Restaurant review: Point Brugge Cafe

What happens when you mix a standing weekly dinner "party" with a two busy schedules and a lack of groceries?  A much-needed excuse to visit one of the hidden culinary gems of the Pittsburgh area: Point Brugge Cafe.  This tiny (and I do mean tiny) restaurant is tucked away on a residential street in Point Breeze.  So tucked away that I couldn't imagine just any ordinary restaurant doing regular business, but as I heard from friends and read in reviews before we went, this place manages to fill up every day.

My food partner in crime and I had been oohing and ahhing over the menu all day, so we were anxious to get our appetizers -- macaroni gratin and Brugge frites (twice cooked fries) with basil mayonaise.  Listen carefully because what I'm about to say is of national importance: this was the best macaroni I've ever had.  (It's a good sign that the cheeses used in this are featured in a mac and cheese recipe I have saved in the recipe abyss at home.)  Even the Shark, love of Easy Mac, said it was awesome.  The portion size is great to share or as a single entree.  And the frites were so crunchy (I am very anti-soggy fries).

For a main course, Laura got the Chaud Chevre salad with chicken, which she said was a delight with the warm goat cheese.  I ordered the small portion (a pound) of mussels in the garlic white wine sauce since PB is known for their mussels.  The sauce was flavorful but light enough that it didn't overpower the mussels.  Add crusty bread for sopping up the sauce?  Perfection.

Think we'd had enough food at this point?  Heck no.  Only we would ask for the dessert menu when our entrees arrived, so, as the waiter astutely put it, we "would know how much dinner to eat in order to save room for dessert."  Right on, brother, right on.  We got the vanilla ice cream with dark Belgian chocolate sauce with a chocolate biscuit on top.  Love at first sight with the mini metal pitcher of warmed chocolate!  A simple dessert with a chocolate sauce so rich we I was scraping the pitcher for the last bit of it.  Love love love.

Two side notes: Supposedly, this place has an awesome brunch, so I'll definitely be back for round two!  Second side note, which shouldn't really be a side note since it's well-advertised, but this place has a fantastic selection of beers and wine.  We didn't partake but if you're into that sort of thing, I'd check it out immediately.

Overall, a great experience, and an even greater bill.  All of this for $44.  Seriously.  And we ate a literal ton of food, so, win win!  The only tiny complaint I'd say about this place was that it was a bit (read: couldn't feel fingers/toes at some points) cold in the restaurant, but that could've been a fluke.  The service was fantastic and the restaurant was intimate and filled with amazing sights and smells everywhere you turned.  I highly recommend Point Brugge Cafe!