Mussels in Brussels

(For some reason, the following youtube clip only appears if you click the "Mussels in Brussels" header)
Bourdain ended up at the Cadieux Cafe in Detroit, one of my favorite places:


The Cadieux Cafe (pronounced Ca-dgoo )in Detroit boasts "America's Only Feather Bowling", a Belgian oddity that probably only exists in the old Belgian neighborhood and not in the homeland.

Aside from the hybrid bocce-curling-bowling game, this Belgian cafe really is an old school bar.  Back in 2005, their beer menu exposed me to life beyond the swill of PBR. It launched my ongoing lust for Duvel, the King of Kings.  "The Devil" holds an 8.5% punch and pours a ridiculous head if not done correctly.  Most of the beers on the menu are relatively common at specialty beer stores, only one or two may be hard to come by.

The third interesting finding at the Cadieux is the year-round mussel offering on the menu.  Prices remain fixed throughout the year.  I have yet to find a place that prepares and serves them this way in America.

http://greatlakesgazette.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/3255/

However, mussels dominate this restaurant-dense area of Brussels

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I went to Belgium for the beer and food, as well as the new flight route from Detroit.  Chez Leon caught my eye.  The variety of mussel preparations is worth noting.  Interestingly, the mussel price in Belgium is higher than in Detroit (~$15 US vs ~20 EU).  I ended up at the Leon twice, as they know how to prepare a mussel.
And yes, I tried the Leon beer.  It wasn't remarkable.

For "remarkable", walk around the corner of the Leon to the Delirium Cafe.  2000+ beers.  The menu they hand to you is essentially a bible.  I'm not sure how much money I spent there, and I can't recall everything I sampled.

Two stories that came from my venture to the Delirium:

While I sat at the bar looking through the menu, an American guy, age 18-20, walked up and asked the bartenders if they had Blue Moon.  The bartender, who was fluent in all three Belgian languages, had the kid repeat himself.
Underage kid: "Blue Moon"
Bartender: "Never heard of it.  You mean 'Blu asdf?' (can't recall what he said)"
Kid: "No. Blue Moon. In America, they say it's a Belgian beer, you've never heard of it?"
Bartender "You ever hear of... Blue Moon?"
Other bartender says no.
Bartender points to menu, hands it to kid.
Kid looks through menu, can't find it, walks away.

At this point, I'm smiling to myself.  I notice a couple at the bar smirking also.  We say to each other "That kid was pretty dumb.  He doesn't know what he's doing considering Blue Moon is brewed by Coors"
The couple invites me over to their area.  They're Americans from Cincinnati on vacation, in their early 30's.  They are staying in London mostly.  The guy is a beer-head.  The girl is along for the ride, but enjoying it.  We discuss beer, Euro-travel, jobs and the like.  The girl orders a beer, which the guy tells me is brewed with mustard seed, prompting a disgusted look on my face.  Before the girl takes a sip, they tell me to try it.  Mustard-seed-beer is certainly strange, and not very palatable.  It sounds worse than it tastes.  It's not as bad a gueuze, which is absolutely bitter and sour, and cannot be recommended unless you just have to try everything in the world.

I do remember having Angolan Passion beer.  I wanted the banana beer, something I've always wanted to try, but the bartenders spent 10 minutes in the stock room and couldn't find any.  I settled for the passion beer. So:

My photo!

• Angolan Passion beer
• Floris kriek (cherry) from Belgium.  On tap (!?)
• The mustard seed beer
• A Delirium (it's the namesake afterall)

I don't remember what else I bought.  I didn't bother with Duvel, because that was going for $5 (converted) a bottle at my hostel in Amsterdam.