The Belgium Embassy

A new local restaurant has popped up in the North Portland neighborhood called “The Belgium Embassy” (aka the Embassy).  The Embassy is a funky little joint that opened it’s doors in November 2007, in a converted pink house in the heart of N. Portland.  When you first pull up outside of the Embassy it’s easy to feel like you are ariving at a stranger’s house for dinner.  The living room serves as the main area of the restaurant with what appears to be the dinning room transformed into a bar.  The overall ambiance of the Embassy is fantastic, with deep, warm, and dramatic paint colors on the wall and curtains.  The seating is limited (about 8 tables) along with 4 stools at the bar.  While some people might see the lack of seating as a negative thing, I found it very rewarding.  The service was fantastic, and the dining experience felt more intimate, which I think is lacking at a lot of restaurants lately. 

The Embassy is “all Belgium, all the time”, including the food and beer.  The menu currently is on the small side, but that just means that everything is fantastic!  I highly recommend their frites (fries for us Americans) as an appetizer and the stroemp and sausage for dinner.  Stroemp and sausage appears to be the Belgium’s take on the English’s ‘bangers and mash’.  While bangers and mash tends to usually lack flavor (in my opinion) the stroemp and sausage wasn’t lacking anything!  Shredded carrots and onions are mashed into the potatoes, giving the potatoes a wonderful color and flavor.  The potato leak soup is also yummy. 

The Embassy offers a great selection of Belgium beers, which according to my father, are on the hard side to find in Portland.  Cody and friends tried a number of the Belgium beers and all were declared wonderful, excluding the cherry beer.  For those who love sweet yet incredibly sour, this is the beer for you (the weak need not apply).  Cody loved the dark brown ale, which of course neither of us could pronounce or remember by the end of the night (although highly recommended!).   

Currently the Embassy is open nights, from 5pm – midnight.  The owners are hoping to start offering brunch on Sundays (but currently not serving at this time). 

The Belgium Embassy is a nice addition to Portland’s eclectic restaurant scene.  I love the small and intimate feeling of the Embassy.  The service and food were terrific and I would recommend the Belgium Embassy to anyone looking to branch out of the norm (help support local business!). 

Rating:
Overall, I give the Belgium Embassy a 4 out of 5 yummy goodness rating!