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At some point last week, while killing a few minutes' time before going to lunch, I heard about a new establishment in Ross's neighborhood: The Belgian Café, owned by Monk's owners Tom Peters and Fergus "Fergie" Carey (also of Fergie's Pub, a Phillyist fave), in the old Tavern on the Green location at 21st and Green. We tried to head over for dinner on Saturday night, but were thwarted by the already burgeoning crowds, and decided to try our luck at brunch the next morning, after a short blurb in the Inky told us that they'd begun serving the meal over the weekend.
Turns out that we were officially the first brunch customers that The Belgian Café served. They were slightly flustered (understandably so!), but folded our brunch menus as they directed us to a table outside. Owner Tom Peters apologized if things seemed crazy, then our waitress (Jill, I believe – a familiar face from Monk's) approached us and apologized for not bringing the "beer bible" with her. No worries: Ross and I began with our brunch standards: Bloody Mary (on the menu there, it's a Bloody Hell, Mary) with extra olives for him, mimosa for me. The café has a special mimosa on their brunch menu, made with a light Belgian ale, but I figured I'd play it safe. (Probably an unexpected move, as Tom, overhearing my order, announced that they had no champagne, only Prosecco. Fine by me, though, and my mimosa arrived with orange juice so fresh there was a film of pulp floating on top of it. Yum!)
As we sipped our drinks and pored over the menu, we noticed a fun architectural detail nearby: the handles to the cellar doors of the restaurant had been replaced with a wrought iron sculpture that looked like a beer glass, bubbling over with foam (pictured). Tom was especially proud of it, and made sure to point out that the artist responsible had also done the hinges on the doors, and the railing by the establishment's entry.
We had our alcohol and we had fun things to look at. Now to decide on our food. Everything looked so good, and as it was an entirely new menu, we couldn't ask Jill for her recommendation. But, being relatively frequent visitors to Monk's, we figured we couldn't go wrong with mussels and frites. Separate from the mussels on its dinner menu, The Belgian Café also serves four varieties of "brunch mussels." Ross decided on the smoked salmon, red onion, and caper bowl, and I went with the charcuterie mussels: ham, sausage, goat cheese, and mustard. They were accompanied by thicker frites than those served at Monk's, complimented by Monk's beloved aioli and a smoked tomato ketchup. (I usually hate ketchup, but this was outstanding.)
The smoky flavor from the salmon permeated Ross's mussels, giving them an excellent, and unique, flavor. The salmon itself, having cooked with the mussels, was perhaps a bit rubbery, but in such small chunks that it still remained easy to chew. My mussels were excellent, although the flavor from the goat cheese was almost imperceptible (you saw the cheese far more than you tasted it), perhaps because of the strong mustard flavor. I think next time, if I order this dish, I'll ask for extra cheese.
As an afterthought, Jill asked us if we'd like bread for dipping. Of course, we told her! Unfortunately, in what was truly the only unsatisfactory part of our meal, she returned with light, fluffy dinner rolls. Delicious alone, but not nearly substantial enough to hold up to the task.
Full from our mussels and frites, but not ready to leave our table, we decided to linger – over a few more drinks. We apologized to Jill and to Tom, but they both emphasized that they were glad we were out enjoying the weather and the booze (Ross had transitioned to beer, but I kept with my Prosecco mimosas). Finally, with a good buzz going on, we decided to pay our check and bid adieu to the new café – but not before taking a lap around the inside. The bar is designed in the familiar semi-Gothic style seen in many Belgian taverns (Monk's included), but the dining room is bright, in shades of orange, with larger-than-life portraits (some of them nudes) painted on the wall in the Art Nouveau style that has roots (albeit often forgotten ones) in Belgium. The room was the the perfect space, we decided, to retreat into on cold winter days when all we wanted was to stay warm and fill up with mussels and beer.
You can be assured that we'll be returning soon.
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The belgian cafe does has a website,
http://www.thebelgiancafe.com/
Not much there other than an address and a menu.
Also, the address is at 21st And Green, not 21st and Sansom.
Yikes! I've spent my morning telling people about a work-related event that's at 21st and Sansom, and I guess I mistyped. And thanks for the URL - a Google search wasn't showing anything, and it's not printed on their menus.