Belga Cafe in DC

[chazwicke]

This place sounds interesting

Belga Café is slated to open in the next 2-3 weeks. Owner and chef Bart
Vandaele seems to have some great experience, and an appreciation for having
good beer paired with good food. The beer menu looks decent, with about 30
beers. Although the website lists them all together under the "Draft"
heading right now, only the Leffe Blonde, Leffe Reg., Stella, Hoegaarden,
and a yet to be determined tap. Bottles include the likes of Kwak Pauwles,
Saison Dupont, Westmalle Dubbel and Tripel, Ommegang beers, and other gems.
Find out more at: http://www.belgacafe.com/

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by chazwicke
...and a yet to be determined tap. I vote for Schafer Light! :D

[chazwicke]

You funny guy!;)

[Theakston]

Great! DC area needs a good Belgian Resto. Occoquan and Olney are too darn far!
As well as Stella, Leffe and Hoegaarden, the website lists Rodenbach, Petrus Old Bruin and Kasteel on tap!

*drooling on keyboard*

[MeridianFC]

When are we going? :)

[TedE]

According to Sietsema in today's Post Belga will be open before the end of the month. I can't friggin' wait.

[chazwicke]

I missed that article but the news is good!

[Fritz_Hahn]

Good news, bad news time:

Good news: I've been by, and they're hoping to open next week after some problems with city permits. And they're only serving Belgian (and Belgian-style) beers.

Bad news: They don't have all the beers on the Web site on draft. There are only five lines, which will apparently go to the usual suspects (the Leffes, Stella, etc.)

Total beers (tap and bottle) will be about 40, though not all right away.

[chazwicke]

Thanks for checking it out and the heads up.

[Fritz_Hahn]

Late-breaking news, but the bar will open tomorrow (Oct. 23).

[Katefan00]

Did anybody go this weekend? I'm really looking forward to checking this place out, especially since I live on the Hill.

By the way, this is my first post here. Just discovered the forum... I love beer, and for the past few years have been slowly trying just about whatever I can get my hands on. I've found things I like (and dislike) about pretty much every style of beer, but the main thing is that I'll try anything once (or twice).

I just stocked up on a few six-packs of things I haven't tried, but haven't been able to have any of them because I'm on a round of antibiotics! AAAHH!! I figured if anybody would understand, it's the folks here.

K.

[chazwicke]

Welcome to the board!. Glad there is another Washingtonian in the group. Have not yet been to Belga Café yet. I'm waiting on the reviews from all of you. :D

[Katefan00]

Absolutely, I'm excited to have found the group. Do y'all ever arrange get-togethers or tastings or such as that? My palate isn't sophisticated enough to detect most of the subtle flavors that people talk about when they do "tastings," but it'd still be nice to get together with some other beer geeks, even if my contributions would be limited to "Another, please."

K.

[chazwicke]

I have met several of the other posters here on this board. Some from far away places such as Chicago and London and some from right here in the DC area. We do sometimes meet up for special occasions like tastings at the Brickskeller or RFD. And sometimes at local brew festivals. We also have a fairly regular online tasting with folks from this forum. We usually do it on a Saturday afternoon. It is done via an Instant Messenger chat room. we had one last Saturday that featured Chimay Blue. They are a lot of fun but also are a good place to discuss what you are tasting or what you should be tasting relevant to the beer or style. The next tasting will most probably be Fuller's 1845, a superb beer. We usually have to try beers that have a countrywide distribution so that everyone can obtain a sample. We have tasted Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Paulaner Oktoberfest, Pilsner Urquell and Chimay Blue. Look for threads about parallel tastings. And we also have a site where we post the tasting chats as well. I'll look it up and post it here for you. Look for Theakston and Meridian's posts as they are locals too. Recently a few more have popped out of the wood work as well. Perhaps we can arrange to all meet up sometime. I for one am glad the DC ranks are growing on our board.

[Katefan00]

Well, I'm planning on heading over to Belga early this evening to check the place out. I've tried to call over there a couple times this week but didn't have any luck getting them to answer, so Fritz, I hope they're really open!

Luckily I don't live far from there. I'll give y'all a full report tomorrow, if I manage to get over there tonight as planned.

K.

[Fritz_Hahn]

I went a few nights ago. They're open, but teething. The kitchen was out of most of the starters, 7 or 8 beers (including the guest draft, Delirium Tremens), tables weren't being turned over quickly, etc., etc.

They're only open for dinner at this point, so go around 6 or 7 for best results. The crowd really started picking up aroun 7:30, for some reason.

[Katefan00]

Finally got a chance to go last night. First impression: Impressive.

The place is small but does not feel crowded. Very tastefully decorated in an understated Euro style. It was absolutely jumping last night and I've heard that's been the case pretty much every night since they opened. Their Web site advertises a "community table" that seats 14 near the kitchen but I saw no evidence of that last night, probably because they were so busy.

