Today, Nottingham’s new Belgo employees got together to throw open the doors of the first Belgo restaurant outside London, at Nottingham’s Lace Market, to plenty of hungry (and thirsty!) locals!
The fabulous new £550k, 180 seater restaurant is bringing a taste of hearty and delicious Belgian cuisine and culture to Nottingham, complete with its own super-cool styling and 56 bottled Belgian craft beers to boot!
Moules are the order of the day, as 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!
Nottingham’s curious beer lovers and aficionados will find a nirvana-like experience as Belgo brings 56 different craft beers to the city – each served in its own particular, uniquely shaped glass or eccentric drinking-vessel!
The interior provides a quirky, eclectic and totally unique new experience for Nottingham. Belgo has bought touches of the traditional Brussels beer halls into 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. Beer drums hang from the ceiling and 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 a bar where revellers can disappear for the day or night and really get 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. There is also a great range of cocktails and schnapps including a 32 shot stick for the bold.
Dan Murphy, General Manager of Belgo Nottingham said: “We’re so excited to have finally opened our doors today. Its always a long road getting a new restaurant open, but with Belgo it’s particularly worth the wait, as it’s such a fantastic concept and I’m so pleased that its coming to Nottingham before anywhere else! We look forward to serving up first class Belgian food and cracking beers to our new neighbourhood – we’ll all be raising a Belgian beer glass to that!”
