Our 2010 Europe Trip

Growing up, neither of us had been to Europe. All of our international travel had been to Asia, even though we both had longed to see the sights in Europe for a long time. Our first opportunity came almost 10 years ago on our way to Singapore where a long layover gave us a "day trip" in Germany. We absolutely loved it and once our wedding (and other wedding trips) had passed, it was finally time to start our European adventures.

Amsterdam canals

The first real trip to Europe we took was in 2010, when we visited the Netherlands and Belgium. (If we had had more time, maybe we could have made it to Luxembourg and I could just tag this the Benelux trip, but unfortunately that didn't happen.) We flew into Amsterdam and out of Brussels, stopping for a couple of nights in Brugge along the way. It was a wonderful low-key introduction to Europe, and we absolutely loved it.

Amsterdam

We did a lot of exploring in Amsterdam. We logged lots of steps wandering the city and the canals (especially on the first day when we got a little lost and then chased a beer bike). We visited 12 different museums thanks to our Museumkaart. We loved riding around on the tram. We took a day trip to Den Haag and marveled at the Peace Palace. We managed to try just about every type of food that we wanted to get in the Netherlands and even some that we didn't even know we wanted before we got there. We fit a lot of stuff into our time in the Netherlands, which was only about 5 days.

More Amsterdam canals

We got frites, lots of them. We started at the airport with Vlaamse Frites, but also got some at Pietersma Snacks, Manneken Pis, and Vleminckx. Our favorite fries themselves were from Vleminckx, but our favorite toppings were from the airport, with that delicious combination of curry ketchup, mayo, and onions. We made 3 visits to breweries - the Heineken Experience and then 2 visits to Brouwerij 't IJ, which we loved for its beer, its bar snacks like ossenworst, and its atmosphere. We got rijsttafel at 2 different spots, the more traditional Tempo Doeloe and the modern Blauw. We went to Frens Haringhandel twice for herring sandwiches. We went to try Dutch pancakes at Pancakes Amsterdam and liked them so much we made a special trip to get some more before leaving for our next destination. We also got the small Dutch pancakes, poffertjes, at the Albert Cuyp Markt. We wandered around on our first night and ended up getting a traditional Dutch meal at De Rozenboom, a meal we had no idea we wanted but turned out to be the perfect introduction to the city.

Rijsttafel
In addition to all the stuff we planned to get (fries, beer, rijsttafel, pancakes and herring), we also ate a bunch of random stuff: burgers and sandwiches from B&B Lunchroom, giant burgers from Burgermeester, Thai food at Bird Thai Snackbar, Nepali food at Sherpa, stroopwafels and other random drinks and snacks, and 2 stops at FEBO automats. And of course, our visit wouldn't have been complete without trips to the nearby grocery store, Albert Heijn.

Antwerp

Antwerp's Grote Markt
We hadn't focused much on Antwerp when we planned our trip, but it was the place where we had to stop to switch trains on our way from Amsterdam to Brugge. Since we were already in Antwerp, we figured we might as well do some sightseeing, since the one thing we knew was that they had a castle/fortress (Het Steen). We saw that, as well as the Grote Markt and other shopping areas, during a pouring rainstorm. We were only there for a few hours and didn't get to explore too much of the city, but did grab some fast food at Quick Burger.

Brugge

Brugge was one of our favorite places on this trip. Since we spent most of our time in the older area of the city, it just felt like being transported back in time, strolling the canals and taking in all of the architecture. It was quaint and cute when it wasn't overrun by tourists, but even the touristy things to do, like a canal cruise and a visit to the De Halve Maan brewery, were fun.

Brugge canal cruises are fun
On our first real stop in Belgium, we got 3 of the things Belgium is famous for - chocolate (from Dumon), beer (Brugse Zot), and wafels (from Laurenzino). We also had a wonderful dinner at Cambrinus, full of beer and soup and pasta, followed the next night by a traditional Flemish meal at De Vlaamsche Pot, where we indulged in carbonades, waterzooi, and more Flemish classics. We also got lunch twice at L'Estaminet, some croque monsieur and croque shoarma the first time and lots of spaghetti bolognese the second time. And, as usual, we stopped at the grocery store, and got some other snacks.

