WITH three outlets located at some of the hippest venues in the Klang Valley, The Library has carved out a reputation for itself as a fun place to hang out with friends, listen to cool live bands and sample some choice brews.
But unlike other franchise bar-restaurants out there, The Library has made an effort to ensure that each outlet is carefully thought out to suit different crowds.
According to Frank Lim, general manager of Entity B, which owns The Library brand: "Each outlet has a different theme. We have a British pub theme at The Curve, a French one at Avenue K and a Chinese themed one at Puchong. We are even planning to open another one with a Japanese theme soon.
"The different themes ensure that the crowd doesn't get bored of seeing the same look each time, and they can choose to go to different outlets depending on their mood at the time."
The Library located at Mid Valley Boulevard has a distinctly modern theme, and it was the perfect place to sample a selection of today's best beers, paired with some of The Library's most popular dishes. "A lot of our foods can actually be paired with the beer," Lim said. "It's a good place for people who want to explore their beer palate."
The beer-food pairing was organised by Luen Heng F&B Sdn Bhd marketing manager Ricardo Loh. "People should be more open to pairing beer with their food, instead of just wine. If I order beef and my partner orders fish, what bottle of wine should we share - red or white?
"Beer allows people the freedom to be a little more adventurous with their beverages, and some flavours, like spicy food, tend to be better matched with beers."
The first dish that we had was chicken nachos (RM29.90++), which was paired with Savanna Dry cider. The nachos were a surprisingly large starter, but they were perfect for sharing. They were served with chunks of spicy chicken and covered with cheese and jalapeno peppers.
"If you taste the chicken and beer separately, they have their own unique taste, but when you have them together, it becomes something different," Ricardo said. "The sour taste of the Savanna Dry and the sour taste of the salsa come together, but not in the way you think they would.
"The taste of the chicken is enhanced by the cider and vice versa. And because chicken is white meat, it goes very well with the lighter taste of the cider."
Having the cheesy nachos together with the chicken chunks added a different texture to the meal, but did not alter flavour of the beer. If anything, it made the refreshing quality of the Savanna Dry stand out even more.
Next was crispy calamari (RM17.90++), a light snack, perfect to have with a stronger tasting beer. Loh paired this with Stella Artois, one of the more popular Belgian beers in Malaysia. "It's a man's beer," Lim said proudly.
Loh said that he chose Stella Artois to counter the dryness of the calamari. "I also chose it for the stronger flavour," he added.
The calamari was quite bland on its own, and tasted quite ordinary with the tartare sauce. But when the beer was added, it somehow emphasised the crispy texture of the fried rings and managed to transform the simple calamari dish into premium beer food.
After that, we had crispy fish and chips (RM23.90++), a twist on the popular pub dish, with deep-fried breaded fillets of John Dory fish. This was paired with one of Loh's favourite beverages, Hoegaarden White.The draught beer is served ice-cold at The Library, the special chilling method emphasising its fresh, light taste.
The fish fillets were solid in texture, but did not lose their moistness inside. The slight lemony flavour of the Hoegaarden White matched very well with the subtle flavour of the fish.
The final dish was a proper 'main course' of sorts, a generously portioned beef steak sandwich (RM28.90++), which was paired with Franziskaner wheat beer.
"Even though the Franziskaner Dunkel is quite dark, it's not a stout," Loh said. "It's a German wheat beer with a lot of roasted malt for colour."
The beer started off slightly bitter at first taste, but had a sweet aftertaste by the end. It paired very well with the steak, which was well-done, and thus provided diners with a lot of bite. "Customers can also choose the 'doneness' of their steak, if they want," Lim added.
The panini bread was a little dry for our taste, but Lim assured us that it was the standard bread for steak sandwiches. It still paired well with the beer, however, a surprising discovery considering bread doesn't usually go with beer.
Loh summed up the beer-food pairing session by reiterating that diners should be more adventurous and try new beers to match the flavours of their dishes.
"Instead of just sticking to their favourite brand, they should try other beers as well," Loh added. "Just remember to pair light beers with light flavours and dark beers with heavy flavours. With so many beers out there to choose from, you can experiment and find a new favourite."
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