”Oi! Murderer! Perhaps you should throw in some vegetarian food-parings in your reviews?”

Fact: Beer loves vegetables!

This is the tweet word for word that I got today from Tomas, a long-time follower of this blog. I’m taking it, like my steaks, with a pinch of salt but after chewing it over (the Tweet that is, not the steak) Thomas does in fact make a very valid, if somewhat accusatory, point.

I don’t want to get drawn into the ethical depths of carnivorism or vegetarianism (this is, after all, a beer blog) but the truth is that I consider beer an equally willing partner to flesh as it is to fruit (and veggies).

In fact in my recent review of this beer the highlight of the experience was the way the juicy tangerine and toffee flavours of the beer melded with the spicy oven-grilled vegetables baked with chill, garlic, coriander and sprinkled with goats cheese.

So your point Tomas is taken. From now on I will always try to include a vegetarian option in the food suggestions I make when reviewing beers on this blog.

I could tell by the Tiger suits, the jewellery and the manicures that I was deep into wine territory.

To the table on my left was old money – a middle-aged man with a plain but superbly fitted pink shirt and cuffs hiding a gold Rolex. His female guest was younger, pretty but not beautiful, with sunglasses perched on top of immaculately dragged back blonde hair.

To my right the business brigade – more flashy, expensive but ill-fitting suits, iPhones on the table and gold company credit cards at the ready.

I'll have a Carlsberg Hof with that mate. Don't worry about a glass. I'll drink it straight out of the bottle.

As I sat down with my guests for lunch at Villa Källhagen in Stockholm’s swanky Djurgården district I spied the crisp linen napkins, the swirls of handmade butter, the freshly baked bread rolls and the oversized wine glasses. Such attention to detail boded well for a good meal, I thought to myself.

After some polite conversation with my guests while perusing the menu I opted for the grilled steak with green beans and a herb-infused baked tomato. I had seen one being brought out to the table beside me. It looked perfectly cooked, shining with glaze and utterly delicious.

“And would you like some wine with your meal?” asked the charming waitress, pen eagerly poised on paper to record my reply.

I sighed inwardly. Was it really worth it, I said to myself? I mean, what’s the point in asking when I already know the answer? I took a deep mental breath anyway.

“No, but I’d love to see your beer list please”.

I watched her face, waiting for the inevitable reaction. First came confusion, followed quickly by a nervous smile and then a look I swore bordered on mild pity. Wait just a few more seconds, I thought to myself. Here it comes.

“We don’t actually have a beer list I’m afraid. But we do have a selection of beers from Spendrups. They are a Swedish brewery. They are very nice”.

Nice they may be, but Spendrups’ Lättöl, Mellanöl or Premium Lager Ekologisk will never, ever be the right drink to pair with grilled steak. In my world it’s a culinary blunder on a par with serving tinned mushrooms with truffles or squeezing tomato ketchup on foie gras.

What makes this incident all the more distressing is that not a single person sitting at my table rolled their eyes, threw their napkins on the table in disgust or burst into contemptuous laughter.

Why? Because the same thing is happening right this second in the most exclusive, impossible-to-get-a-table restaurants in Sweden.  It’s so routine it’s become expected and accepted.

Nor does it seem to matter how expensive the menu, how many White Guide listings or the number of Michelin stars awarded. Quite the opposite in fact.

The shocking truth is that with frighteningly few exceptions Sweden’s finest eateries are serving us exactly the same beers as the pizza restaurant around the corner.

In the next post: I take a closer look at the menus of five of Sweden’s most celebrated restaurants, see what beers they’re serving, ask why beer seems to be a such a culinary afterthought and whether we beer drinkers can do more to get our favourite drink back into fine dining.

Do you ever secretly worry that your pilsner is big enough to handle a spicy curry or that your favourite porter can really get up close and personal with that tempting slice of dark chocolate cake?

Probably not. But if you do want some tips on what dishes go well with beers then check out this clever little website. Just choose the food you’re going to eat and the online beer sommelier will instantly generate a list of recommended beer styles for you to try.

Being an American site there’s a slight bias towards US styles but in general I thought most of the matches were spot on and some of them were more than a little intriguing.

I never knew for instance that a brown porter is game enough to lock horns with a bison burger or that a Belgium strong pale ale is the perfect partner to pan-fried octopus.

I’m off to ICA now to try and buy a bison…..