Although Belgium is apparently just a Eurostar train ride away, I’m surprised that I haven’t yet had food nor a beer from a Belgium restaurant or bar. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, that all changed last night as I feasted on a filling meal at the Belgo Centraal restaurant. Located opposite the Paul Frank store and Neal’s Yard in Convent Garden, a flight of stairs will take you down to the spacious basement holding the huge kitchens and the large number of tables and benches making up the restaurant.

Until this morning I did not realise that the Belgo Centraal is actually part of a larger chain (funnily enough called Belgo Restaurants) but not on the same scale as your McDonalds franchise. It seems that the chain is having a promotion for many of its restaurants and last night we partook in the Beat the Clock one. By ordering one of the promotional meals (that is also served with a Maes lager, house wine or soft drink) you only pay the price at the time of your order as long as it is between 5pm and 6:30pm.

Thrilled by the mussels (or moule as they call it) at the Belgium Beer Café back home, I decided to go for the moule and frites special. Although I will admit that the meal was not as good as the same as you would get back home, it was still tasty overall. Perhaps it was the size of the more miniature mussels that took more effort eating, or that it was the white wine sauce (or did you ask for soup?), or maybe it was the frites that were more like french fries than anything (still definitely much better than your typical English chip affair, but not matching the extravagance and crispness of the thick beer battered ones back home). Don’t be mislead by my detailed description, the mussels were still a huge serve and extremely tasty even without the sauce. My sister and her friend both ordered a chicken which was I was told was extremely succulent through and full of flavour, even with the rich sauce that almost drowned it.

The food was so good that we even decided to follow it with a dessert comprised of a Belgian waffle sitting in a rich dark chocolate sauce and topped with a scoop of hazelnut ice-cream.

Details: Belgo Centraal
Found on: 50 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2 9HP
Contactable on: +44 (0)20 7813 2233
Highlights: Open tables and atmosphere that is quite busy but not overwhelmingly noisy. Good food and beer selection (the schnapps sticks looked deadly though entertaining). Beat the clock deal also offers great value for diners.
Room for improvement: Benches are a little too close together, perhaps making it too easy for a knee in the back as people walk by.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10