Cafe Belge

My wife and I visited this restaurant on a romantic weekend in Brighton.

It was just what we expected. The mussles were wonderful, a speciality of the house and 48 ways to serve them. What a feast !

The staff were discreet but attentive. The selection of Belgium beer is marvelous.

All in all the visit to this restaurant enhanced our stay in Brighton.
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Dave Colley
Saturday, February 09, 2008

Went here for a friends birthday; food was excellent, wide range of beers, and food didn't take too long.

On the negative side, the waitress didn't know anything about the beers at all, and they had no cider and few other alternatives. In addition, they were very expensive (£3.50 + per half!). Also we were round the back in a private function room which didn't have the greatest atmosphere, but was reasonably comfortable, and air conditioned.

Overall, a lovely meal, but perhaps a tad overpriced.
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Joe Foster
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Cafe Belge is one of my favourite restaurants in brighton and i've eaten in many. If you like mussels then this is the restaurant for you. If you don't then you'd be better off else where (the other options aren't all that great). There are 50 different ways to have your mussels i particullary like the blue cheese one. Served with french fries and bread, washed down with a glass of belgium beer.In terms of value I think its pretty decent, the servings are large and the mussel dishes are of good quality. Higly recommended.
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simon fisher
Friday, July 13, 2007

Dreadful and Expensive. Stay away from a very unfriendly restaurant.
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Sunday, February 18, 2007

A cheerful looking homage to all things Belgian, it seemed a great choice for Sunday lunch, though ambitious the displayed prices suggested a treat. We went in and whilst greeted promptly our expectation started to fade as our server soon seemed overwhelmed by the orders of just one other table - before we effectively disappeared behind a screensaver (we guessed of belgians greatest export Tintin) on a phone which seemingly forever illuminated an otherwise deaf ear.

Our "tiger prawns" starter, which my companion and I had elected to share, eventually arrived but at a pound a piece they were disappointingly over processed and lacked any kind of wild roar - looking rather like something Kerry Katona might serve at a bedtime appliance party, it wasn't looking, nor tasting, good at all. Were Herge's literary creation Snowy my own dog, even he wouldn't qualify for a platter.

Our escape barred only by the boring convention of having already ordered we contemplated the wall motifs of the blonde boy with the quiff and pondered what international disaster had befallen a kitchen of "Routiers Southern something-or-other Cafe of the Year 2002" to serve such homogenised tat, but we remained optimistic. We had both chosen specials of the day, and to be fair on arrival they did look a million dollars - though in a very Las Vegas kind of way - who said the Belgians were boring?

Fishing through the flotsam and jetsam of a camouflage sauce made up of prawns and leeks whose pedigree was no doubt also the commercial equivalent of Kerry's Iceland my companion was barely comfortable with his sea bream which seemed watery and weak and we both agreed but a patch on the previous days five quid fish and chips (Harry Ramsden's, Brighton, for the record, delicious!) We could but wonder if the residents of the south were so easily taken in by dramatic crockery and flamboyant delivery; much to our suprise, the place was certainly filling up.

My own steak special was lame to the point of handicap, nestled on a hotch potch of obviously refried potatoes and unnecessary dross it wallowed in a black olive and cheese sauce perhaps designed like its fishy counterpart to disguise poor ingredients and a lack of culinary talent which sadly it had failed to do. Like in Las Vegas we soon tired of the facade and leaving the glitz and spectacle of a poor side-salad side-show on the side we called for our bill, unprepared to risk dessert. Greasy pancakes on the pier had never seemed so attractive an option.

