Globally popular barbecue dishes and craft beers will be on offer at the Ocean BBQ & Brew Festival on March 21-23 in Hà Nội. Photo courtesy of organisers

HÀ NỘI – The first international craft beer and grills feast will be held from March 21 to 23 in Hà Nội, offering attendees a three-in-one experience of delicious cuisine testing, cultural exchange and a cooking contest.

According to the organisers, the Ocean BBQ & Brew Festival will gather international brands and famous chefs and brewers, offering 150 grilled dishes and 120 kinds of craft and imported beers at the Ocean Grill Village in the capital's Ocean City urban area.

At the event, five famous chefs from Worldchefs Barbecue Association will serve diners. Meanwhile, cooks from places as far afield as South Korea, China, Japan, Mongolia, Germany, Italy, France, Brazil and Mexico will be serving up dishes as well.

Vice President of the World BBQ Association Don David, a three-star Michelin chef, will perform traditional grill skills from Azerbaijan, the so-called 'Land of Fire' and one of the cradles of the ancient tradition of barbecue.

Other distinguished participants include Worldchefs judge Alan Payen, Chairman of the Denizli Young Chefs Association Suleyman Kursak and Chef Adrijana Alacki, president of Gastromak.

The festival will also feature representatives from six embassies in Việt Nam: Azerbaijan, Spain, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Ukraine, along with guests from the Việt Nam-Belgium Friendship Association. 

BBQ and beers will be available to all at the Ocean BBQ & Brew Festival.

Diners will have a chance to taste cuisines from 15 different countries starting at the village gate with South Korean barbecue, including grilled beef ribs with honey and spicy grilled pork belly. Next up, they'll find dishes from China, with Peking duck and spicy Sichuan duck tongue on offer.

Japanese cooks will introduce chicken skewers with soy sauce, grilled meat with miso sauce and grilled Japanese eel with sauce served with soba noodles. The Mongolian barbecue area will serve whole roasted goat and grilled meat skewers with black pepper.

Visitors will also taste European-style food from France and Italy with a variety of wood-fired pizzas, grilled salted egg potatoes, French-style grilled beef and grilled salted salmon salad with fresh oranges. Meanwhile, German chefs will offer grilled sausages with cheese and the original hamburgers.

Offerings from Ukraine will include grilled meat skewers with onion, charcoal grilled potato cakes, Kyiv grilled chicken and Ukrainian grilled meatballs.

As the event hosts, Việt Nam will be a highlight, with typical dishes from the Northwest region. Diners can try grilled pork with mắc mật leaves, grilled chicken with mắc khén seeds, grilled pork ribs and grilled bamboo rice. The chefs will also roast a whole calf at the festival.

In addition to the grilling area, people can enjoy food from international brands at booths run by Almaz, Lagoon, La’Pizza, The Berlin Man, Buta Shamoji, Yakimono, Yumemichi, Jeonbok, Goong BBQ, Gaebong, Diamond BBQ and Tươi BBQ.

A barbecue feast would not be complete without beer, which will also be available to delight the most discerning palates.

C-Brewmaster will offer 21 different beers from Belgium, including Chimay, Duvel, Kasteel, La Chouffe and St. Bernardus. Other types of beer available include five from the Netherlands, including La Trappe, and 24 from Germany, including Kaiserdom, Ayinger, Weihenstephaner and Paulaner.

The company will also impress beer lovers with 53 types of craft beers, including smoked amber ale, Belgian Trappist style and Vietnamese phở beer.

BK Beer, a Vietnamese brand, will introduce six of its craft beers, including Đen 5, with an aroma of barley malt and caramel, and Nâu 9, with the sweet flavour of honey.

1689 Beckent Bauer will bring its artisanal beer to visitors at the festival.

Another Vietnamese enterprise, 1689 Beckent Bauer, will enchant drinkers with 11 craft beers, especially its amber ale with a floral flavour from Citra hops; the Czech-style Staromost; and its Triple ale, with the slogan 'beer for connoisseurs'.

Other activities at the festival include a barbecue cooking contest for semi-pro and street chefs. Under the theme of 'Fire & Passion', cooks will compete against each other to take home a prize of up to VNĐ10 million and a certificate from international judges and chefs. In addition, a cooking performance from culinary masters will help diners understand professional barbecue grilling techniques. VNS