belga cafe

belga cafe
514 8th street SE, washington, dc 20003
tel: 202) 544-0100
hours: lunch (11:30am-2:30pm), sunday-thursday dinner (5:30pm-10:30pm), friday-saturday (5:30pm-11:30 pm)
what was consumed: beer, mussels, fries

christine kept telling me about some pleace she would go to in eastern market to eat this and that. i would always tell her to take me with her the next time she goes, but she'd always reply with one of those "oh, we went on the fly" sorts of things. yeah, right (haha - just kidding!). point is, i finally got a chance to go (woohoo!!).

so, we had reservations for a friday night meal, which was good because the restaurant was pretty filled. maybe that's the nature of restaurants in DC this time of year - the people sitting next to us were tourists (they told us they were from the midwest when they asked about how to eat mussels). or maybe it's because it's just a friday night ...

soon after being seated, we ordered our beers (leffe for me!). it's nice to have a couple of belgian beers on tap, i'm sure. and then, of course, the bottle beers ... and then, the eating selection! there were so many things on the menu, i wasn't sure where to begin. do i go the mussels route? or do i go the fancy entree route? or do i do a smorgasboard of small plates (as i'm often seen to do)? or ... aish. when at new restaurants that have such large selections, these are the things that plague my mind - ahhh!!

so, i decided on the mussels - who can resist? of course, that was after contemplating other dishes. i was trying to see what other people were ordering, but i didn't get to see all that much. nonetheless, the mussels we ordered were served quite quickly and they were also quite delicious! the mussels came with fries as well. now, while they didn't seem to be the color of the twice fried fries that i've seen at other places, they were delicious enough~ even funnier was when ketchup was asked for, the server looked so taken aback - ketchup? how could we! haha ... i prefer my fries with ranch and/or other sauces anyway ...

belga cafe also had some great service. our server was attentive and i believe the head guy came out at one point! i don't know what it is, but i think it's great when the owner/chef comes out to greet and interact with his/her patrons.

i'm sure i will head to belga cafe again sometime soon. it's close proximity to my house helps, but it is more the food and ambiance draws me back!

online: http://www.belgacafe.com/