Belgo's June 'Lobsterfest' Begins

Yesterday evening I was invited over to the Belgo restaurant's original Camden location, Belgo Noord on Chalk Farm Road, to sample the food available as part of their annual 'lobsterfest', which takes place in June each year.To liven the proceedings we also had a quiz between courses to see whose lobster knowledge was superior. We came a creditable third in the quiz, and I certainly learned some new facts about lobsters - did you know, for example that Lobster Thermidor was first served at Marie's restaurant in Paris, or that lobsters procreate in the missionary position? Or, indeed that during the lobsterfest Belgo will usually serve around 2000 lobster dishes per week across their five London locations...




We started our meal last night with one of their most popular dishes, an incredibly rich lobster bisque laced with brandy which was accompanied by a Belgian beer which they serve here, 'Cristal'. Now I thought the bisque was delicious but I can't say the same for the beer which, being a heavy pilsner, was rather too strong for this very delicate first course. The beer chosen for the main course was a great improvement however, a 'Brugse Zot', a quite hoppy and delicate beer which was a great match for the 'surf and turf' dish which I tried - half a Canadian 1lb lobster accompanied by a juicy 5oz rib-eye steak and frites. We had some more Belgian beer with our desert (of course!), a rich 'Affligern Brune' which went well with the waffles and warm chocolate sauce that was served.





Now personally I'm not a great fan of lobster - it tastes wonderful but frankly I find it a bit fiddly to eat. My chosen dish at Belgo is usually mussels, for which they are well-known, and at the Camden location you can have your mussels six different ways, with my favourite being Provencale. That's steamed mussels served with plum tomato sauce, basil, thyme and garlic. At Belgo you can also indulge your passion for mussels while trying out something else too, as they also serve them as a starter in half kilo pots...



I'll leave you with a few handy tips for eating at Belgo if you're suffering from a personal credit crunch - they have a lunch menu available until 5pm which comes in at £6.95 a head, and between 5 and 7pm they have a 'Beat The Clock' offer. Basically you pay according to whatever time you place your order - so if your waitress comes over to the table at 5:15pm, £5.15 each is what you pay! At that price you'll have a bit of cash left over to sample one of their vast range of Belgian beers, and having visited Brussels I can vouch for Belgo having a more comprehensive selection of beers than even the 'estaminets' - tiny little bars that you'll find down alleys and backstreets all over the centre of the city.

Bon appétit!