Belgo, the iconic moules, frites and bieres restaurant and bar, is now open in Nottingham. Nottingham’s new £550K, 180 seater restaurant is the first site outside of London for the brand. They’re now serving up hearty and delicious Belgian cuisine 7 days a week… including a 56 craft Belgian beers.
Belgo was established in Chalk Farm in 1992 and has become an iconic restaurant brand in the capital. Belgo specialise in fresh mussels, which are rope grown, grit free and fully sustainable from the Shetland Islands. Traditionally served the Belgian way in mega mussel pots and cooked to order with frites and mayo, there are 13 mussel flavours to choose from! The rest of the menu spans Belgian classics like carbonade (slow cooked ox cheeks in Belgian beer), wild boar sausage and stomp mash, as well as freshly grilled lobster, rotisserie chicken and home-made slaw plus giant pickled gherkins. All the steaks (and burgers) are premium British beef, freshly chargrilled and the frites are doubled cooked. Desserts are Belgian waffles or crepes, homemade and cooked to order! This is glorious ‘roll your sleeves up’ food that’s complemented perfectly by the Belgo’s vast beer, schnapps and cocktail collection. Nottingham’s curious beer lovers and aficionados will find a nirvana-like experience with Belgo’s 56 different craft beers – each served in its own particular, uniquely shaped glass or eccentric drinking-vessel! There is also an excellent range of cocktails and impressive Schnapps collection too – including a “32 shot stick” for the bold.
The restaurant’s design brings a quirky, eclectic and totally unique new dining and drinking environment to Nottingham. Belgo has bought touches of the traditional Brussels beer halls to the city with big banquette seating and reclaimed wood booths. The design pays homage to the breweries that provide the beer, with barrels, hops and eclectic artwork. Monastery-
style chandeliers provide a nod to the Trappist monks responsible for brewing some of Belgo’s most iconic beers, whilst in other areas beer drums hang from the ceiling too! Cast iron walls work perfectly with the reclaimed wood to achieve a modern take on the traditional – a look that embodies Nottingham’s stature and status as a city that’s modern, cosmopolitan but with a rich heritage too.
Belgo’s exterior is a pleasant and roomy spot for all seasons – complete with heaters, a ‘Belgian market’ theme, and plenty of large umbrellas to fend off Nottingham’s occasionally less than continental weather!
The first floor “Zot Bar” is the perfect hideaway for disappearing for the day or night and really getting stuck into Belgo’s incredible beer selection, including Brugse Zot of course! There is nowhere else in Nottingham you can taste this fantastic beer made at the famous Halve Maan Brewery in Bruges.
