In Bruges

Picturesque canals, shopping, seafood, fries, art, good-looking natives, beer--what more could Delicacheena ask for? This quaint town in Belgium was a great way to start a vacation. [We loved the new Colin Farrell/Ralph Fiennes movie!]
Belgium fries in the rain, with mayonaise, of course.

The Chocolate Museum: Chocolate hats and purses, the largest chocolate egg, chocolate demonstrations, free samples!

We found a younger crowd at De Republic. The kip (aka chicken) fajitas, pre-wrapped in tortilla, was palatable. But made all the better by more Bruges Triple beer. Unfortunately, that didn't help the asian-esque spaghetti bolognese.

Our first truly Belgium waffle reminded us of the delight of buying crepes in France. Hmm, what toppings? Nutella is a no-brainer.

Concerts and Waffles

The Waffle
6255 W Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, California 90028
(323) 465-6901

We were not blown away by Nada Surf's latest; it's pleasant, but we had high expectations. Still we had several sing-alongs with the boys at their Wiltern show on the 19th.

Then last Wednesday we had to use our gift certificate before it expired so we got drinks and panini at Hotel Cafe. We think Test Your Reflex would have sounded better without the obnoxious "fans" standing behind us.

What do the above have in common? The Waffle. There's a new go-to food joint in Hollywood for after-concert noshing. The butterscotch-hued diner is near Sunset and Vine, across from the Bowery and Magnolia.

The first night we enjoyed the savory cornmeal and jalapeno waffle with chicken-fried chicken and white gravy; a small comforting chicken pot pie; and a large satisfying steak salad with grilled romaine, mushroom, onions, and peppers; and a bowl of waffle fries. We would have liked both forms of waffles to be crisper, but this was a great late night meal (that we managed to wait for with in case of emergency pretzels from Rockenwagner). The service was friendly, but a bit 2 a.m. wacky. . .

The second night was for dessert after the panini. We shared the waffle sundae with two small malted waffles, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and candied almond slices. A good deal for $5 instead of the $8 sweet waffles from the entree section. The waitress claimed "The Pudding" was butterscotch (like the decor), but it tasted like chocolate milk with a layer of dark fudge underneath and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. We opted not to complain as we dipped the shortbread cookies in the creamy goodness. Who needs the bar upstairs when you got pudding downstairs?

[We couldn't help but read some of the other blogs. Perhaps the post-concert, post-1 a.m., on a weekday is the only way to go.]

P.S.
Bell X1 can be a bit sleepy and atmospheric on the album, but they shook the Troubadour last Monday. You name the hand held percussion instrument and they got it--maracas, cowbell, ear of corn shaker. . . See it always comes back to food.