| Address | 514 8th St., Washington, DC 20003 |
|---|---|
| Phone | (202) 544-0100 |
| Fax | (202) 544-0204 |
Why was this place crowded? The lowlights of the experience were warm beer, a garlicky eggo waffle, an amnesiac waiter and decor straight out of a teenage art project on acid. The highlight was the expediency of my check. This nauseating experience made me sad for Belgium and its poor representation at this awful pit of a restaurant.
Snowy day- seemed short of staff, but they made up for it by scrambling and with humor.
We had mussels three different ways: Chimay (cheesy) were OK, curried were OK (not great), straight up were terrific. Our non-mussel eater had pea soup,great taste (but not what he remembered from his travels), and ham and cheese sandwich.
Beer and bread were terrific.
I was pleasantly surprised by my recent dinner at Belga. I had been there previously for brunch, and been really underwhelmed. But at a recent dinner, my opinion really changed. The beer selection (which we admittedly didnt do with brunch) was huge and we had a very nice few beers before dinner. Our appetizer (the Onion Tart) was delightful to look at and to eat. My entree (the Lobster) was absolutely amazing. I'll admit I'm a sucker for hollondaise-style sauces, but this one (with the subtlist hint of chocolate and passion fruit) was really superb. Dessert was okay - not a fantastic conclusion, but good nonetheless.
Mussels were okay - a little overdone. But the Endive salad with blue cheese was a mess - there is not reason to order this. Back to the mussels $18.95 for a mid to small size bucket with frites is a little pricey. Overall they have to do better it's a Belgian restaurant for God's sake!
I'll admit it, I'm a bit spoiled. Having come from a 3 year food fest in NYC while in grad school, I compare everything to the flavors I've been treated to in the Big Apple. And that's just plain not fair. When I first walked by Belga Cafe with its outdoor heaters and quaint tables, I thought, lovely, that place must be great. Yes, I judged the book by its cover and it did not disappoint. My sister and a great friend had a lot to celebrate after having booked a trip to Italy and we had plans to make. Thankfully, we are of one mind because, as others reviewers have noted, you can't have a very intelligent conversation over the deafening conversations of the other tables around you. It's hopeless. Regardless there are highlights:
- The mussels were terrific. I had the hoegaarden. The combination of celery and bacon, added a savory blend of excellent flavor to the sweet, plump mussels.
- The fries are great. A bit cold getting to our table and not the best I've had, obviously, but paired with the mussels the combination of salty, fried potato dipped in the silky, buttery Belgian mayo, makes this a meal that keeps on giving in yumminess.
- My sister had the goat cheese waffles with a frissee salad and she was not disappointed. The savory waffle takes getting used to but it didn't take long. She devoured the plate and my little bite was excellent. The sun dried tomato oil drizzled on top was an elegant touch and did not overpower any other flavor on the plate. I could appreciate that.
- Our friend had the Belgian French toast and despite the meager serving, it was crispy but light at the same time with a crusty, crackling sugary top that made the little serving that much more hard to handle.
With all good things there are pitfalls. Here are the ones you will encounter at Belga Cafe:
- Service is apologetic about being slow. But they get slower and slower as your meal progresses. Our waiter was very nice and had he not had 3 other tables would probably have been very attentive, but it was Sunday brunch after all. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.
- Loud, loud, loud. Some will be disturbed by this a great deal. My party just yelled at each other across the table and it was great because by the end of the meal we made friends with our neighbor. A cute guy! Come on, we totally saw the bright side.
- Parking is way difficult but again, this is DC. Drive around for a bit, see what restaurants you want to check out next.
I think Belga Cafe will get a second visit, and a third and a fourth.
- the Diva of Yum (divaofyum.blogspot.com)
While my first experience at this restaurant was fantastic, the atmosphere for my party was okay. I had everything worked out, or so I thought. A completely different worker (from the one I had been speaking to) called me the night before and tried to charge me three times as much as I had agreed too. Luckily we came to an agreement before the night of my party. My company and the food was great, as were a few of the servers. But as I thanked one of the workers they told me that it was way too loud and that they were receiving complaints. Last I checked I paid a lot for my party, I guranteed them business, and I probably brought new business to them. I also thought that I was at a restaurant/bar on a Thursday night. I was somewhat taken aback and almost left early because that was not very nice and not the reaction I had expected after thanking the worker for accomodating me. I would recommend going here for a small dinner or only with a few friends. I don't think all of the kinks are worked out yet to host large parties.
heel goed! i've been meaning to try this restaurant for some time, and i'm glad i finally have! truly authentic belgian food and drink brought me back to my days of living in leuven... to start my friend and i had the NEW pils and wit beer made by belga cafe... sooo good! the wit beer is like hoeggarden but 10 times better... we also had the crab and chicken cigaar which was a very tasty euro-asian fusion app... served with a creamy sauce, and another sauce that was chili-lime something... then we had one of my favorite belgian dishes, the tomato cut out with crawfish/shrimp -like salad inside... very good, and just the right about of light mayo... then we had mussels in white wine served with french fries and belgian mayo (the best!)... there was so much that my friend and i had a hard time finishing the pot! for dessert we had the chocoladetaart... to die for!!! raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream, i believe with spearmint chips to accompany the cake... simply divine! looking forward to hosting my farewell to dc party there this week!!! now if bart could just open one in philadelphia... also met the chef, and he's very cool and present in the restaurant! definitely make a visit to this swanky restaurant and bar!
