Belgian Comfort

2 Photos

by Steph Wy Ng
on Friday, March 05, 2010 12:00 AM

Delight Food is a recent addition to HongMei Entertainment Street in GuBei. The Belgian restaurant, which has been open for about six months, is the latest project for owner Mr. Zheng. He previously spent some time in Belgium studying hotel management and has returned to Shanghai to give the city a little taste of the place he's called home for the past seven years. The décor reflects authentic Belgian design, though it is lit with halogen bulbs. On one side of the restaurant, a large landscape of a high-class hotel restaurant interior hangs on the wall, in sharp contrast to the other design features.

The menu features several imported Belgian beers on tap at an inexpensive RMB45 per pint, which are easily paired with a starter to set the meal flowing. The Brie Cheese appetizer (RMB48) has a crispy but light pastry wrapped around a subtle cheese filling, served with sweet, fresh pear slices in a brown honey and unusually bright red condiment, which on tasting turns out to be a strawberry dessert syrup.

Delight serves unpretentious, no-fuss food in hefty portions. The Beef Stew in a Beer Sauce (RMB88) contains a generous helping of tender, chunky beef bits and fresh roasted vegetables, with a thick sweet sauce. The sausage meat in the Veal Sausage served with Mashed Potato and an Apple Sauce (RMB78) is encased in a firm skin and the apple sauce is pleasingly made up entirely of crunchy fruit pieces.

Finish off the filling meal by chomping down the Pancake with Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream. For RMB38, a large freshly made pancake is topped with a few dollops of rich, sweet chocolate sauce and two scoops of frozen flavor.

The Bottom Line: Comfort food served in hefty portions, Belgian-style.