One of the good restaurants in the Columbia, MD area is Victoria Gastro Pub.

http://www.victoriagastropub.com/

They have a small but unique menu with a great beer selection.  There is a limited number of entrees, but absolutely the highlight of every visit is the Poutine (pictured above).

Their version of Poutine is duck fat fries (french fries cooked in duck fat), with duck confit meat sprinkled on them, covered in melted gruyere cheese, with some duck gravy.  They usually have a little sea salt and a faint rosemary flavor on top of the duck essence.  It is soooo good, we usually wipe the dish clean.  Something about duck fat fries is so appealing, but they are so rich, you won’t be able to have any for a couple of weeks.  Then the craving starts all over again.

In our latest visit to Victoria, we found a really different beer, Wells Banana Bread Beer.  A wonderful beer from Wells and Youngs Brewery in the UK.

http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk/home/our-beers/ales/wells-banana-bread-beer

This beer was delicious.  I am not usually a beer drinker, but this was really good.  A smooth ale with a faint taste of bananas.  Not overdone, not sweet, not fake, just a great banana aftertaste, and no bitterness.

Now a banana flavored beer would not have been my first pick to go with duck fat fries, but somehow it just worked.  Actually, I think the banana beer would have gone with just about anything.  As I was thinking about the meal, I’m not really sure what type of wine would go well with Poutine, it seems to work better with a beer given all the strong flavors.

The banana beer is seasonal, so it probably won’t be around for long.  The Poutine is available always at Victoria Gastro Pub, and always been the highlight of dinner.

Tim