The Belgian Cafe lacks Monk's atmosphere, good food

November 5, 9:33 PMPhiladelphia Restaurant ExaminerLindsay Lovier

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Philadelphia Restaurant Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

 

Crispy pommes frites! Tender hanger steak! Unfortunately, it was not to be. Co-owners Tom Peters and Fergus Carey of Monk’s and Grace Tavern fame have dropped the ball on their latest venture. With a drab atmosphere and overpriced, uninspired cooking, The Belgian Café falls flat leaving Fairmount residents to wonder - what the hell happened?

Oh merde.

It bears mentioning that a restaurant using “Belgian” in its name should probably make some effort towards gastronomic authenticity. And yet, The Belgian Café’s menu is an exercise in ethnic confusion. Kitchen Nightmares chef Gordon Ramsay would have an (evil) field day with the unfocused smorgasbord that offers customers everything from vegan meatloaf to spring rolls to fish stew. Oh, and hummus and chicken fingers and duck salad. At best it’s bizarre, but when paired with uncongenial service and a dining room covered in a Home Ec faux painting project (think suburban Kansas mom gone wild with a sponge) – well, it’s enough to make a girl cry into her pomme frites. And while the fries taste okay, they're anything but Belgian, resembling fast food drive-through fries a lot more than they resemble actual "pomme frites." On the bright side, the burgers and mussels are good although small, and the aioli dipping sauces are delicious. Foodies should avoid forays into the more experimental dishes as they tend to be poorly executed and pricey given the lack of quality (I'm talking to you, vegan food).

The only reason to come here as opposed to Monk's is if you live in the neighborhood and need a convenient draft beer. With a telephone book-like menu of brews, this is the one area The Belgian Café shines in. Specialty drafts at reasonable prices make it worth a stop if you're a local, while the unique $12 bottled beers make it a convenient place for Fairmount hipsters to share and sample different Belgian brews with a group of friends – just expect to overspend for the food and the atmosphere - it's not Rittenhouse, but the prices are.