We sat right in front of the open kitchen and I had a good view of the chefs. The owner of the restaurant (former chef for the Dutch Ambassador in DC) was right in there working with the rest of them, not just giving orders, which I liked. All of them, to a man, were speaking French back and forth -- great atmosphere.

They have a small bar next to the kitchen that seats maybe 8-10 people. Every seat was taken and there were even a few folks standing near the seats. We got there around 7 and there were only maybe 1-2 seats open, so if you feel like going just for the bar I'd recommend getting there earlier than that.

Now, the beer -- their selection is good, they had every variety that my table ordered in stock. I was most impressed by presentation -- the waiter was familiar with their offerings and could speak knowledgeably about them. They also were careful to serve each beer in not only the proper type of glass but in a glass with the beer's logo.

On tap they had Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde and Brun and one slot for a "Special Draft" that changes. In bottles they have Wittekerke, Kasteel brown, Petrus old brown, Rodenbach, Duchess de Bourgogne, Saison Dupont, Delerium Nocturnum/Tremens, Duvel, De Koninck, Kwak Pauwels, Golden Carolus, Maredsous dubbel/triple, St. Bernardus triple/abt, Grimbergen, Orval, Westmalle dubbel/triple, Chimay, St. Bernardus Prior, Geuze Cuvee Rene, Liefmans kriek, Liefmans framboise, Lindemans peche and Lincemans cassis.

They also have a "special Belgian beer event" every Tuesday, though I didn't get a chance to ask my waiter what exactly that meant.

The food was good -- entrees between $9 - $23 or so (most in the $15 - $19 range). My table had the asparagus, roasted veggies, Flemish beef stew (very good -- filling without being overpowering), and the pasta. Everyone was complimentary of their food. We also had the spicy crabmeat and chicken appetizer, which was decent though I wanted it a bit spicier.

Also, if you go, don't expect them to bring you ketchup with your fries. They don't bring any condiments, but if you ask they'll bring you mayo, "because that's what Belgians use."

Good, fun place! I'll be back for the bar pretty soon I think.

[chazwicke]

Sounds yummy and the beer list is impressive. I like the Rodenbach. And I would NEVER put ketchup on fries. Fries were meant to be served the Belgian way - with mayo. I always have them that way. Well except when I get them from Thrashers at the beach. Then it is just salt and vinegar. I never put ketchup on anything.

Thanks for the review.

[Katefan00]

For those who care, the Belga Cafe is now open for lunch from Tuesday through Sunday from 12:00 pm until 3:00 pm.

K.

[petitbilbo]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Sounds yummy and the beer list is impressive. I like the Rodenbach. And I would NEVER put ketchup on fries. Fries were meant to be served the Belgian way - with mayo. I always have them that way. Well except when I get them from Thrashers at the beach. Then it is just salt and vinegar. I never put ketchup on anything.

Thanks for the review.

Hi there, I'm quite new to this forum as this will be my very first post.

Being Belgian and living in Brussels, I have to say it: the mayo thing is utter nonsense!
We eat our fries (by the way, it's a BELGIAN invention, so the words "french fries" get us quite cross) with a wide range of sauces.
Mayonnaise is in there too, certainly, but we use ketchup, mixed pickles, curry ketchup, gravy and about 50 other "special fries sauces" when eating our fries.

There is however the real "belgian way" of eating "frites": with the fingers!
Preferably served in a cone made out of two or three layers of regular paper sheets (the "cornet de frites").
For more info: http://www.fries.be/v4/index.cfm?context=s&SectionID=9

Concerning the rather large choice in beers:
On tap they had Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde and Brun and one slot for a "Special Draft" that changes. In bottles they have Wittekerke, Kasteel brown, Petrus old brown, Rodenbach, Duchess de Bourgogne, Saison Dupont, Delerium Nocturnum/Tremens, Duvel, De Koninck, Kwak Pauwels, Golden Carolus, Maredsous dubbel/triple, St. Bernardus triple/abt, Grimbergen, Orval, Westmalle dubbel/triple, Chimay, St. Bernardus Prior, Geuze Cuvee Rene, Liefmans kriek, Liefmans framboise, Lindemans peche and Lincemans cassis.

This, even from a Belgian's point of view is indeed a quite impressive list. The average belgian "café" will sport about 10 to 15 different types.
Of course, you have the better "cafés" where you can choose between 50 to 400 (I kid thee not!) type of brews.

Cheers!

petitbilbo from Brussels, Belgium

[chazwicke]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. It is timely as here is a posting from DC-Beer from just today:

For those of you who don't get the Belga Cafe e-mail:

"Belga Café has it's own Belgian beer

Chef Bart and his Belga team are proud to announce:
Belga Café, the original Belgian restaurant is the
first DC restaurant to serve their own and original
pils and white beer.

The Belga Pils (a Belgian pilsner) een pintje
The Belga White (a true Belgian white ale) en witte
…blanchke

September, 14 2007 is the big day. Come on in to taste
the beers.


Belga Café beer week from September 24 until 30, 2007

The menu will be posted on our website
http://www.belgacafe.com"

[kinjar]

Who makes it? (Assume its contract brewed)