Kapiti Coast Restaurant Leads The Way With Quality Beer

Long Beach is the only Waikanae venue serving Tuatara beers on draught making it the closest tap to brewery. In addition to the freshest Tuatara in town there is an impressive selection of bottled beer ranging from the Emerson’s and Tuatara ranges through to less usual offerings such as Three Boys Golden Ale, Invercargill Smokin Bishop (when in season) and Epic Armageddon. Long Beach even managed to be the last North Island venue to have Yeastie Boys His Majesty in stock having sold the last bottle on Wellington Anniversary weekend.

Sarah, the kids and I had the pleasure of eating at Long Beach recently while staying at the bach in Waikanae. The menu combines modern Italian cuisine and Pizza with a few Kiwi classics and offers up some prefect fare to match with the beers on offer. The Gorgonzola Cipolla pizza pared particularly well with the Tuatara Porter. The spicy rich blue cheese on the Pizza complimented the earthy hop notes in the beer and the sweet caramelized onions formed a nice contrast with the savory roast malt notes of the Porter. The Cloudy Bay Clam Linguine found the perfect partner in Three Boys Golden Ale with the tart white wine and lemon sauce matching the zesty Nelson Sauvin hop notes in the beer. The Sirloin Steak was perfectly cooked medium rare and accompanied by the rich chocolaty Invercargill Pitch Black Stout it was everything a steak dinner should be.

Finally the desert menu came out and I was heartened to see that along side classic desert wines such as Six Grapes Port and Graham's Tawny Port, Emerson’s JP 2009 was listed as a beer recommendation to accompany the sweet course.

Long Beach is a fantastic place to pass a sunny summer evening with some fantastic food a wonderful atmosphere and most importantly an admirable commitment to the idea that if you are providing quality food you should be providing quality beer.