taste of belgium - over the rhine

so i chose this place on my first visit to cinci due to thefoodnetwork visit. well i must say my wife and i enjoyed the breakfast immensely. she had the ham and brie which she absolutely enjoyed, the perfect mix of sweet and savory. i had the shrimp and grits. the waffle was a cheesy grit waffle, tasty with sweet shrimp very nice touch. we shared the poutin, cheese curds with a gravy that had small cube of beef that was so tasty and tender. a fantastic breakfast/brunch to close out our visit to cincinnati.

there's a definitely going to be a wait on weekend mornings, but it's well-deserved. with reasonable prices and generous portions in a trendy location, don't expect to walk in and sit down. 

you could just buy some sweet treats and waffles to take home from the case as you walk in, but why, when you could have the most amazing banana nutella waffles ever? don't be misled by the size of the waffles (about 5" in diameter) and say "yes" when your server asks if you want 2. stick with one. the nutella is sweet enough that you're not going to want a second. i took one for the team, though, and ate a second one. 

if waffles aren't your thing (then what's your problem?) they also have crepes and egg dishes. we also enjoyed a mimosa with our meal. 

they also have a full bar and are open in the evening forfoodand drinks, too. there is open seating at the bar and at the crepe bar to the left when you walk in. we didn't know this and could have seated ourselves sooner than we were seated while waiting for a regular table.

definitely a place i will return. they were very busy when i went (saturday morning) but it was different from thefoodi am use to and it was delicious. a place worth trying!

consistently goodfoodand service

try these:
brunch burger
stoemp
waffles & chicken
goetta hash

they serve good espresso and lattes as well.  parking is a bit hard as are most places in otr.

this place is so unique, nothing else like it in cincinnati. i am a beer geek and this is my favorite place to try beers. any true beer lover knows the importance and reputation of belgian beer. i just freak out when i see all these varieties on tap. i am so used to only having them in bottles.  the quality of this type of beer is second to none and the flavors and experience of drinking belgian style beer is delightful. so, i really respect this place for providing the massive amount of choices for international and local beers.  so they have the alcohol and atmosphere nailed. thefoodfollows suit as well. they have a really good waffle. it is good alone or with the other dishes they offer it with. fried chicken, sandwiches, burgers, all made with waffles. it sounds crazy, but its so good. they also have the best pastry case i have seen locally. this place always makes me happy. i have not tried everything they have, but nearly everything i have tried has been unique and delicious. also the brunch here is better than most breakfast places i have tried. the waffle sandwiches and french toast are superb to most of the typical places offerings. i am ready for the norwood store to open since i live in hyde park. hurry up taste of belgium! last time i went i had a waffle with bananas and nutella. i now think of it on a daily basis. damn, i forgot to mention their fries, so good.

no sunday brunch!. went to the restaurant today, very busy and loud. long wait for food. some of thefoodthat arrived did not arrive as ordered but not sent back because of the long wait. this could be a good place to eat but they need to work on pleasing their customers. the waitress we had seemed to be irritated about the order being wrong. would not recommend coming here with a large group.

nope. i will be upfront and say downtown isn't my scene, but this place only proves my point.
the building is interesting, our waiter was pleasant. thefoodtook forever to show up and honestly, i wish it hadn't made it at all. i had a crepe with frites. my dining companion had the chicken and waffles. i don't know what the holdup was, but i am guessing it wasn't the crepe or frites....stone cold. the waffle had the consistency of a bagel and the chicken had a weird spice combination coupled with shakenbake type coating. the waffle was accompanied with about 1 tablespoon of syrup, so no chance of drowning out any of the flavor. we left over 3/4 of thefoodon the plate. not worth toting home.
the experience was capped off when someone from the kitchen stopped by the table (tightly) wedged next to ours and chatted with an old acquaintance for over 20 minutes while her rear end was at my shoulder.
all that and the opportunity to pay for parking as well. yay!

stopped in for dessert at 10:20 with an 11:00 closing time. staff obviouslynot happy to see us. service indifferent. server had limited knowledge when asked for advice. hostess really seemed annoyed we were there.foodgood, but experience not warm or welcoming.

