Brussels Bistrol

Brussels Bistro
Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach

Aside from the modern Amsterdam cafe look, and jazz-artist air, Brussels Bistro amazingly steals the trophy in Laguna Beach for heavenly bread.

Tonight, we were here for the Laguna Art Walk. The place can get quite packed around 6pm, so make sure you jump in and grab a seat!

The snug-atmosphere upon descent from Forest Avenue envelopes you into the cafe of the EU, having brick walls, Jazz music, singularly-colored wooden tables, basic
wooden chairs, low ceiling...

It feels like an Amsterdam coffee shop. Awesome. It's a good hang out.
Love the atmosphere. Hanging photographs of Brussels in monochrome black and white surround the dining room along the wall in a running linear band.

The Bar area? A dual floor seating area above, and also below Forest Ave. once you waddle down the single stairway at the entrance, pseudo outdoor - indoors.

Cozy... and a good find. Food is casual, not standout-ish, except for the bread. It is hearty and filling and just plain good. The service is especially friendly, though sometimes they take a while to give a smile. They have big hearts. Willie was the one to help us. He's a very tall man with a Belgian accent. Looked like Popeye x 2, in shape, the sweetest man, and very attentive to be there and help every customer with the menu choice and drinks.

Appetizer Bread
Aka: Awesome.
The Bread is quite rustic, but smooth, dense and like a Therma~smooth pillow in consistency. It is that smooth.

From Bread and Spread in Irvine, Tustin. This stuff is still dough, it's so soft! It's a boule that's sliced, but the dough is still yeasty dough, heated up, with a Provencal country crust, perfectly crisp on the outside an amazingly pillow-soft from the inside.

Tastes of white bread, hint of sourdough, but it is so doughy and dense. I've never had bread this dense-moist. Wild! They are panoramic, big boule slices at 5/8" thick. You can literally sculpt the bread like clay in your fingers, and it stays hot for a while! OOHH dip this in the sauce, which has a mustard touch.

Fries
Classic Belgian, Netherlandish-style. Served in the white paper cone, with a cup of mayo on the side. These are not tasty, in fact they are so plain and boring, but they are so large and filling! They are not worth the price, or the taste. It is just a custom to carry this menu item in such a place. It makes the place authentic and true to tradition.

Moules Provencal
This was... healthy. Big pot of Moules. You can share. They are small meat mussels, but the sauce found at the bottom of this huge black cauldron has gorgeous round cheery tomatoes. The tomatoes are large and strewn tomato meat within the sauce, which is liquid wine. Too much celery involved in this, but it was still good.