate the Gin Game? Seriously they are the Luigi to Mario, the Robin to Batman or the pepperoni to pizza - they are a great match.
So Niall Introduced himself and taught us a little about the brand, how Gin is developed, the processes involved and what it goes best with, but if you want to know these secrets you'll have to book onto the next night at Flame. What I can give away is that you get a serious amount of food and Gin! We started with tasting their two main products; Tanqueray London Dry Gin and then their premium choice Tanqueray 10, we did this straight and after adopting the right tasting techniques it was amazing just how much you could pick up the subtle differences, they are both beautiful but one is definitely a little smoother and the tastes are different - one is very botanical, which is a good thing, but again, you'll have to try this for yourself. As we were trying these (straight) the waiters at Flame were serving a bread selection with accompanying dips and oils - I love bread, who the hell doesn't and they were a perfect match for our Straight Gin tasting - seriously the night was so well thought out, from the food pairings, information provided and prizes everything was tasty, relevant and bloody great fun. CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR GIN OFFERINGS BELOW
Next we got to try some of the signature cocktails that the Flame staff had created - this was another nice touch as it involved their own barmen - we saw how each was made, what they went best with and then got to taste them, while this was happening we were being served up, what I can only call a majestic clay oven cooked chicken kebab - Flame have recently rejuvenated their menu and if they are producing food like this I'll be back again and again! (P.S.) from our seats we were able to see the chef prepping and making the naan breads - wow! He just disappears into an oven - worth the visit alone!
Next we headed for dessert, decadent chocolate brownie cake - slice of heaven; and this was paired with a crushed berry Bramble using Tanqueray 10 - this was Laurie's favourite cocktail of the night, to be honest I quite enjoyed them all. My head the next day though, woah you get a serious amount of food and Gin here peeps, which brings me onto the Price £35, stop it. I know a guy who paid £72.80 for an Uber last week and he didn't even get one Gin - I had at least 5 here, each paired with a food accompaniment - in fact I had such a good night that the other two dishes, beef parcels and Fish and Chips cones, well let's just say my camera ability was zero and the photos are too bad to even upload - Sorry Ray. But that is def a sign of a great night!
Before I go check out my dessert below, I absolutely mauled it just before Lauren carried me home - I am a serious lightweight! Anyways I had a bloomin' great night and I'd advise that you all look out for Flame's next event! Great Midweek fun, sensational price and Fab food!
