Four years ago today, we were off on our first real European adventure and taking our first steps on Belgian soil. What better time to get back to reminiscing about and missing Europe than on the anniversary of our trip?
Outside of mussels, waffles, and chocolate, I will admit that I didn't know a whole lot about Belgian cuisine before we arrived in (Antwerpen and) Brugge. I had tried to do some research on restaurants in Brugge, but didn't find much outside of our guidebook other than a really nice restaurant that didn't really fit our casual plans. So after our late arrival in Brugge and dropping all of our stuff off at the hotel, we just roamed the streets of the cute medieval town, getting our bearings and trying to figure out where to eat.
This building apparently dates back to the 1690s!
I think we wandered in a big circle before finding ourselves right back near our hotel at the Bierbrasserie Cambrinus. It looked casual and relaxed, which was pretty much what we were looking for. Didn't hurt that they also advertised in the window that they had over 400 kinds of beer. Belgian beer is awesome, and if they had 400 kinds of beer, we were sure we would find something we liked. Although the place was bustling, there were tables open, they seated us immediately, and we were presented with a giant wooden paddle that served as a (huge) menu.
One giant menu
Based on our photos, it looks like they gave us a little cup of snacks to start, but I don't remember too much about that. A remembers that they were rice crackers, similar to the Chinese-style soy sauce flavored rice cracker mix. It's unfortunate that we got so behind on all of our trip recaps that we're talking about Cambrinus (and all of Belgium) four years after the fact. So many of the details of our visit have been lost over time. We can't do it justice, but we can tell you everything we remember!
A and I both decided to start off our meal with soup (and beer, but we'll get to the beer later). Although we can't recall all the nuances of the dishes we ate that night, these soups were fantastic, and I know that for sure since both soups landed on our top 10 food memories lists for 2010. All the food we ate at Cambrinus was delicious, but the soups were quite special.
I got a fish soup with "rouille" (a spicy garlic sauce) that came with garlic bread croutons. As I said back in 2010, this was one of the best fish soups I had ever eaten. It was so rich and comforting, and the flavor of the fish really came through without being the least bit fishy. The garlic bread pieces on the side were bite-size but I tried to make them last as long as possible. They were garlicky and covered in cheese. I don't really remember too much about what the sauce was next to it, but I assume it was probably some sort of garlic aioli. I really wish I remembered exactly how the fish soup tasted (besides just as "really good") so I could try to concoct something remotely similar to it. I just remember taking the first sip of broth and being really happy.
A got the Flemish onion soup with "Oud Brugge" cheese and Brugse Zot beer (a local beer brewed in Brugge, more on that in a future post). We both love French onion soup, but as A said in his review back in 2010, this Flemish version of onion soup was divine. It smelled and tasted fantastic. It was like the best French onion soup you ever had, made with beer and topped with a layer of cheese, and made even better.
I'm not sure what it is about spaghetti bolognese in Brugge, but just about every place we passed was advertising it on their menu boards. Since we saw it mentioned in so many places, and since we love spaghetti bolognese when done well, I ordered it for my entree. What arrived was a gigantic plate of spaghetti with tons of sauce, mounds of freshly grated cheese, and a garnish of parsley.
This was a seriously huge plate and I knew there was no way I could finish it. I did my best, but A had to help me, and even then, we still couldn't finish it. It was an excellent version of spaghetti bolognese, rich and meaty and cheesy with good pasta, but it was just an enormous plate and great value for the money. To put it in perspective, at the time we were there, this plate of spaghetti cost €8.5, only €1 more than the fish soup! What a great deal that was.
A got the cannelloni with spinach, minced meat, and creamy Boursin cheese. This was €1 more than the spaghetti bolognese, but a smaller dish. It was still a rather generous portion though, and with the rich meat and cheese, it was still a filling dish. We remember much less about the cannelloni than we do about the spaghetti bolognese since that just made so much more of an impact on us. We do remember, however, that the cannelloni dish was tasty and full of tomato sauce.
In addition to all that food, we, of course, got some liquid calories. There was no way we were going to a bierbrasserie in Belgium and not getting beer. I got the house blond beer. A got the "bier van de maand" first (beer of the month) and then got the house brown beer. Sadly, we don't remember anything about the beers other than the fact that we got them, they were very fairly priced (about US$4 for a 33 cl beer), and that we really liked them. More description than that, however, we're not capable of this far down the line, unfortunately.
We really enjoyed our meal at Cambrinus. We kind of felt like this jolly fellow at the end of our meal though, full of good food and good beer (lots of spaghetti, especially), and ready to go sleep it off. If you're curious, Cambrinus is known in Belgium as the "king of beer," and apparently (according to the story in the menu), he is often credited with the invention of beer.
After our excellent Cambrinus dinner, we took a walk around town and then called it a night. We loved our meal so much though, and the menu was so huge and had so many options, that we decided we would go back the next night for dinner again. But when we tried that night, they asked if we had reservations (we made no reservations all trip), we said no, and they told us that they were fully booked for the entire night! It wasn't that late, so we were surprised, but I guess it was the weekend and they had booked up. (The first time we went was a Thursday night.) We were sad, but we were happy that at least we had gotten to try Cambrinus once, and had a spot that we knew we wanted to return to if we should return to Brugge at any point (we would like to go back). Their menu is seriously large, so anybody should be able to find something there they would like. We would love to go back to try some more beer and excellent Belgian food in such a wonderful atmosphere!
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