Restaurants

Steaming tureens of mussels, excellent Belgian beers and generous special offers keep Belgo buzzing. On our Friday night visit there was a genial hum of conversation and a rapid turnover of tables. The decor in the subterranean dining room is utilitarian, with close-packed, sturdy wooden tables, and ochre walls somewhat inexplicably inscribed with scatological-sounding Flemish-English nonsense words (shittail, tomturdy, crapbreech, poorfish). Although the place is famed for its crustaceans, we were left underwhelmed by a half kilo of moules classiques, awash in a sea of salty but bland cream sauce and much in need of a garlic kick. A more adventurous smoked bacon, duck, black pudding and lentil salad was far better, its earthy flavours working beautifully together. Kilo pots of mussels aside, mains are robust, generally meaty affairs, in which beer often makes a star turn. Having manfully resisted the enormous haddock and chips with Hoegaarden batter, we opted for a beautifully tender lamb shank with red cabbage braised in raspberry beer, and a chunky pork cutlet in deliciously creamy apple beer and mustard sauce. Its good, hearty fare at fair prices just dont come here for a quiet dinner for two.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008