The Fat Belgian

BeerMonger · Post by **BeerMonger** » Thu May 18, 2006 11:33 pm

Ah, have another cold one...

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Fri May 19, 2006 9:41 am

And the award for most useless thread of the week goes too...

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 1:01 pm

The Fat Belgian is now open, I was there last night for a drink on the patio.

I'm happy to say that they are not an Interbrew bar. They have four taps: Delerium Tremens, Erdinger, DeKonnick and Fruli. They have a selection of other bottles. I didn't eat there but they had some standard Belgian fare (mussels) but it's certainly not a Belgian restaurant. One of the menu items we were chuckling about was the "Burger and Frites".

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 1:26 pm

Cass wrote:One of the menu items we were chuckling about was the "Burger and Frites".

Adding the "t" to "fries" makes the word 20% longer so you can charge 20% more

Steve Beaumont · Post by **Steve Beaumont** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:32 am

They have four taps: Delerium Tremens, Erdinger, DeKonnick and Fruli.

That's not an InBev bar, then, but a McClelland bar. Better beers, still one company. (Did Erdinger become a Belgian beer when I wasn't looking?

)

As an aside, I'm no England fan, but it must be said that the officiating in the England-Paraguay match is questionable at best, particularly in the 2nd half.

Hamilton Brian · Post by **Hamilton Brian** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:44 am

Steve Beaumont wrote:

As an aside, I'm no England fan, but it must be said that the officiating in the England-Paraguay match is questionable at best, particularly in the 2nd half.

You think? I'm surprised Crouch hasn't been turfed with a red. Silly ref.

tupalev · Post by **tupalev** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 9:47 am

I went for dinner to The Fat Belgian last night and was impressed. The patio was full, but looked lovely, so we sat in a gorgeous upstairs with the windows open overlooking the busy John St. area. The tap lineup:

Erdinger (which they acknowledged was not a Belgian! But $9 for the tall appropriate Weizen glass? Yikes...it was tasty though)
Delirium ($6.50 tulip glass vs the $10.50 glass I had at beer bistro last week - not bashing beer bistro here, as I love the place, but the beer was in better condition at The Fat Belgian too: nice big fluffy white head and seemed a little "fuller" and more fruity compared to the thin slick white head and thinner body I had last week at Bistro)
De Koninck
Fruli
Affligem Blonde

The bottles consisted of some decent choices like Duvel, Orval, Chimay, and then some less exciting choices like Stella, Guinness, etc...). It wasn't extensive, and you will not find any surprises, but you'll be able to have a nice beer with your dinner.

I had the cheese plate to start (nice to see more of these popping up), which offered a selection of Quebec and Ontario farm cheese (you got to choose which ones made up your plate). Not cheap, but well presented and very good. My wife had a very good garden salad.

We both had the burger and Frites for supper, which was very filling and well done - I'm not a burger expert, but this one seemed juicy, with a neat mix of spices going on that I found pretty unique. The frites were good, not great (not even close to Beer Bistro).

Apart from some loud folks sitting behind us, the experience was excellent. The service was very friendly and prompt. I'll be back.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:33 am

What's with these ten-dollar beers anyway?

Erdinger is basically mass-produced farmer beer, what do you get to keep the glass? That just looks real dumb on them. Oh well at least there's a glimmering of intelligence these days in 'real' beer.

SOW, Michelle's Beach House looks rather empty these days, so if you can manage it please get out there & buy the good stuff if you want to encourage better beer.

lister · Post by **lister** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 2:09 pm

I've tried Erdinger twice. The first time was a bottle during last years LCBO Summer release of weisse beers. I found it quite flavourless compared to the other bottles available then plus the various taps usually available. The second was a small sample at the Bier Markt and my opinion still stands.

We'd probably only visit the Fat Belgian if they get some Belgian beer in that can't be purchased at the LCBO and that visit would be on my girlfriend's insistance since I'm lukewarm on most Belgian stuff.

As for Michelle's Beach House, we went there for dinner during the May long weekend and had a good time. The only complaint was that the beer was warm. I'm sure that was just some kinks that have been worked out. Any time we're in the beaches we'll likely stop in for drinks and/or food.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:40 pm

Yes, I was a bit stunned by the $10.75 tulip glass of Delirium at beer bistro (that's $12.25 with tax, before tip, BTW), though the beer was very good and the fluffy white head had certainly reappeared. Perfect attitude adjuster on the way home from work, but very pricey to be sure.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 3:02 pm

It's hard to accept a 13-14 dollar final cost for something that was I think 2.95 a bottle retail last Christmas. The extra 10-11 bucks seems a little pumped, or do you get a shoulder massage with that?

It's only 'gouging' if one does not happily pay through the nose, I will grant you that!

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 5:17 pm

Well, I was forewarned by this thread (at least I vaguely recalled someone saying it was expensive), so I went in with my eyes open. Tough to make it my regular tipple at that price though. They also had Taps Lager and Hop Addict "new on tap", which was nice to see.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 5:48 pm

New additions to the Fat Belgian bottle lineup include Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay Blue, Chimay Red and Orval.

DAN-D-MAN · Post by **DAN-D-MAN** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:18 pm

Went to this place last week with my wife. It's only about three doors away from Smokeless Joe's. Beautiful elite decor inside.

The waitress seated us upstairs and we sat on a corner couch/bench style setup. The service was fast and the food was incredible. For beer, I had the Rochefort 6, then the 8. I then ordered the Achel Bruin but was delivered the Achel Blonde instead. When I said to the waitress that I would drink it anyway since it was already opened, she said to me "No, the bartender made a mistake. You can have this one, but I'll get you your Achel Bruin as promised." I was not charged for the Blonde.

Their taps included Fruili, Erdinger, Hacker I believe and other belgians. I'll definitely return soon.

flip · Post by **flip** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 3:42 pm

DAN-D-MAN wrote: The waitress seated us upstairs and we sat on a corner couch/bench style setup. The service was fast and the food was incredible. For beer, I had the Rochefort 6, then the 8. I then ordered the Achel Bruin but was delivered the Achel Blonde instead. When I said to the waitress that I would drink it anyway since it was already opened, she said to me "No, the bartender made a mistake. You can have this one, but I'll get you your Achel Bruin as promised." I was not charged for the Blonde.

I usually don't get angry or annoyed when a restaurant makes a mistake: all the restuarants I've been to are staffed by humans. I get angry when a restaurant makes a mistake and doesn't make amends or, at the very least, apologize.

It's nice to hear about a place that does both. Stories like that make me want to check it out more.