i love this place; not sure why it gets a bad rep in some reviews, to be honest. i am usually here early in the day, as i work down the street in the evenings. the staff is friendly, assistant wait staff is great about keeping tables tidy (even the bar!), and the portions offoodare great. that's a point a lot of people may not agree with me on, but chains like applebee's have taught us to expect mediocrefoodin obscenely large portions for $11 a head. most items are a la carte, and tapa sized. if you bring a friend, you can try multiple items without breaking the bank. they're famous for their chicken and waffle (which, i'll admit, i've never had, but my friends love); i've mostly sampled sandwiches, brunch, and dessert crepes. well, and copious amounts of alcohol, but let's not go there. the southwest waffle is a sandwich that uses the waffle as the bread; the combination of savory and sweet is excellent (it does have tomato on it, not listed, for poor souls like me who can't seem to enjoy them). the hamburger is a must-try. i've had the chicken salad baguette, which is small, but is piled high with chicken. and their frites, featured in many dishes, are some of the best i've ever had! (goetta hash, do yourself a favor). wait times forfoodmore than make up for a wait at the door (which there will be one during lunch and dinner rush just like every restaurant for you impatient folks), and they provide coffee and cocktail service so you're fortified. if you're feeling adventurous, get the lavender sugar & lemon crepe; very floral and not too sweet. haven't had anything i didn't enjoy; probably why i'm here at least 3x a week.

atmosphere is very pleasant, service is good. however,fooddid not meet expectations.

good food, good service. up until recently, i hadn't actually planned on going to taste of belgium bistro. i had tried their waffles at findlay market and didn't care for them a whole lot. however, some fellow foodies at the dog park i go to had highly recommended taste of belgium bistro so i figured that i'd give it a shot.
service was excellent.foodcame out in a reasonable time frame and the manager came over to check on us a few times.
the beer selection is fantastic. i'm not much of a connoisseur when it comes to beer so i just kind of randomly picked one - the chimay, and i liked it. it was very sweet and it came in it's own little goblet shaped glass. in fact, a lot of the beers they have on tap have their own glasses, which is a neat detail.
for our entrees, i ended up getting the "am-ber-gaire" (hamburger) and my girlfriend got the waffle n’ chicken. the burger was properly seasoned, cooked as i ordered, had a nice sweet roll type bun, and the ingredients on top (goat cheese, bacon, shallots) tasted great. the fries that came with it were okay (a bit on the soft side for me), but i really loved the accompanying chipotle mayo. my girlfriend found the waffle n' chicken to be very good. i'm not as much of a breakfast fan (hence the hamburger), so i defer to her judgment concerning breakfast items. the waffle was great and i think part of what made it as such was that it had syrup on it. this was what i was missing when i tried the waffle at findlay market. i guess perhaps the idea that waffles and syrup go together is so ingrained in me that i just can't enjoy a waffle by itself. either way, a good dish, and one that neither of us had tried before.
overall, i really enjoyed my experience at taste of belgium. if i lived in the area i'd probably come here regularly. the restaurant itself is chic and trendy, the staff was friendly, and thefoodwas good. i would recommend to others and it is worth a bit of a drive to go to.

waffles and chicken!!!!!!!!!!. the lady bartender seemed very flustered and the service took quite a while... and they weren't even busy. we were some of the only people in there. however, thefoodmade up for that! the crepe wasn't as good as i thought but the soup and the waffles and chicken was so good!

good coffee, fresh salad, chic vibe. i enjoyed thefood(ham/gruyere crepe with side salad), particularly the salad---loved the coffee---but it's the vibe, a tasty dose of the best part of urban living. go there on a weekend morning, stand in line, check out the body art, the babies, the doggies. don't forget to bring the sunday times, and the traditional white shirt/black neck-tied servers somehow make it perfect. next time i go, i'm going to order the veggie crepe, or the brussel sprouts---the produce is fresh and local.

excellent.. we stopped in hoping for a great experience and we were not disappointed. chris and ryan provided with excellent service and thefoodwas terrific. cannot wait to try the moules. it was particularly nice to go to a local restaurant and feel like you were not just "a table to be turned over". this was a european experience. service was attentive, but neither pushy nor stifling. this is exactly what we were looking for on a hot, sunny afternoon.

good place for brunch. thefoodwas great. the waffles everyone raves about were truly top notch. i would like to try another dish or two here sometime. it was a pretty positive dining experience. i can imagine pointing the place out to others looking for goodfoodand some of the best waffles in town.
it is a little pricey, but the atmosphere was great and the service was good as well.