While the entree may seem a bit pricey, you can definitely obtain a reasonably priced and filling meal by ordering a couple of starters and french fries. While I may have been swayed by the fantastic ambience of eating outside on a lovely spring night, it is also good to know where one can have a good Belgian beer and tasty bites outside on a lovely spring night. The cheese crouquettes are a must.
I'm no expert on Belgian restaurants, but this was excellent food, well served. My only complaint was that it was awfully loud for conversation. I started with an asparagus apetizer: chunks of asparagus, broth, bits of egg. An unusual combination, but good. My sweetbread entre was also excellent.
While this restaurant has a wonderful atmosphere I had a terrible experience there. Half way through our meal, one person found a small live worm crawling out of his fish. When we asked the waiter about it he seemed to shrug and asked if we were finished with our meal and should he take my friend's plate. We then asked to speak with the owner who proceeded to tell us that it wasn't his fault and the worm was actually a parasite with is common in fresh fish. While this may be true, the owner never apologized, never offered to comp the meal and basically dismissed the situation entirely. All the time mind you the parasite is still crawling on the fish on my friends plate. Eventually the owner agreed to comp my friend's meal after much discussion about how the fish was actually undercooked and was still cold, which explains why the parasite was still crawling. After we paid, we talked to the owner about how we were so disappointed to how he reacted to our situation. We did not expect him to comp all of our meals of course - even though we only ate half of what we ordered - but he should have at least apologized and treated the situation in a manner that would entice us to come back again. He was so rude that I will never go back to Belga again. I do not recommend it to anyone. Its over priced and you might find a live parasite in your fish.
The inevitable has happened; too much Fusion has resulted in shrinkage. This good Capitol Hill find still has the European flair of a corner café but has dropped sizes to ménage-a-trios sizes. The ambiance is indolent chic mixed with aloof. There are two types of dinners in this stratified restaurant, the host's friends who get the way back table enjoying the same food, better service but never see a bill and then there are the rest of the paying customers who dot the restaurant. The great crowds have now thinned and it is easier to get a table and be seated without a reservation. But reservations are still recommended on Friday & Saturday night.
The food is good as always. A tad on the wilder side of the Belgian palette and well suited to the adventurous spirit of that country. The Belgian famous endive salad is represented on the menu but over shadowed by the other novelty items like cigars of crab and chicken and poached asparagus. Belga Café should showcase the Endive (Witloof) salad and make more of a song and dance about this Belgian White Gold.
The Belgian Steak is a extremely good but is served in a tiny portions (small even by Euro standards), the Seared Scallops are a visual and sensual treat, served in a long dish with individual sections for each of the three ways it is served. The Beef stew while tasty lacks visual appeal, I guess even the Belgians cannot make stew appealing, but some color co-ordination between the red cabbage accompaniment – served dark brown and the Flemish Stew served dark brown would be better. Perhaps a garnish of Witloof might change the color scheme.
Lastly one of this reviewer’s favorite rating tools is how often did a member of the staff walk by an empty water glass before it was filled. Had to ask for a refill.
I'm still trying to figure this place out. Service was fine; friendly and competent. Ambience was nice, if cramped, and some tables have a view of the kitchen. However, Belga Cafe has absolute piss-poor value; for portion size and quality of food we should have paid half. Fries were completely boring (even the mayonnaise was flavorless - how do you accomplish that?). My chestnut soup appetizer was uninteresting and far too watery. The duck in the soup was cooked expertly but didn't match the chestnut soup in either flavor or texture - the soup was so thin it went down my throat before I even started chewing the duck. The mussels we ordered were excellent, but you could go to Bistrot du Coin and spend half as much on your meal. My entree consisted of all of four scallops at roughly $5/scallop (admittedly large, fresh-tasting and well-cooked) in three sauces. Two of the sauces with my scallops were, again, completely uninteresting - consisting of cooked vegetables that might as well have come from a can. Yet the third sauce, a green pea-anise foam, was lively and interesting, and a drastic contrast to the rest of the meal so far. The foam was also a signal of what was to come - the asparagus beignets with asparagus ice cream were one of the best things I have ever eaten. I had to try them after they were trashed in the Post review, and the reviewer could not have been more wrong. You can taste the asparagus in the ice cream, but they use just the right amount of sugar to emphasize the asparagus taste without either that or the sugar being overwhelming. The asparagus in the beignets was cooked almost to the point of being mushy inside, which again, was to the exact point where its taste complemented the excellently fried dough without being in conflict with the sugar inside or berry sauce provided. I'm still fantasizing about the asparagus beignets. To me the distinction between my absolutely excellent food and my poor-to-fair food was striking; it suggests that the chef is torn in two directions, and he should definitely just give in to his more experimental side. I would go back for coffee and beignets but not again for dinner.