Window shopping in Brugge
We were sad to leave Brugge (and our amazing, giant hotel room). It was the type of place where we really felt like we were out of the city and in a place so different from home. Leaving for our last stop also meant our trip was almost over.

Brussels

Coming from Brugge, with its narrow, winding streets and tree-lined canals, we exited into Brussels and felt like we were back in New York's concrete jungle, complete with all the dirt, grit, and smells of a city. It was a tough adjustment back to the city, and while we wanted to make the most of our time in Brussels, we found ourselves mostly missing Brugge. Dealing with a patronizing waiter at La Rose Blanche and missing out on a bunch of attractions because of bad timing, all on our first day there, certainly didn't help matters. We also felt a little disconnected because we don't really speak French (and every time I tried, the words came out in Spanish), which we also noticed when we visited the Comic Strip Center after a pasta lunch at Brasserie Horta.

Grand Place
That said, there were some nice things about Brussels. We got to see an outdoor festival that we hadn't expected to see. We were at the Grand Place during a spectacular blue hour, and all the buildings were incredibly photogenic. The Musical Instruments Museum was fun. We had one of the best wafels we've ever eaten from one of the yellow vans, and we had a tasty all-you-can-eat mussels night to close out our trip. We were introduced to kriek and got hooked on it. It wasn't all bad.

Traveling

We flew out to Amsterdam on KLM, having both dinner and breakfast, after already having dinner at JFK (where we just made our flight thanks to an amazing car service guy to whom we will be eternally grateful, since these were the pre-Uber days). The service on KLM was great, the in-flight entertainment was fun, and the food was pretty good for airline food. We were impressed. Our return flight was on Delta, which we didn't like as much as KLM, but it was still good. Lunch was better than we expected, and the snack was more of a meal than we ever imagined it would be (pizza and gelato!). (For other random airport links, here's some grocery store exploration at AMS and our "breakfast" at BRU.)

KLM planes from the panorama terrace in Amsterdam
In addition to our flight, we took a bunch of train trips during our vacation, although we didn't eat much during them. We ended up eating at Amsterdam Centraal at Burger King, and got a sandwich and some candy in Antwerp, but that was it. The Antwerp train station was the only place on that entire trip that we ever saw the Haribo Smurfs which became one of our favorite gummy candies. Mostly we were impressed by the train systems in the Netherlands and Belgium, and lamented why we couldn't have such good infrastructure back home. Traveling from city to city was fairly inexpensive and so convenient compared to the way things are here, and that's something Europe will probably always do better than the US.

Concluding Thoughts

We have some pretty great memories from our first European adventure. It felt so good to be in different countries, being exposed to different cultures and ways of doing things, learning so much at the museums, and exploring so many new foods and flavors. We felt like we had gained so much in such a short period of time, and we couldn't wait to visit Europe again. Although we wouldn't choose to rush back to Brussels by itself any time soon, we would love to see Amsterdam (and the Netherlands more broadly) and Brugge again. There was so much that we didn't get to do there and we were pretty happy being there. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again someday.

Farewell Spaghetti

On our last day in Brugge, we stopped by L'Estaminet for lunch before preparing to leave for our next destination. We don't usually return to the same restaurant 2 days in a row when we have limited time in an area, but after our experience the day before, we really wanted to return to try the spaghetti that everyone else there was eating.

I decided to go for Leffe beer this time, and A got a Stella Artois. We loved how everywhere you went in Belgium, they made sure to give you specific glasses to match the beer you were drinking, which isn't always the case at home.

We both got the spaghetti, which arrived piping hot and in a very generous portion. The bowl was filled with pasta, topped with sauce, and then finished off with a layer of melted cheese on top. After snapping some pictures, we mixed it all up and dug in.

The spaghetti was really good, and the sauce had so much flavor. It was no surprise why so many people (including people who looked like locals) would get this. The dishes we got the day before were good, but the spaghetti was better. It was hearty and comforting and perfect for ending our time in bolognese-filled Brugge.

De Vlaamsche Pot

After our wafel, we wandered around Brugge some more, looking for dinner. Nothing really caught our eye on the streets we were on, so we made our way back to Cambrinus, the place we had gone for dinner the night before. They had such a large menu, and we had tried so little of it, so we were sure we could find some new and delicious food there. Unfortunately, they told us they were reserved for the rest of the night, so we had to go somewhere new. We looked through our Rick Steves guidebook, and he suggested a Flemish spot called De Vlaamsche Pot so we headed over there. Luckily, they were still open and not booked for the night, but we did have a short wait for a table. We had no idea Brugge would be so packed at dinnertime!

