Dave, a partner at Brussels Beer Café invited Johor Kaki to visit his newly opened restaurant at Puteri Habour, Johor Bahru. There are 8 Brussels Beer Café outlets in KL and Penang, and this is the first one in Johor Bahru.
Brussels Beer Café is really easy to locate at Puteri Harbour; it's just beside the multi-storey basement car park and right next to the escalator leading up to the Little Red Cube (where the Hello Kitty theme park is).
The layout and décor at Brussels Beer Café is quite simple and casual. There is inside seating with air conditioning and outside al fresco seating.
I like the al fresco seats because of the Marina view and the sea breeze.
To kick things off in the right spirit, we started with beers :D
Brussels Beer Café serves a wide range of beers from around the world. Hoegaarden is probably one of the best known Belgian beers in this part of the world. We tried the Roseé version of Hoegaarden which Dave said was very popular with ladies. The pinkish hue beer was sweet and had 3% alcohol. I still prefer my beer to be golden yellow, bitter and with at least 5% alcohol :D
Next time, Stella Artois - the other famous Belgian brand.
To go with the beer, we had Moules Mariniere which is live Dutch mussels simply steamed with white wine, celery, garlic and onion.
The soft like marshmallow and savoury (broad bean size) mussels were perfect beer food.
The milky robust savoury mussel juices at the bottom of the pot was so delicious, we asked for this German rye bread to mop it all up :D
Actually, I would love to just come regularly to Brussels Beef Café to have beer with Moules Mariniere, relax with friends and enjoy the sea breeze while viewing the Marina.
We also had Belgium Frites or Belgium style fries. The thumb sized fries were made from Idaho (USA) potatoes and eaten with regular mayonnaise or curry mayonnaise dip.
Brussels Style Pork Knuckle RM70.80++
Next up was the Brussels style pork knuckle with sautéed potatoes, mushrooms and brown sauce. The pork knuckle came with the meat and skin stripped from the shank bone. Everything was cut to convenient bite size. The meat was firm, savoury and just the right saltiness for me.
The crispy skin was quite dry, stiff and chewy. I ate it by dipping it in the savoury brown sauce to soften it a little.
Brussels Pork Burger RM20.80++
The Brussels Pork Burger is one of the best burgers that I've had in a while. Bouncy, pillowy sesame bun, caramelised sweet onions, flavourful crisp bacon on a thick and tender pork patty, smooth creamy mayonnaise and cheese with fresh lettuce. Excellent.
After the beers, I had an espresso (at RM6 for single shot). It was a perky bitter sweet full bodied syrupy hot tonic. Good!
Brussels Beer Café is one more place in JB to relax over good food, good drinks and a nice view.
Restaurant name: Brussels Beer Café
Address: Puteri Harbour, Nusajaya, Johor
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/eYA8w
GPS: 1.416984,103.658484
Hours: 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight
Non Halal
Date visited: 2 Jan 2014
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In my honest opinion, the skin of the pork knuckle should be crispy and not chewy - otherwise, it would be better to buy roast pork from a rice stall instead!
ReplyDeleteThe pork burger is truly the greatest thing ever. Another must try dish is their Brussels sausage plater. This delight contains 3 different types of pork sausages which are heavenly!
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