We ordered the Restaurant Week dinners, at $30.06 each. Dinners ordered from the regular menu items would have cost about the same.
Service was very good; but they forgot to deliver an order of frites and a coffee refill.
Mussels and fries are featured, and also seven "Eurofusion" entrees containing veal sweetbreads, chicken, lamb, duck, venison, scallops, sea bass, and cod. Belga Cafe's waterzooi is made with fish, not chicken.
The wine list is mainly French and reasonably priced. Customers may bring their own wines for a corkage fee of $25. There is a nice selection of Belgian beers in bottles, and about four or five on tap.
Decor is simple, and the room is acoustically alive. Each table is decorated with a brussels sprout. Food is artfully presented on square and rectangular plates.
What a disappointment.
I'd eaten there a few months back and had an equally underwhelming and overpriced order of mussels, but I figured I'd give it another shot.
My wife and I went there today for lunch, and ordered a couple of their sandwhiches. I ordered the Croque Monsieur-Wafel: Wafel grilled toast with ham and swiss cheese and a small salad. It should have been described as ONE THIN slice of ham and one slice of cheese between two pieces of toast. I wasn't expecting much....and that's exactly what I got. For $8.50, quite a disappointment.
My wife ordered an equally below average "sandwhich", the Gevulda Pita: Warm pita styled with grilled chicken and a creamy garlic sauce. The presentation was such that the thin slices of chicken were fanned out of each half of the pita, and the creamy garlic sauce was slopped on the plate, requiring you to get your hands all messy with it when you attempted to pick the pita up.
The fries, for $4, were, once again, small, completely underwhelming and blah.
Granted, I'm sure some of the entrees HAVE to be better than these pathetic sandwhiches, but I'll certainly not be going back to find out.
The service was, keeping with the theme, sparse, and underwhelming. Not one water refill for our tepid "ice water". The server was too busy chatting away with her coworkers at the end of the bar.
Yummy food, appropriate service, portions tend to be too large. Our check for two included one champagne cocktail, one beer, one glass of red wine, two main courses, one extra side dish, and two desserts.
Only one caveat: this place can be LOUD. If you're looking for an energetic vibe with great food and drink, this is for you. If you're looking forward to a quiet meal to catch up with friends and family, try elsewhere.
I definitely would not return to Belga Cafe, though the ambience and service were fine. The food is the problem. We ordered several appetizers, none of which were very good. Skip the stuffed tomato (which was pathetic looking even in prime tomato season) and the "sushi." Even the mussels were a disappointment. The rabbit was bland, and though the scallops were nice, the sides were a letdown. All in all, a culinary disappointment. Skip Belga cafe and spend your money more wisely at Montmartre, right around the corner.
Belga Cafe is, as the name suggests, a Belgian cafe in SE DC. The restaurant is loud in the section we were seated in, close in to the service counter in the kitchen. The bright lamps and heat from the kitchen make you thankful for air-conditioning.
The menu informs you that they are into fusion between Belgian and Asian cuisine. Well the Belgians did have colonies but mainly in Africa, none is Asia, so how is this fusion going to work. Well it works like a jet plane. It gets you there but there is no scenery along the way. Fusion cuisine must show a juxtaposition between the two different cuisines so as not to allow one to dominate the other on the menu. They need more fusion dishes to prevent people from leaving thinking of them as a Belgian cafe. Perhaps the Belgian pride in their beers prevented them from having a couple of Asian beers on the list. Can this be fixed? The Belgian beers are indeed very good and a treat to enjoy.
The salad roulade is a well prepared but the presentation is lacking, perhaps a Michelin star does not look at presentation. The standard Belgian fare of mussels is adequately prepared but the mollusks themselves are not the same as the ones in Belgium. They are standard size and we even found one that had not opened. It should never have made the table. The fries are one of the best in town. No argument there, They know how to do it right. The daily special was escolar fish when we ate there and the fish was well presented and prepared but the portions were definitely nouvelle cuisine.
The dessert menu lists asparagus fritters with asparagus ice cream. I have not yet tried this but will on my next visit, which will not be too far off. The vanilla waffle is excellently executed, but ours was not a whole waffle but seemed to be most of a whole waffle.
