Belgique Wanstead, London E11
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Other locations – Wanstead
Restaurant, bar (Belgique)
29 Cambridge Park E11 2PU
T 020 8532 2255 w belgique.co.uk/locations/wanstead f BelgiqueUK tw BelgiqueLondon
Open 0800-2200 (1700 Sun). Children welcome.
Cask beer None, Other beer 30+ bottles (Belgian), Also Belgian spirits and liqueurs, tea and coffee.
Food Belgian menu, breakfasts, cheese, charcuterie, patisserie, Outdoor Large front terrace overlooking green. Disabled toilet.
Fri fortnightly jazz, functions.
Leafy Wanstead may be an unexpected place to discover a decent place to drink Belgian beer, but it’s worth venturing along the Central Line to find this little outpost of Low Countries culture. A good and growing range of bottled beer (if a little weak in the lambic department) doesn’t just stick to the well distibuted likes of Leffe and Hoegaarden but runs to Belgoo, Brugse Zot, Ellezelloise, Rodenbach Grand Cru, Troubador, Van Honsebrouck Kasteelbier, Verhaege Duchess de Bourgogne and Trappists from Orval, Rochefort and Westmalle.
Though you’re welcome to call in just for a beer or three, this is also a food venue with a slightly transient diner feel to its comfortable orange and slate interior and extensive outdoor terrace. The extensive menu ranges from breakfasts, brunches, lunches and afternoon tea and cakes to burgers, mussels (of course) and Limousin beef; Belgian cheese, chocolate, patisserie, beers and other specialities are sold to take away from the shop section at the front. A bigger range of beer can be ordered online. Belgique is part of a small chain owned by a Belgian bakery company with several branches in outer east London and surrounding counties, but the Wanstead operation is so far the only licensed outlet.
Pub trivia. The extensive rectangle of grass outside is, like most green spaces round here, officially part of Epping Forest. Only a muffled roar of traffic reveals that it’s also a green lid over the busy A12, which runs below in a trench.
Underground Wanstead Cycling London 2012 Epping Forest route, LCN+ 158, link to 55 and Roding Valley Greenway Walking Links to London 2012 Epping Forest Route, Epping Forest Centenary Walk, Roding Valley Greenway
Leave a Reply