Beneluxx Tasting Room

[effrontery]

Anybody been there yet and feel like writing a review? I'd like to check it out with some friends on Saturday night, but I'm curious to get opinions first.

Thanks!

[MarketStEl]

I was there a week ago tonight for a Phillyblog Happy Hour, and I'd recommend it as a congenial place to graze.

In concept, it's quite similar to Tria, only with chocolate. The menu is even more sampling-friendly than Tria's, though: their beers, wines and cheeses can be ordered in full sizes (about $6-$10, depending on what you order) or in small taster portions (1-1.5 ounces of cheese, 50-100 ml of beer in a brandy snifter they call an "e-flask" [or something to that effect]) for about $2-$4. They also offer fondue, sandwiches, paninis, soup, salad, and pizza, everything under $10.

Given the place's lineage -- it's owned by the folks who brought you Eulogy Belgian Tavern about a block and a half away on Chestnut -- it shouldn't surprise you that they have an extensive selection of wines and beers to taste. The beer selection is broad but heavy on the Belgian brews, again no surprise. The cheese selection has at least one of all the major styles of cheese (hard, semisoft, soft-ripened, washed-rind, with-stuff), but it could use a little more balance: one-fourth of the offerings were Goudas or Gouda-style cheeses (again, consider the place's name).

I ordered a blue cheese-and-beer fondue (the evening's special) with chorizo for dipping (all fondues come with bread cubes, but they encourage you to order additional items off their menu of dippers, each about $3-$6). This isn't that '70s fondue: there are no big metal pots with long-handled skewers here. Instead, it came out in a cute little ramekin, kept warm over a small oil wick flame. The beer added an interesting bite to the already pungent blue cheese and went well with the chorizo.

I think I swiped some chocolate something-or-other off another diner's plate -- something that resembled and tasted like tiny thin mints.

The restaurant has a very useful feature designed for the taster: small glass washers (we called them "glass bidets") at every table. Several of us who showed up for the happy hour, which began at 5 and didn't end until somewhere past midnight, got hours of amusement from this grownup toy.

Beneluxx is in a basement space on Third just below Market -- not good for people-watching but ideal for conviviality. The decor is, like Belgium itself, a mix of French and Dutch elements that didn't seem forced together, unlike Belgium itself.

I used a somewhat scatological metaphor to describe to one of the waitresses just how much I adored cheese. Turned out she felt the same way. That's a good sign.

Beneluxx Tasting Room

33 South 3d Street (between Market and Chestnut)

Tuesday-Thursday 5 pm-midnight; Friday-Saturday 5 pm-2 am

Reservations accepted only through OpenTable

Nearest SEPTA service: Bus Routes 21 or 42 to 3d and Chestnut, Bus Routes 17, 33, or 48 to 3d and Market, Bus Route 57 northbound on 3d or southbound on 4th to Market or Chestnut, or Market-Frankford Line to 2d Street station, then proceed one block west on Market. The restaurant is on the east side of 3d Street about halfway between Market and Chestnut.

Edited January 31, 2008 by MarketStEl (log)

[mrbigjas]

I ordered a blue cheese-and-beer fondue (the evening's special) with chorizo for dipping (all fondues come with bread cubes, but they encourage you to order additional items off their menu of dippers, each about $3-$6).  This isn't that '70s fondue: there are no big metal pots with long-handled skewers here. Instead, it came out in a cute little ramekin, kept warm over a small oil wick flame.  The beer added an interesting bite to the already pungent blue cheese and went well with the chorizo.

you dipped sausage in cheese fondue? i thought i was being hardcore last week in dallas when i put chili con queso on a piece of cheese quesadilla, but i think you took things a step further.

[Tim Dolan]

Tried to walk in last Friday around 9:15 and was told I'd be looking at a 45 minute to an hour wait. So I skipped across town and hit St. Stephen's Green instead. Some other time...

[Chris Hennes]

Gave Beneluxx a shot after having a pretty good meal at Eulogy the other night, and was not quite sure what to expect. It's not really a restaurant, it's a wine tasting room. They have a large number of wines by the glass, and they are very proud of their dispensing system. We had a few glasses, as well as a cheese plate (nothing really extraordinary, but the cheese selection wasn't bad—as MarketStEl mentioned, a little gouda-heavy) and a classic fondue, which was also OK, but nothing special. They had a few items of "real food" on the menu, some of which were recognizable as riffs on the Eulogy menu: my thought is that if you are after wine Beneluxx might be worth going to, but if you want dinner, look elsewhere.