Though unspecified on the menu we had assumed the "specials" to be local produce sourced at beneficial prices so were unprepared for the mugging effect of our account, £65 for two WITHOUT wine, WITHOUT dessert and SHARING but a single starter we soon realised the blessing of London living. The owners of Cafe Belge might like to take ride up there one day where at any of the Michelin stared restaurants such as La Noisette, Aubergine or Benares they will find a Sunday lunch cheaper then theirs that leave not a hint of the nasty taste we encountered in Eastbourne. As Captain Haddock might say "Miserable molecules of mediocrity"....
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rightcharlie - View all reviews by this user
Monday, February 12, 2007

We (nine women) chose Cafe Belge for our Christmas meal out because the Christmas menu was varied and the price reasonable. I hadn't been to the restaurant before and unfortunately I was very disappointed. When the starters came we thought we had chosen well, large portions of crab and prawn cocktail and smoked salmon were all good, unfortunately the main courses were not the same. Santa's Boozy Beef came with roast potatoes so hard from reheating we couldn't eat them, and one person had only two small pieces of beef the rest was onions and gravy. Some of the roast turkey was too hard to eat, again from poor reheating, and when this was mentioned to the waiter he shrugged his shoulders, but it was so noisy perhaps he didn't hear what was being said to him because overall the staff were very attentive. The moules came without the chips. Those that had chosen the sea bass fillet had chosen well and enjoyed their meal, there was a £3 supplement for this. The desserts were nothing special and could have been improved by using cream rather than the squirty white stuff that comes out of a tin. The belgian beer we finished the evening with was very good!
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Diane - View all reviews by this user
Friday, December 15, 2006

Visited on the Monday 11th December evening after three of us went to the flicks. Although there was one Xmas party table, there were mainly couples or fours in the restaurant. It was about half full, which for a cold Monday wasn't bad. The decor was bright and cheery and the young staff very welcoming; that was the good news. The bad news was, after ordering three different mussel dishes and receiving our bottle of wine, we sat and waited and waited and waited. After approximately 40 minutes, during which time a couple and a table of five who had arrived after us had been served, and in the case of the couple finished their meal, we were still waiting, and had nearly finished our wine. During this time, the waiting staff must have been fully aware of us waiting, as they had to keep on passing by, but nobody took any notice. We then spoke to a waitress who went to investigate. She came back immediately with our meals, which raised our suspicions. The mussel platter with cheese and bacon was barely warm and had obviously been sitting around. Also, the bacon was in great clumsy wads and overwhelmed the mussels. My spanish version was inedible, and in fact tasted badly wrong and was sent back. The other dish with au poivre sauce was acceptable, but none of the mussels, which were of very differing sizes had much flavour. We also had three enormous bowls of flaccid chips with mayonnaise and some sawn up baguette. It's doubtful that we ate more than third to a half of the meal owing to the delay, the poor quality and temperature of the food. When we received our bill, the spanish mussels had not been charged for, but service charge had been added. I refused to pay this which seemed to disappoint the waitress. I never penalise waiting staff for poor food, but in this case the service was rubbish as well. If this place is supposed to specialise in mussels then they are in big trouble. I suppose they will do what most of the other low quality places in Brighton do, rely on the poor old passing trade tourist.
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Anne Bond
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Very dissapointing! Food of poor canteen quality. Fish cakes on wet gritty spinach. Burgers very dry and overcooked with no filling of any kind, bun tasteless. Staff friendly. Tin-Tin decor for children only. Not a patch on Belgo in London. Never again.
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oflahertie
Saturday, December 09, 2006

Wow!! What a menu. I had the cheese fondue with roasted veg/bread - delicious. Husband had beef stew - thoroughly enjoyed it. Service was excellent. The only downfall was badly behaved children which the proprieter apologised for (as if it was his fault!!!). Excellent value for money and certainly will eat here again.
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shani
Thursday, November 02, 2006

If you like mussels then you might be ok here. My wife liked hers although I thought that at just under £10 there are better deals in Brighton. My fishcakes on a bed of wilted spinach were grim. One was broken, they were pretty tasteless and the spinach was gritty. The staff were young and friendly but the service seemed confused and when we returned the wine because it was corked we had to explain what a corked bottle of wine meant! Having said that they replaced it quickly and with a smile. No atmosphere at all. I couldn't wait to leave but if you're after a big bowl of mussels and don't want to explore the back streets of Brighton for eating places it'll probably be ok.
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chelston - View all reviews by this user
Saturday, September 30, 2006