The restaurant was located in a narrow townhouse with lots of cute decor. It was dimly lit, with lots of red tablecloths and checkered napkins. When we sat down, they gave us large leatherbound menus, and we couldn't wait to figure out what we were going to order.

To start the meal, we both got beers. A got a Chimay tripel, and M went for the Westmalle tripel. Even though both of these beers are fairly easily found in the US, this was, as mentioned, back in the years prior to the major craft beer explosion in the US. Because of that, we both opted for a "locally" brewed beer. Both beers were very crisp and refreshing, and they were good to pair with the meals that we each chose.

We both chose to go with one of the set menus. (We can't remember whether the menus had lots of a la carte options, but the 3 course set menus seemed like a fair deal for the price and covered exactly the dishes we wanted to eat, so we went with them.) M chose the Noordzee menu (literally "North Sea"), €31 at the time, which was focused on seafood. The appetizer course on that menu was the tomato with shrimps. In addition to a lightly dressed lettuce-based salad on the side, the appetizer came with a large pile of tiny shrimp, topped with dressing and some chunks of tomato. This was really good and tasted really fresh, and it was fun eating so many small shrimp. We don't really want to think about all the work that went into preparing such tiny shrimp, but that probably made it worth the price.

A got the Vlaamsche menu (literally "Flemish"), €28 at the time, which started off with farmer's pate. The pate came with a side of lingonberry jam/sauce and salad, as well as a bag of pumpernickel bread. The pate was wonderfully rich and creamy. When spread over the slightly sweet pumpernickel and layered with a little bit of the sweet and tart lingonberry jam, it was very delicious. The salad was refreshing and definitely necessary to help balance the heavy, rich flavors of the pate.

The main course for the Noordzee menu was waterzooi met zeevis (with sea fish). Waterzooi is a classic Flemish dish, and it's basically a creamy stew traditionally filled with potatoes and seafood (although these days it's available with chicken too). According to Wikipedia, waterzooi originated in Ghent, a Belgian town we passed through on the train on our way to Brugge, so we definitely wanted to try this local specialty. 

Inside the creamy stew, M found a giant boiled potato along with a piece of fish and what looked like a large langoustine. Although it didn't look like there was a ton of stuff in the stew at first glance, the waterzooi was incredibly filling. M regretted a little bit getting the wafel earlier when she was hungry, but only because the waterzooi was that filling. From what we remember, the flavors of the waterzooi were really good. It was very rich and creamy and filling and heavy though, and we hadn't really prepared for that.

The main course for A's menu was carbonades a la Flamande (apparently stoofvlees op z'n Vlaams, in Flemish), or Flemish beef stew. Similar to waterzooi, carbonades was a Flemish dish we had heard a lot about. The beef stew came with a side of applesauce. A's big reason for picking this was because it is such a well-known Flemish delicacy. It was an extremely rich and meaty stew, but it was also so full of flavor. He doesn't remember much about the applesauce unfortunately, so he can't really comment on that aspect.

For anyone getting carbonades, they came around with a giant metal bowl of fries to fill up your plate, and would gladly refill them if you asked. The fries didn't seem like the double-fried fries like what you get in Amsterdam with the sauces, but they were still good. They were thicker cut so they were more potatoey. The outsides were stiff but not fully crisp. They soaked up the carbonade gravy very well.

The third course for both of our menus was dessert. For M, it was supposed to be homemade vanilla ice cream, and for A, an unspecified "Brugs Room dessert." We were both so full though after our appetizers, entrees, and all that bread and fries that we couldn't imagine eating dessert too. Lucky for us, they let us substitute tea for dessert. They probably made out better on that deal, but our stomachs were thankful.

Every table got some Dumon chocolates to end the meal, which seemed fitting as they were the main chocolatier that we found in Brugge with multiple outlets, and we were really happy to round out our very Flemish meal with them.

