Café Françias, Bruges

For our evening meal, on our first full day in Bruges, we opted to eat in the main Markt which is surrounded by little restaurants offering outdoor seating beneath a canopy as well as inside. Most of the restaurants display their menus outside, and often feature similar items on them but still we perused – avoiding those who approached us. If you’re a frequent reader, you’ll know our logic (if not see this post). Settling on Café Françias, we sat slightly further back from the street, beneath the canopy and were quickly greeted by our server.

The menu covers anything and everything you could possibly want. Light salads, or heavier meals, fish and vegetarian options. Covering food from different European countries, see: German schnitzel, Italian pasta, Belgian waterzooi, Flemish rabbit, Russian salad and Aberdeen Angus hamburgers. Drinks are also covered with a wide range available, including alcoholic.

Settling with a refreshing glass of house rosé, we chose the meat croquettes for starter. Priced at €15 for two croquettes this was slightly on the pricier side but worth every cent. These had a perfectly crispy, breadcrumb shell, filled with buttery, gooey mashed potato mixed with flavoursome meat (which is not disclosed, but equally delicious) and accompanied with a small salad consisting of lettuce, tomato, carrot, cucumber and a house dressing. This was our first experience of a meat croquette and one we will never forget… To follow, we each opted for an Angus hamburger. This was detailed as “Angus Hamburger in bread with Belgian fries and salad” and whilst not the most appealing description, the burger patty was thoroughly meaty, in a light powdered bun – although slightly dry, this was balanced by the juice from the burger – and accompanied with Belgian fries. These weren’t, in our opinion, the best fries in Bruges (see this post for these), but they were crispy and perfectly cooked, and I honestly don’t know how the Belgian’s make these so much more heavenly than anywhere else…

Croquettes that can't be beaten...

The service at Café Français was suited to our evening. We were able to peruse the menu outside the restaurant without being approached or questioned, there was a choice of tables to choose from, our server immediately removed the ash tray from the table at our request and was happy to bring us more wine and water (for the table) as we pleased.

Conclusively, Café Français offered a pleasant, relaxing evening meal. The food was delicious and as described (although the images offered on their website are somewhat dissimilar) and our server was polite and accommodating throughout. Indisputably, this was our favourite meal during our short stay in Bruges and hugely recommended to anyone and everyone visiting the area.

Location: 5/5 Menu: 4/5 Food+Drink: 5/5 Service: 4/5

Total:18/20

Café Françias Markt 24, 8000 Brugge, Belgium https://cafefrancais.weinebrugge.be/index.php/en/