Belgo Central (Covent Garden)

4/24/2008 3:41:56 AM, thursday, april 24, 2008
Damn, this was a noisy place! No sound-proofing and a lot of guests. There was quite a bit of waiting to be seated. Food was okay, bordering on nice. It wasn’t Belgian in any way. Limited Belgian beer selection. Service was swift and impersonal - I always dislike places that automatically charge tips...

3/2/2008 1:51:16 PM, sunday, march 02, 2008
Food was good and moderately priced for London. They had a nice selection of Belgians, I didn’t really expect much and I wasn’t disappointed. It didn’t hurt that our waiter was French Canadian.

8/8/2007 2:46:57 PM, wednesday, august 08, 2007
Back in the day of servitors in Trappist style robes, when moules were a new experience, and Belgian ale was a mystery, the semi-refectory style dining was a treat. Things move on and the view changes. Worth a visit, particularly if you can’t easily get to Paris (Au Trappiste) or Belgium.

1/31/2007 7:17:58 AM, wednesday, january 31, 2007
Belgo’s has had its day. Its nothing more than a Belgian theme restaurant now. The service, food and overall dining experience is not much better than an All Bar One. I had some sort of pate, then sausages and mash and a waffle - none of it typically belgian or interesting. The beer list used to save this and the Bierodromes; still does in some ways, because you’re hard pressed to find many Belgian beers in UK pubs (apart from Duvel and the ubiquitous InBev brands, Hoegaarden and Leffe). However the Belgo’s are light on draught and the range hasn’t changed in years, there’s nothing you couldn’t get in Utobeer or online. I’d rather go to a real pub that has one or two intresting brews on tap than drink or eat here.

12/10/2005 7:54:36 AM, saturday, december 10, 2005
I don’t like Belgo. There, I said it. I never liked the people who set it up (OK, I know that has nothing to do with the place itself). The concept is tired. The food has gone downhill. The beer list is unexciting. When it first started nearly 15 years ago, Belgian beer was hard to find and the original Belgo (in Camden Town) played a big part in increasing awareness of Belgian beer. Things have moved on since then, but Belgo hasn’t. It seems to cater for people who think they know about Belgian beer because they’ve tried Chimay and like to pontificate loudly to their friends who know nothing about Belgian beer. Although my visits are very infrequent these days, there seems little effort to source unusual beers and the true beer enthusiast will find little of interest. If I’m going out for a social evening, without emphasis on beer scooping, I’d rather do it in a pub or a restaurant where I don’t have to pay over the odds for beers I’ve already tried (and could get for a fraction of the price elsewhere), and for medocre food served in conveyor belt fashion. What we need is more Beer Circuses and less themed branding concepts.

1/25/2005 3:47:10 PM, tuesday, january 25, 2005
Interesting selection, havent tried the food though. Can get crowded but service seemed ok.

8/12/2004 7:25:40 AM, thursday, august 12, 2004
Nice little Belgian beer restaurant. Over 50 Belgians. Most of the trappists, several others. A few common place Belgians on tap (Maes, De Koninck).

2/15/2004 12:11:55 PM, sunday, february 15, 2004
Nice location - great selection of belgish beer - a good chace to have to get the nice ones accomplished by the great food outside Belgian. Is very crowded, and it is a pain in the ass to get a table (reservations are recommended for weekends more than a week in before hand).