Lucky B's Belgian Fest

Rounded up a couple friends this afternoon and we headed over to Lucky Baldwin's Delirium Cafe in Sierra Madre for the two week Belgian Festival. There was a small crowd there, all occupying the outdoor seating on the beautiful day, so we went inside and sat at the bar. The list was about ~40 taps long, and out of that there were still about 10 taps being taken up of non-Belgian beer. I was not impressed with the list at all. Nevertheless we all ordered some food (they had a special Belgian food menu as well, and while one of my friends got some mussels, I stuck with a pastrami sandwhich) and I ordered a Nostradamus, which was "eh." After that I ordered a taster of Silly Saison, which again was "eh." I was really not happy with these choices and nothing else on their list looked that interesting so we decided to move a few miles down the road to the Pasadena location since they have more taps there.

We got to the Pasadena location around 3:30 and it was packed. No seating indoor or outdoors initially, but we did find a small table a few minutes after ordering our beers. There were about 20 more Belgian beers on tap here and I was able to get a couple really good ones- Rodenbach Flemish Red Ale (or Classic) (pictured left), and Rodenbach Grand Cru. I had been thirsting for some sour beers this week and both of these beers were excellent, especially the Grand Cru which was more intense than the Classic and had a nice subtle flavor of cherries to go along with the mouth watering sourness. They also had the Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale which I have had before, and liked, so I had my friend Pete order that. They had a dessert on the menu that looked interesting as well- a Gueuze cheesecake. It was a white cheesecake with a raspberry sauce that was made from some Framboise (I don't think Lindeman's though). We ordered it and it was VERY good.

Overall not a bad afternoon. Thankfully the Pasadena location, one I don't go to much anymore because I like the cleanliness and service of Sierra Madre better, came through and saved the day.

Tap list at the Pasadena location