A Bite of Belgium Quick Look: Four out of Five Bratwurst’s. I will visit again, and you should, too! Good food, but would not say it is exactly Belgium themed/styled food.
1 May 2024, Las Cruces, NM, Steven Zimmerman—I don’t know if it shows in my writing and formatting style, but I am still a working reporter. Since moving to Las Cruces, I have continued to write, but I thought I would start this site to share my faith, my art, and what I’m discovering here in Cruces.
Since moving here from Texas, I have discovered how much I miss German restaurants and their influence on daily life. Texas has a ton of German influence if you know where to drive. But what is here, in Las Cruces? Why not look and start writing reviews again?
A Google search of “German restaurants in Las Cruces” doesn’t mention any. It does, laughably, include Wienerschnitzel for some odd reason.
What I did find right off was a restaurant called “A Bite of Belgium.”
I’ve been to Belgium, and I love the food. Rabbit stew is my favorite, so I looked forward to lunch at A Bite of Belgium.
When we arrived in the afternoon, we were provided a lunch menu mainly consisting of sandwiches and breakfast foods. As we settled in, we began discussing the food.
I decided on the Southwest Florentine with Grilled Salman.
According to the menu, this consists of poached eggs, sauteed Roma tomatoes, spinach topped with hollandaise sauce, with a choice of red chile, green chile, or Christmas chili sauce, avocado garnish, served with home fries or hash browns, side salad, choice of croissant or English muffin.
My plate!
My wife, Chantilly, first ordered the roast beef sandwich. She was disappointed that it was still on the menu after being told they had stopped serving that sandwich some time ago.
Chantilly settled on the Lamb sandwich. The menu proclaims it the best in town. Tender lamb, caramelized onions, Roma tomatoes, romaine lettuce, gouda cheese,
I also had the cream of mushroom soup, and we took home an apple dessert.
When our food arrived, it was hot and inviting. Not much, but a significant selling point when you come to a restaurant and they tell you they are a bit busy.
As Denise brought our food, I couldn’t wait to dig in. The food was hot and inviting, which is a significant selling point considering some of what I’ve been served late. You could also smell the food, not just the ingredients but the whole meal.
My wife’s sandwich was warm, the cheese melting over the lamb. She was ready to dig in.
The food was terrific. Each forkful of my Southwest Florentine was a delightful combination of tastes. I had my meal with the green chile and was a little trepidatious at first, but it is a combination that works wonderfully. I only wish there had been more of the green chili.
Overall, my wife liked the sandwich. There were, she says, a few problems. First, “even though the bread was toasted, it was soggy. There was too much cheese.”
I took a bit of her sandwich and can agree about the state of the top slice.
“Maybe if they placed the cheese in the middle,” she says, “it would go a long way to improving the sandwich. Or they could layer the cheese. Still, I will be eating this one again.”
There were just a couple of disappointments, but those may be the luck of the draw.
The soup. When someone tells me a soup is creamed, I expect it to be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Today’s soup, sadly, was more water in consistency.
We also took home what I assume to be a Belgian apple puff pastry. As you can see, the filling left much to be desired. Still, the pastry was flaky and flavorful.
My wife and I plan to go back for dinner as I want to try the pot roast.
By the way, they are having an event for Mother’s Day. If I could get my mom up here, I would take her to A Bite of Belgium. Consider taking your mom!
Having lived in Belgium for 7 years I was highly disappointed that they don’t offer THE national food, Belgian Frietze. You can’t possibly say your a Bite of Belgium without them. No mussels which is standard fare on Fridays and no Lamb pita. Highly disappointing.