De Vlaamsche Pot was a very solid restaurant that specialized in classic, Belgian cuisine. The food was incredibly filling but also very flavorful. In fact, the carbonades were so good that it inspired M to make her own version, and A thinks that the stoemp she made with them was better as a side than the fries served here. We would recommend De Vlaamsche Pot to anyone who wants to try some traditional Flemish food. We're glad we had the chance to try these very classic dishes.

Laurenzino

When it came time for our second (and final) dinner in Brugge, we had no idea where we wanted to go. We figured we would wander the streets a little bit, and then pick someplace that looked good and didn't have too much of a line, maybe picking up some snacks along the way. At some point after walking through the winding streets, we ended up right across the street from the grocery store we visited earlier in the day and decided to pick up some wafels.

One of the things we knew about eating in Belgium was, when in Belgium, get wafels (and chocolate and beer). We hadn't actually had any wafels yet during our few days in Antwerp and Brugge, and Laurenzino seemed to be highly recommended by others (and our guidebook), so we stopped in for a wafel.

We decided to split a wafel with chocolate and sugar on top. Chocolate is always a good topping for Belgian wafels. Unfortunately, the shop wasn't that crowded at the time, so the wafels weren't being freshly made when we got there and a few were already sitting out under the heat lamps. It was still good, but we imagined that it definitely would have better had it been made fresh.

Considering how much walking we would do before finally finding a place to eat dinner, it was probably a good idea that we split this wafel for a snack. It seems that in the 6 years since our visit, Laurenzino has closed (according to Foursquare via Timehop). Although it wasn't the best wafel we got on our trip, it was satisfying and we're glad the shop was there.

Delhaize

After having some beer at the brewery, we wandered the streets of Brugge a little bit more, ending up at a grocery store called Delhaize. We wanted to pick up some snacks and some breakfast, since we had run out of the breakfast bars we had gotten from Albert Heijn, but also we just wanted to visit our first grocery store in Belgium as part of our usual grocery store exploration.

Most of what we found in the store seemed pretty standard, although we did find some bottled packs of Brugse Zot, the beer we had just consumed after our brewery tour. Since we only had one more night in Brugge, we didn't feel the need to buy a six-pack, but it was nice seeing it for sale in town.

I enjoyed browsing the condiments section, something I like doing at home too, finding samurai sauce (similar to what we had on our Vleminckx fries), other fry sauces, and tons of mayonnaise (which, technically, would also be a sauce for fries). There were a lot more mayo varieties there than I had seen at home.

The beer aisle was also well-stocked. In addition to the Brugse Zot, there was all sorts of other "local" beer. It's great when you can call stuff like Chimay and Leffe local. We didn't drink as much craft beer then as we do now, so at the time, we thought people in Belgium were pretty spoiled with so much good beer. They still are, but there's plenty of good and interesting stuff at home now too.

I think I just thought these cookies and crackers looked fun and interesting, but I'm not really sure why else I took this picture. Because of the Smurfs, Spongebob, and the Simpsons? It's been 6 years. I have no idea.

We were amused when we wandered into the frozen section and saw bolognese pizza. We had already been commenting on how everything in Brugge seemed to be about bolognese, so seeing even more bolognese (and there was more than just the pizza) just reinforced that point.

We didn't buy a ton of stuff from our grocery visit. We did pick up one of these Magnum Gold bars that had been advertised all over Amsterdam while we were there, and ate it while walking back to our hotel (in circles, as we got slightly off track again). From what we remember, it was a relatively standard ice cream bar with a little salted caramel, but good quality.

Our mini grocery haul - breakfast bars (really just Special K bars like we have at home with red berries), Yakult (most of which A drank in the hotel room that afternoon), strawberry fruit-tella candies (sweet and very chewy), and some big bottles of water. Not a very exciting haul, but we weren't looking to pick up a lot during our travels. I think this was the only grocery store in Belgium that we really spent any significant amount of time in, so we were glad we were able to make the stop.

Brugge Food and Drink Touring

6 years ago today we did some food tourism while on our travels in Brugge, Belgium. The two places we ended up seeing were Brouwerij De Halve Maan, the local brewery, and Chocolatier Dumon. Both places were very interesting to see and taste, and we were very happy to have done some local business sightseeing.

