January 19, 2023
If you’re looking for a new place for casual drinks Cafe Belge can’t be beat. They had good beers, good coffee, and very good looking cakes and bacon baps. We visited for the first time this past Sunday, but we’ll be heading back soon to try the baps! It’s a relatively new cafe, having opened in February shortly before lockdown. They’ve been back up and running for a little while now, but I actually only found about about the cafe while scrolling through Google Maps last week!
What excited me most about discovering Cafe Belge is finding out they stock Belgian beers! Ben lived in Brussels for two years, and I stayed with him his last 6 weeks there before we both moved back to England. Needless to say, we both have quite the affinity for Belgian brews! But finding reasonably priced Belgian beers in this country is a bit tricky. So for the last few years we’ve making long weekend trips to Belgium to stock up at the source! It’s always nice seeing the sights and meeting up with friends in Brussels, and of course the beer offering is unparalleled. But neither of us feel comfortable traveling abroad in the current climate so our annual trip is on hold for the foreseeable.
In steps Cafe Belge to the rescue! I couldn’t find a menu online, and weren’t sure what to expect. So we were pleasantly surprised to find they have a solid selection of Belgian beers for very good prices. Beers that would cost £5-10 in another bar were only £3.50-6! It was almost like being back in Brussels…
I was driving so I only had one beer (Vedett Witbier), and an oat latte. The Vedett was a lovely witbier, with slightly more flavor than you’ll usually get in such a pale beer. Perfect for drinking out on a patio on a warm, sunny day! And the oat latte was one of the better dairy free lattes I’ve had. I usually avoid going for anything other than an Americano at cafes to spare myself a disappointing dairy free coffee, but this one was delicious. Smooth and creamy, with the coffee still shining through. They have oat and almond milk by request and at no extra cost, which is always nice to see.
My husband had a few more beers than me, but I of course had to try them all! He had one we can’t remember, a Kermis Brune, and a Vedett Blond. The Kermis Brune was my favorite (I’m a sucker for a brown beer), but they were all lovely. And it was so nice to be enjoying Belgian beers outside of our home again!
We really enjoyed our afternoon of casual drinks at Cafe Belge. It seems to be mainly focused on serving good coffee and beer. But if you’re looking for no fuss savoury food, you can get sausage or bacon baps, burgers, and chips. In fact, we saw one bacon bap come out of the kitchen and immediately decided we’d be back soon to try one ourselves! And in keeping with their cafe styling, they had lots of lush looking cakes cut into very generous slices as well.
It was a really cute space, with a good sized patio that would be lovely to sit out on for hours on a nice day. Unfortunately it was raining off and on when we visited, so we were mostly just inside. They also had some very fluffy chickens in their own coop + fenced in area a bit away from the patio. They were very cute and adventurous! As we were leaving we noticed the chickens making a break from their yard. We told the manager and apparently they do that regularly!
Even though it’s a bit further out near Beachampton, Cafe Belge is worth the drive for some lovely casual drinks with friends and family.