The huge variety of beer imported from Belgium and sold in table size bottle ensures you can find something to match your meal. Perhaps a beer sommelier would be needed. Maintenant vous tout n'appliquez pas immédiatement je considéré lui d'abord.
We went for beers and a light meal and really enjoyed it. Sitting outside on a hot day we were more than happy with a few starters and sides like real Belgian fries in a paper cone and chicken-and-crabmeat "cigars." The mussels seemed to be a popular choice among the other diners. The waitstaff was lovely; we thanked them several times for the good experience. I'd definitely go back again for one of the entrees, beer tasting and dessert.
Big Disappointment! A new Belgian restaurant that’s run by the former chef at the Dutch Embassy- it serves Belgian mussels and fries in a nicely appointed space. Sounds fantastic right? IT'S NOT. The fries were cold, the classic white wine and garlic sauce the mussels were swimming in pretty much tasted like water, the lamb was lame, and the roasted winter vegetables failed to impress. Spotty service provided inadequate help navigating the long list of Belgian beers, failed to bring our table bread, didn’t clear the unused place setting at our table for the entire meal (rather comical), and was too busy with other tables to give us a second glance as soon as we'd ordered. The space and general ambiance are nice. I'd like to see this place succeed because of that alone, but first the chef needs to figure out how to cook things that taste good and serve them hot, the wait staff needs to learn to work a room, and a few tables need to disappear (its too crowded as well). Until then, don’t waste 30 bucks for a meal at this place unless it’s just worth it to you to be among the Capitol Hill chic crowd who are fawning over the new establishment. I'd put my own review of Belga right between Tom Sietsema's and Todd Kliman's. - 1.5 stars.
My husband and I arrived at the Belga Cafe shortly after 6:00 and were pleasantly surprised to see most tables already filled (as Capitol Hill residents we are always excited about the possibility of a quality restaurant in our neighborhood). We were greeted warmly, shown to our seats and presented with the menu, which included an insert listing the 6 or 7 selections that were not available. Similarly, upon placing our beer order we were informed they had run out of our first four selections - our waiter politely explained they had been busier than expected over the weekend. In light of the recent opening and our legitimate desire for the success of a promising addition to our neighborhood, we proceeded in good faith.
And I am SO glad we did! When our beers arrived, they were presented in glasses bearing the insignia of the respective brewery. An intriguing starter of baby greens, garlic waffles and tomato sorbet provided a delightful combination of textures and flavors, and my husband's spicy cigar of chicken and crabmeat was tasty - if uninspired. For our entrees, I opted for the mussels sautéed in white wine and garlic - a solid choice, and my husband selected the lamb loin with a mushroom-thyme sauce - the highlight of the evening. The tender meat was cooked perfectly and its light, buttery crust provided an unexpected touch of texture. We ended with a trio of Belgian chocolate mousse - not as light as we anticipated, but full of flavor and garnished appropriately with a stylized pistachio wafer, a pomegranate seed, and simple vanilla wafer respectively.
Our overall experience was excellent. The service, though still working out some kinks, is attentive and eager to please. Music which began at an uncomfortably loud volume level was quickly remedied. Once the ordering is able to keep pace with the volume of customers, I can see few reasons for criticism. By the time we left the restaurant and bar were completely full with a line of customers waiting for tables. I am knocking on wood as I type this, but I think Capitol Hill has a winner!
This new 8th Street, SE, restaurant has a beautiful interior, bright lights and gleaming surfaces, contrasted with a bare brick wall along one side, and the food presentation is handsome to match. The selection of appetizers, entrees, and deserts was interesting on paper. Several were called "Eurofusion" and seemed to be a combination of Belgian and something else. Unfortunately, the overall experience was not pleasing.
The restaurant has far too many tables crammed into the space. We were seated fewer than six inches from another table, making any sort of private conversation impossible. The volume of noise in the restaurant discouraged meaningful conversation anyway.
The food was pretty, but the entrees, in particular, were disappointing. A bucket of mussels, a Belgian specialty, was so heavily bathed, soaked, and encrusted with garlic that the mussels themselves couldn't be tasted. They were small also, surprisingly so, since mussels are inexpensive, and the larger ones are tasty. Sea bass was cut so thinly, and was so soaked in oil, that the flavor was lost too. The best item we had was the Belgian endive salad with blue cheese.
Finally, the beer selection was interesting and tempting. Belgium makes some great beers. We ordered two different draft beers. Both were great, but came in tiny glasses--perhaps 8 ounces, probably less. For $6 per glass, we expected pints, and felt cheated.
So far, this restaurant is an example of all form and prettiness, while basics like good food, first quality service, and some degree of customer comfort are ignored.