Having already gone to a local brewery in Amsterdam (twice), we wanted to get a tour of a local brewery in Brugge as well. De Halve Maan does brewery tours for a fee, currently €8.50. They're run in either Dutch, English, or French and run approximately 45 minutes. They also now offer an "XL tour" that includes a private beer tasting and tips on how to properly taste beer. This option wasn't available when we went, though, so we didn't get a chance to do it. Be warned that the brewery has a lot of stairs, some of which are steep and narrow, and the ceilings aren't always extremely high. I had to duck a lot to get in and out of places since I'm tall, but if you're like M and more vertically challenged, you probably won't notice.

The tour itself was interesting for me. I always enjoy hearing about the history of breweries, and this one is especially old (established in 1856). It was also very interesting to see how the brewery adapted to fit into the building they were housed in to maximize space usage while also providing adequate facilities to brew the beer.

At the end of the tour they give you a glass of their Brugse Zot Blond in their restaurant/tasting room. They describe it as: "Brugse Zot Blond is a golden blond beer with a rich foam collar and a fruity yet spicy bouquet. The beer is brewed with four different kinds of malt and two aromatic varieties of hop which give the beer its inimitable taste."

I don't remember much about the beer, but I do recall that I had ordered one recently at a restaurant since it was local. What I do remember is that it was crisp and refreshing but without much of the hoppiness that I've come to love in recent years. It was refreshing and a perfect end to the tour.

After the brewery tour we went to Chocolatier Dumon, a chocolate store that I believe is famous as I had heard of it prior to doing any research into Brugge. That could be an entirely false memory, but I definitely remember hearing of it long before we went. Regardless, whether or not my potentially false memory had anything to do with it, I'm glad we made the visit. The smell of chocolate hits you as soon as you step in the door, and the lady working behind the counter was very patient to answer all of our questions and also offer samples. They had a special Ecuadorian dark chocolate that they had just gotten in of late, and the sample we had was amazing. In the end we opted to purchase a sample box full of a lot of their chocolates (white, dark, and milk) including a piece of the special Ecuadorian. It was supposed to come with a marzipan piece as well, but M mentioned that she wasn't (at that time) a fan of marzipan. The lady was very nice and offered to substitute another piece of the Ecuadorian in its place, and we were more than happy to accept.

We really enjoyed our time in Brugge a lot, and this day of local food tourism was incredibly enjoyable. It's so great to sample locally made specialties when we travel, and we definitely recommend visiting both if you have the time.

L'Estaminet

Time is flying by, and the 5 year anniversary of our trip to the Netherlands and Belgium is fast approaching (and with it, our aspirational goal/self-imposed deadline for posting trip recaps). When we last left off, we had eaten a snack in the Grote Markt before heading off on a canal cruise to explore more of Brugge. The canal cruise was great. We took tons of pictures of the interesting architecture and enjoyed exploring the city from the water. Once we got off the boat, we wandered around town a little bit, but mostly we were off to find lunch.

I hadn't been able to find a ton of casual, affordable spots in Brugge when doing restaurant research, so when we were thinking about lunch, we decided to rely on a recommendation from our Rick Steves guidebook. He recommended L'Estaminet as a good spot for light meals. Sounded good to us!

We arrived at L'Estaminet, which seemed to be on the "outskirts" of the old part of town (we always got turned in circles in Brugge, so that's how it felt but don't rely on our descriptions as far as a map goes) next to a nice park. They offered us a table in their "outdoor" seating area, which though outside was also enclosed, so we happily took that. It was nice and bright from the natural daylight, which made us happy because we love to see what we're eating.

We both got a beer with lunch (in Belgium, you have to pay for water in restaurants, so might as well drink beer). A went for the Brugse Zot, the local Brugge beer which they made right in town at a brewery that we were going to visit later in the day. The beer was a Belgian pale ale, and it was crisp and refreshing. It had a subtle sweetness in the first taste and ended on a drier hoppy-er note. I got a Stella Artois. It was fine, better than the Stella in the States because it's "fresher," but that doesn't really need a photo. It's just Stella.

For our lunch dishes, we mostly focused on the section of the menu called "toasts." Since everything started with the word "croque," we figured, based on our basic knowledge of the croque monsieur, that the toasts were probably sandwiches. Sounded good for lunch to us. A chose to get the croque monsieur, which the (current online) menu describes as a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. The sandwich also came with a very robust salad on the side, filled with tomatoes, onions, pickles, corn, and another pickled item that we could only identify as rakkyo. It was a pretty impressive salad.

