Belga Cafe, Washington, District of Columbia Restaurant Details

Food:

Love this restaurant.
Waffles are awesome and the overall menu is really good

Food:

This is a tough review to write. We went to Belga Cafe during the current Restaurant Week in DC. We made a reservation for 8 people. We were seated promptly when we arrived. We ordered some appetizers while waiting for 2 members of our party. We decided to ordered without them, however, they arrived shortly after we place our order and immediately placed their order. We waited approximately 1 hour for the food. A few other tables arrived after we placed our order, got the food, paid the bill and left while we remained hungry waiting for our food. A table next to us had the same issue and probably because they were more vocal than us got the food quicker -- guess next time we shall all stand up on the table and start complaining to get food here!? Our order finally came out. We then ordered dessert. Surprisingly enough, dessert took another 30 minutes to come out... they kept telling us "its coming right out!". To end this adventure, the check was extremely confusing and they couldn't really explain us what they did with the different parcels within the check. He tried to explain to us as they gave us a discount by not charging some beers but charging one additional Restaurant Week price... which made no sense. All in all I guess it was a senseless meal.

Oh wait! I am suppose to discuss the food too! The food, when we saw it and were starving, was good. I guess increasing the wait for the food could be seen as a trick to make us enjoy the food more. We had mussels, lamsburger, steak sandwich, among a few other items. The food was generally good and tasty. Good selection of drinks -- almost a bit overwhelming. The desserts were also good, despite the waffle being cold -- guess must have been all of that waiting.

The experience could have been so much better as we like the owner's other restaurants, however, the service was simply subpar, and made it a not so enjoyable experience. Will we return? Until we forget this experience probably not, unfortunately.

Food:

As a former regular, I returned after a break of a couple of years. We were disappointed to see higher prices and much smaller portions. As an example, the kaaskroketten must have been a third of the size they were in the past and the desserts seem to have been cut in half. Even the mussels were small.

Food:

I went there with expectations, i was very disappointed. As a Belgian, I expect my beer to be served as a beer should be served : Leffe should have a foam collar, which was not the case here. Maybe the waiters should love their job more, and put the plates gently on the tables. My "stoofpotje konijn" (the waiter could not really understand what I was asking, even though the menu is written in Dutch / Flemmish) was drowning in a pool of sauce, that did not add to the taste or presentation. In short : Belga Café is far overrated, overprized and even not cosy. Go there with no expectations though, and maybe -just maybe- you might be pleasantly surprised ... I hope for you.

Food:

Here's the deal. We went to Belga Cafe for lunch and it ended up being a brunch place. "What does that mean?" you might ask. What it means is $14 waffles that are small and served on hipstery plates. This wasn't for us, but that doesn't mean it's not for you. Which is to say, if you're okay dropping $25 for lunch and leaving a little hungry, Belga will do it in style. It's nicer than a diner for sure. If you just want lunch, though, this is not your place.

We came here as a group of six and, despite having a reservation, had to wait outside for about 20 minutes. Lucky for us it was a nice day out! Inside, the tables were too large for the space, meaning every thirty seconds as a server walked behind my chair, s/he bumped my chair. It was annoying, honestly. No one apologized, no solutions were offered, and it interrupted my experience.

Food-wise, I ordered the salmon burger and was surprised to find out that it wasn't fresh salmon after seeing the word "grilled" in the menu. It also said "patty," so this was my mistake I guess. But I was also then bummed that it didn't then taste all that exciting. I've made this kind of salmon burger before at home and think I've done a better job than Belga. Contributing to the lackluster burger was an overly large and dry bun, as well as missing toppings that I had to ask repeatedly for and then got a tiny portion of. My fiancé and I also shared a side of fries, but were disappointed to see that the menu had been misleading. The meals, for $6 extra, came with a small fries and side salad. Instead of getting that, we ordered the side of fries to share. It was more expensive $7.50, but it turned out to be the identical portion as the small fries. So we spent $1.50 more and didn't get salad, basically.

So why 2 stars and not 1, even? I generally only give 1-star reviews to places that seem dirty, corrupt, etc. Belga wasn't that... it was just overpriced with lackluster food. I wouldn't go back, I wouldn't recommend it to friends... but it's not harming people, you know?

Food:

Mussel pots + pomme frites = nirvana at this intimate Capitol Hill Belgian that also earns kudos for its great beer list and go-to brunch of the century; noisy acoustics and only pretty good service draw brickbats, but it does the job when you want to imagine yourself in Belgium.