Saturday night M and I were looking for some good eats coupled with good beer. We were considering Brasserie Beck, but unfortunately we could only get 5:30pm reservations and we weren't interested in the early bird special. What to do? We decided on a trip to Rustico in Alexandria. When I used to live over in A-town, I regularly visited this watering hole.
Before hitting up Rustico M and I swung past Cheesetique, so M could use a gift certificate she got a Christmas time. Cheesetique is definitely one cool place. Its specialty cheese and wine bar. We ended up with four different types of cheese: a Gouda, Cheddar, Manchego, and a cheese made from Rogue beer. I was also pleased to see that they carry several excellent brands of beer as well.
At Rustico, we hit up the bar as we waited to be seated. I went with a Gouden Carolus Classic and M got a Brigand (not sure who makes this). Both were excellent choices. The Gouden is a dark belgian strong ale and its really a malty sweet beer that finishes with a little bit of clove. The Brigand had a big Orange Grapefruit taste to it and finished with a sweet honey taste.
The food at Rustico was awesome. We started with some oysters that were topped with cheese and a remoulade sauce . The salty taste of the oysters was a great contrast to the sweetness of the Belgian brews that we were drinking. For the main course I went with their Rigatoni with pork shoulder and M got one of their wood fire grilled pizzas. I got a Dale's Pale Ale and Meg got a Eggenburg Naturtrub.
All in all it was a great dinner with great beer, in an environment thats very inviting and casual.
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