The sandwich when it came out surprised us with the way it looked. We were expecting more of a traditional croque monsieur, thick bread, covered in bechamel, or at least something that resembled an actual sandwich. This was more like a turnover or a really stuffed pie filled with creamy ham and cheese. That's not to say it was bad. It wasn't. It just wasn't what we thought of as a croque monsieur at all.

Overall the sandwich had a rich, buttery flavor to the bread portion while also being paired with the rich, creamy ham and cheese stuffing. It was a hearty "sandwich" and very filling. It was also very delicious. A bit of crispness from the toasted bread ended up melting into the gooey, salty cheese and ham.

I opted for the croque shoarma. There was no description on the menu when we were there, but the current online menu describes it as a "toasted sandwich with shoarma spice mix of cumin, coriander, garlic, various kinds of pepper, ginger, and cinnamon." Just like with A's toast, we were expecting this to look more like a sandwich, but it looked just like A's. The plates generally were virtually identical except I had an extra sauce on the side (can't remember what it was) and instead of all that rakkyo, had some chopped up red peppers.

This was stuffed with chopped up chicken flavored with all the spices you usually get with shawarma (not used to spelling it shoarma). This many years later it's a little hard to describe each aspect of the flavor in detail, but it was similar to a really good spiced chicken pie (English style) or patty (Jamaican style). The spices were really wonderful. That, I do remember. We liked both of our choices for lunch. They may not have looked like the sandwiches we were expecting, but we were pretty satisfied with them.

There were a few other tables in the outside seating area while we were there, and we noticed that almost every single person was eating spaghetti bolognese. We already noticed the day before the prevalence of spaghetti bolognese in Brugge (although we still weren't sure why), so we decided that we would have to try to come back to get the spaghetti. After all, it had seemed like it might be their specialty since everyone got it and they weren't all tourists, we don't think. (I don't remember reading it in the Rick Steves book back then but he does recommend the hearty spaghetti. Perhaps we did it read it then but just didn't go straight for spaghetti since we had it the night before? Don't remember.) We were pretty happy with our lunch at L'Estaminet and definitely wanted to try to come back the next day!

An Unmemorable Snack

We were only in Brugge for one full day and we had tons of things to fit in, so we got a relatively early start. Our first "event" was a boat cruise through the gorgeous canals of the town. (The cruise was fun, but would have been nicer if it had been sunny.) To make sure we didn't get really hungry while cruising through the canals, we decided to stop at one of the food stands in Grote Markt (the central square in Brugge) for a morning snack.

Looking through photos from our day in Brugge, memories came trickling back about our snack here, but before we looked through the photos, we had completely forgotten that we had even stopped at this stand - ever. The first place we were going to write about from this day in Brugge was our lunch. When I made a list of the trip recap posts we needed to do (I really like lists), this was never on it. Neither of us really had any recollection at all of going there. It made so little impact on us that back when I captioned the photos, years ago, I didn't even remember then what we ate, so I definitely don't know now. Even better, I've thought all along that the name of the place was Bicky Burger, but didn't know until this week, 4 years after coming home from Belgium, that Bicky Burger is actually just a fast food burger that they sell in Belgium. Oops.

We got 2 snacks that day at the square and they are certainly not the most attractive of snacks. One looks like a fried meat sausage, like a frankfurter, and the other like some kind of long fried croquette. In the caption to the photo from whenever I uploaded it, I was speculating that they might be kipcorn and frikandel (but I really wasn't sure). Kipcorn is a long deep-fried snack with a creamy meat filling, so the one on the right could be kipcorn. Frikandel is a Belgian minced meat hot dog, so it could be the one on the left. Based on the pictures on Wikipedia, it certainly seems possible.

We really don't remember very much about the taste of these snacks. (Obviously, since we barely even remember stopping there and eating them.) We always like croquettes though, so I'm guessing we were okay with them.

After our snack, we headed over to the dock for our canal cruise, which was quite a wonderful way to see the town (we wholeheartedly recommend it). We definitely had more memorable croquettes in Amsterdam so we can't say you must stop here for a snack, but it was convenient. We're just not sure what the place was called...

Bierbrasserie Cambrinus

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!