Knowing we’d have one night back in Irkutsk before heading
on east, we all agreed that we’d return here for a little taste of "home”. We may not be “real” Belgians, but after 2 years of the boys attending a wonderful school in Belgium and all the friends and good memories we have there, Belgium definitely has a
big place in our hearts. So I may or may not have walked in giddily exclaiming, “Goedenavond!!”
to every server I passed…..even though none of them appeared to speak Flemish or French.
Bob and I were very excited to see some of the
Belgian beers that we know and love on the menu. They didn’t have La Chouffe (my favorite), but they did have
Grimbergen Blond on tap!
You know you’ve got some Belgium in you when the waiter
shows up with your beer and your first thought is, “That’s not in the right
glass.” (This was a Delirium Tremens, not a La Trappe.) While I drank it happily, the Belgian in me couldn't help but think that would have tasted even better in the correct
glass.
The food was OK, but it was definitely not true
Belgian cuisine. You know you’ve got even more Belgium in you when you critique the crispiness and cut of the french fries
and find yourself shocked that they don’t have mayonnaise to go with them.
And when you realize that the Belgian waffles they’re
selling have stuff like chicken and/or pizza toppings on top?? Dat is helemaal niet Belgische.
So while the food at this “taste of home” wasn’t authentic (at all), the Belgian beers tasted fantastic.
And with black, yellow, and red all around, we felt a bit closer to
Belgium, as well as our friends and memories there, for a couple of hours. And that alone was worth the visit. J
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