PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAThis is the beer version of a serious wine bar. Modelled on a 1930’s Belgian beer cafe, this restaurant has 35 European beers filling up the drinks menu. The Belgian Beer Cafe concept is prevalent throughout Australia, but Little Brussels is more upmarket than some of its counterparts. It attracts the kind of crowd that take their beer seriously, as well as some high profile public servants and corporate diners. The menu is a seasonally changing collection of traditional Belgian-French dishes, for example, the cheese croquette entree consisting of three kinds of cheese melted down, rolled into tubes and deep fried, creating a crisp outer shell with a fondue interior. Served with a tomato relish, it’s a rich, indulgent dish.
The restaurant’s signature dish, and the national dish of Belgium, is the moules – a kilo pot of mussels served with beer battered frittes (chips). Particularly popular are the mariniere with white wine, garlic, parsley and cream sauce; and the provencale with fennel, tomato, chilli and basil sauce. Dinner is served till 10pm, but if you’ve just popped in for a drink there is a bar menu offering some hearty dishes to share, like the Belgian meatballs or the crumbed lemon pepper squid. The Belgian Beer Cafe is open until Tuesday to Saturday from 12pm till late. Bookings are preferred.
Sarah Theeboom, December 2006
