Frites Belgium On Tap

Sooo, hello again! I know it's been a super long while since I've posted. Since classes today were cancelled, that means more time for me to blog (while catching up on unfinished assignments and studying for the upcoming exams)! 

Recently, I visited this restaurant called "Frites" in Wan Chai. It's a Belgian restaurant, and I only know Belgium is famous for their chocolates... 

But nevertheless, this place is actually quite nice! The interior design of this restaurant is so cute, making me feel like I've stepped into the 1800s, or the early 1900s! Also, as "frites" is fries in French, that means that their fries must be famous as well!

Anyways, if you're ever in Wan Chai and wondering where to eat, do find your way to this restaurant - the lunch menu is quite cheap and you won't be disappointed!

Review:

First up is the starter aka soup or salad. I decided to go for the soup, which was lentil and bacon soup. Okay, so the soup was more like a puree, or blended lentil and bacon. Not a huge fan of it, because I prefer more of a broth compared to a puree. The taste isn't bad, but it's was weird to my taste buds because I've never tried this kind of soup before! 

Lentil & Bacon Soup

Close up of Lentil & Bacon Soup

Next up, we have the Belgian fries! This wasn't part of the lunch menu, so we ordered it as a-la-carte. The fries in my opinion, ARE BOMB. They're not too oily, and they are really well seasoned. I know I know, they look like normal fries - they don't look very appealing right? Guess what, looks can be deceiving! I have to say that these fries are better than McDonald's and Burger King's fries! The mayo sauce that's included with these fries, is not like the mayo you find in Fillet-O-Fish or the ones served with your deep fried sole fillet. The mayo is much thicker, and it doesn't have much of the mayo taste and smell. Really nice combination - the fries and the mayo sauce. I really wouldn't mind coming here again just for the yummy fries!

Belgian Fries with Mayo Sauce

Close up of Belgian Fries

Main course! There were several choices to choose from, but I settled with the sea bass because it was the most healthy out of them. The sea bass was served with crispy potatoes, asparagus and a generous amount of chopped vegetables, such as tomatoes and onions. The sea bass was fresh catch, and very easy to cut. However, in my opinion, I did not like the texture of the sea bass. I personally prefer fillet because it's softer and more tender, but the sea bass' texture was basically "divided", so that when I cut the fish, it sort of disintegrated into its own mini parts... If that even makes sense. 

Nevertheless, the taste was quite good, but I didn't enjoy the sea bass as much as I had wanted to... Oh I love fish so much and this was quite disappointing because I did not like the texture of the sea bass. 

Sea Bass with Crispy Potatoes and Chopped Vegetables

Last but not least, we have dessert! You can choose either a drink or dessert, but obviously a foodie like me will go for dessert. :) This dessert is healthily unhealthy because although there's raspberry and granola, theres lots of whipped cream inside! Also, the raspberry seeds were so sour and they hurt my teeth a lot, giving me a temporary toothache! I should have chosen the drink instead because the coffee came with a cute milk mug that was shaped like a milk bottle, and well, coffee sounds a lot better than having a toothache.

Raspberry Cup

Price:

$120-$200 for lunch set, depending on main course.

Belgium Frites were $55. 

There's an Early Bird Lunch Special, if you finish your lunch by 12:45, there will be a 20% discount off your total bill. 

Ratings:

Taste: ★★★★☆
Value for Money: ★★★★☆
Presentation: ★★★★★
Environment: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★☆

Address:
中文: 灣仔港灣道28號Brim 28灣景中心1樓6號舖

English: Shop 6, Brim 28, 1/F, Causeway Centre, 28 Harbour Road, Wan Chai

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The Trafalgar Brewing Company

Hi y'all! I just tried sounding Texan/Southern but that obviously didn't work. 

Finally, another post of proper food instead of desserts. xD Anyways, there's a specific area in Wan Chai, near the Renaissance Harbourview Hotel, where there's a lot of Western restaurants. A lot of white people dine there and these restaurants are usually opened by foreigners (or gweilos if you will). Usually, the shop owners who orignate from their own country will of course, open a restaurant that's following their nationality - if that even makes any sense. Such as this restaurant, The Trafalgar is a British and German restaurant, so there will either be British, German or British x German mixed people running this restaurant. You get? 

I visited this restaurant yesterday with my family and to be honest, it felt more of a pub than a restaurant. There was a section with a bar counter, with lots of tall stools and tables with a window view. I feel like I'm doing a really bad job explaining the place, and I didn't take any pictures. :( But from what I remember, the corner seats were very spacious and comfortable, and the waiters/waitresses were very kind and helpful, plus they are fluent in Cantonese and English (aye). 

Review:

Okay so first up, we have the minestrone soup with bread sticks. I was actually so used to the "Russian Borsch" in cha caan teng that I felt the minestrone soup tasted funny! Even comparing the one to Pizza Hut, I felt that it just tasted... Funny. My dad told me the minestrone soup is legit and minestrone is supposed to taste like this, since this is the first time I tried minestrone made by Westerners. Fair enough dad, you win.

The minestrone was served piping hot and it wasn't thick but it wasn't too watery either. There are a lot of vegetables and spaghetti strands in the soup which altogether, complimented the whole dish.

Soup of the Day: Minestrone Soup

British fat chips! Yes these fries are too die for. They're deep-fried, seasoned perfectly and served with Thai sweet chili sauce; they're not too oily too so that's a bonus! There are actually 4 different kinds of fries served at Trafalgar, but from the top of my head, I can only remember these fat/chunky chips and potato wedges. Anyone who loves fries/chips should definitely try this dish, and if you just like it salted ONLY then perhaps not, but in my opinion, the seasoning was done very well!

British Fat/Chunky Chips

Close up of the British fat/chunky chips.

Time for the main course!

Sole fillet with ratatouille and vegetables. Yep, ratatouille. Doesn't it remind you the movie? When I found out that ratatouille was just vegetable stew, I was a bit disappointed because I expected more than vegetables just cooked in tomato sauce LOL. 

Nevertheless, the ratatouille was bearable and it did taste okay with bits of crunchy peppers and other sorts of veggies. The broccoli served as a side was huge! Definitely looking like a tree. Oh, and the sole fillet, ah the fish of the hour. Definitely good, it was 2 & 1/2 of a fish so it was pretty big! Though it felt as though there's no taste, I never really came across a restaurant that had a seasoned sole fillet (or maybe that's just me). 

Grilled Sole Fillet with Ratatouille

Close up of the main course.

Dessert, I actually don't know it was. Perhaps it's cheesecake with whipped cream, half a strawberry and chocolate sauce. I didn't particularly enjoy the dessert because it was a bit too dry - I felt my throat getting dry after eating the whole thing! 

Cheesecake

Drinks, you can choose what you want of course, but please avoid the coffee! I'm a huge coffee lover but the coffee was just too strong and bitter that even I couldn't take it! I take black coffee sometimes, but man, the coffee served there was just, wow. So please, if you cannot take strong coffee, I BEG you, please choose another drink! 

However, despite the unpleasant coffee, it did come with a really cute spoon! :)

Twisty Spoon

Sideview of the twisty spoon.

Price:
About $100 for a set lunch.You can check out the menu on their website: Trafalgar

Ratings:
Taste: ★★★★☆
Value for Money: ★★★★☆
Presentation: ★★★★☆
Environment: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

Address:
中文: 灣仔駱克道54-62 號博匯大廈5樓
English: 5/F, The Broadway, 54-62 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai 

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