My wife and I were spending a weekend getaway in Newport Beach. After breakfast at a nearby cafe in Laguna Beach we noticed this cute shopping precinct opposite the park on the beach. It was early on Sunday morning . . before 9.30am and many of the stores and restaurants were not yet open. However we did spot Brussels Bistro in it’s basement location not yet open also. This would come in handy for future reference. In the end we decided it was too early in the day to explore this cute touristy area properly and we headed back to the Marriott Hotel to clean up and check out. After very nice coffees at our favorite Newport Beach coffee shop we headed back here to look at the shops.
Funny enough this time round it was very difficult to find a parking spot . . I think we did 4 laps of the main street before we got lucky in a metered parking lot. We had a fun time checking out many of the clothing stores and tourist gift shops. We decided that a late lunch would suit our needs and after seeing the restaurants on offer we chose Brussels Bistro. We knew what to expect because we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the San Clemente location last year soon after it opened.
So we made our way here around 2.30pm and we could see it was packed out downstairs. I went down to have a quick look and thought lunch at the bar would be fine. My wife was hungry by now and totally agreed. The charming hostess Tiana looked after us with menus as soon as we were seated. I recognized a male server who looked familiar from the San Clemente restaurant. Turns out it was Pierre the restaurant manager here and he said he did help with the opening of the other location last year. A bartender/ server named Adele behind the bar brought us tall glasses of water and took our lunch order. My wife ordered the Beef Stew and I chose a Belgian Burger with a side of Frites not the salad.
I was pondering over which delicious Belgian beer to choose with my lunch . . they have a great selection of all the good stuff and I love Belgian beers. In the end Delirium Tremens won out and it came out in a very ornate new style Delirium Tremens tall glass which we hadn’t seen before. My wife loved the pretty glass . . I have a small collection of nice beer glasses in the fridge at home but it is not an obsession. Still this glass was awfully cute and I wanted one !
Our meal orders arrived simultaneously and looked very appetizing. The place was so busy . . not a vacant table in sight but we had plenty of space at the bar. Hostess Tiana dropped off the complimentary fresh baked Artisan Bread . . we remembered this incredibly delicious bread from our lunch at their San Clemente location. It was perfect with my wife’s Beef Stew. My Delirium Tremens beer tasted very good as I knew it would . . even better in this amazing glass !
I had to munch on a few of the hand cut Frites before trying my Burger. I dipped them in the accompanying white sauce . . like a cocktail sauce with other stuff going on. And then I attacked my Burger with the big fat well done beef patty eyeing me off . . very delicious indeed ! My wife and I don’t usually do lunch at this late hour and we still had a long drive home to Solana Beach. So that meant we could have dessert too and we knew they had great desserts !
My wife had been studying the dessert card for some time and surprised me with her ultimate choice. The Warm Sugar Tart . . served with Coffee Ice Cream was the winner. Out it came and it was very sweet & very yummy with creamy Coffee Ice Cream. We had a perfect lunch in this Belgian style speakeasy thanks to the amazing manager Pierre, Adele our talented server and lovely hostess Tiana. And I have a new Delirium Tremens glass to take home. Sensational food, beers and service !
