Belgium - Leon de Bruxelles

Restaurant:  Leon de Bruxelles

Location:  24 Cambridge Circus, London, WC2H 8AA

Date of visit:  7 June 2014

Time of visit:  8.30pm

After a ridiculously slow start to this project over the last few years, we finally have a bit of momentum and quickly got round to the next restaurant visit. I knew Belgium wouldn't be problematic as I was already aware of the chain restaurant Belgo in Camden (and in other London locations). I actually presumed there was a bit more of a choice of Belgian restaurants in the city, but research only brought up one alternative to the chain - Leon de Bruxelles, on Cambridge Circus - smack bang between Tottenham Court Road and Leicester Square stations.

I can't remember such traumatic indecision in my mind in the lead up to a restaurant visit as there was in this case. The cause? Belgium's national dish. Which also happened to be one of my worst nightmares. Moules. Mussels. Shellfish. Seafood. Without going back to check, I'm sure I've mentioned before that I don't do seafood. Neither does Elle. If it isn't white fish, it isn't for us. It has taken a few years to even contemplate prawns. We are only just there with prawns. But was I really just going to sidestep the national favourite because of my own lack of adventure?

In the end I didn't... couldn't...decide until we arrived at the restaurant. We booked in advance, and also took advantage of a deal on the website - one free drink per person on signing up for the mailing list. Vouchers in hand, we arrived bang on time on this Saturday evening.

The restaurant really stands out from the outside. Charing Cross Road is an incredibly busy street with many bars and restaurants. There is a lot of competition for eyeballs. Leon de Bruxelles does well in this respect.

It's unfortunate that one of the first impressions of this visit was the language barrier between the waitress and I. I'm from the west coast of Scotland. She was clearly a native French speaker. It was never meant to be.

Eventually we were led to a table, of which we had a choice of a few. For being deep into a Saturday night in the very centre of London, the restaurant didn't strike me as being particularly busy. No bad thing for us, I suppose.

It may well have been the case anyway, but the quietness of the restaurant may have contributed to the prompt and attentive service. 

Although there was much to distract me from having to do so, it was time to make a decision. Was I going to order a bowl of mussels for the first time in my life, and jeopardise the whole night?

We took our time over the menus. Myself especially. And THAT is unusual. Despite this, as soon as we closed the menus service was provided.

The first thing we did was flag up the drinks offer we intended to take up, as it was only valid when ordering a main dish. We both agreed we'd go for a starter and a main. Elle ordered the calimari to start, with the Flemish carbonnade beef for main. This was part of the Prix Five menu which offered two courses for £15.50. I opted for the soup to start - Provencal style, and a main course of Ardennaise mussels. A bowl of mussels. For me.

The free drinks came quite quickly - a small glass of house white wine and a glass of the restaurant's own strong Belgian lager, which was really nice. It had a slight almond after-taste, which was no bad thing. Being a Belgian restaurant, the choice of Belgian lagers was vast. Pricey, but vast.

After a second waiter checked to see if we had been served, our first portion of "unlimited bread" arrived. Actually, we didn't test the unlimited nature of the bread as we didn't ask for an additional portion. We were advised the "butter is £10". Humour from a waiter is always welcome.

The starters were excellent. My soup was lovely. Tangy, almost refreshing. Clearly fresh. Perfect with some freshly cracked pepper and the bread. Elle's calamari was gorgeous too. Lovely light crisp batter. Substantial pieces of squid. Again, very obviously very fresh. An excellent start.

For me, this is as good as it was going to get. At this point I need to stress this blog isn't a restaurant review blog. It's a depository for personal experiences in dining. I had set myself a challenge. And a challenge it was.

The mussels came in a bowl, with a plate of chips and a bedpan-shaped plastic tub to discard the shells. Dread washed over me. Suddenly I was in envy of Elle's main - lovely thick chunks of braised beef in a thick gravy with onion, carrot and fries. Still, it had to be done.

I think Elle was in mid-sentence when I just lunged in and cracked open my first mussel. Then the second. Then the third. I wasn't enjoying it. The taste. The consistency. But I was determined. Thankfully Ardennaise mussels are served with chopped bacon on top, so that was something I could recognise and enjoy while I was trying not to think too hard about what else I was eating.

I got into it, but every now then I ate a particularly strong mussel which set me back a little. If ever I was in any doubt as to if I really did like seafood or not, it felt very clear to me at this point that I did not.

I feel bad for writing the above, because I'm sure those mussels were excellent, and you'd probably be hard pushed to find a better moule et frite restaurant in London than this one. But not for me.

Belgium is just as well known for it's fries. I was never sure if there was anything particularly special, or different, about them. If the accompanying fries were anything to go by, there isn't. They were fine. But just chips.

Elle's meal on the other hand - which I would have gone for if I had chickened out of the mussels - looked and tasted excellent. The portion was maybe a little smaller than I would have expected, but it certainly didn't lack in quality. The chunks of beef were luscious, almost melt in the mouth soft, with a lovely thick gravy. I would have expected a stew to come in a bowl or pot, but it was all served on the same plate along with the veg and chips.  

One slight disappointment is that the aforementioned free drinks for which we had a voucher appeared as chargeable on the bill when it arrived. It's only disappointing as I hate to make a fuss. But it was quickly sorted out when we raised it.

At the end of this experience I felt quite proud of myself. And glad that I knew for sure that I wouldn't do mussels again. But I wouldn't have to think twice about coming back for some of the other items on the menu. It's a highly commended visit.

UPDATE - August 2015:  If you do fancy visiting this restaurant after reading this review, don't. It's now London's newest branch of McDonalds. A real shame.