Bruges Waffles and Frites

Yes, your sandwich comes with fries and yet we still ordered a side.

I hate pancakes.

Yes, you read that correctly. I’ve never been excited about pancakes. Maybe it’s because they remind me of spongy bread. Or perhaps it’s because pancakes are a cheap breakfast filler. Or maybe it is because when I was younger, my dad would buy Eggo Waffles and when I asked if he could buy pancakes he said, “Those are gross. No one eats pancakes.” Regardless of the reason, pancakes are an anemic dish that requires sugary toppings to spice them up. They should simply make pancakes infused with syrup (I’m sure they have them). Every time I am eating out and pancakes are an included item, I do my best to try the bland dish since I hate seeing food go to waste but I always wish, when situation warrants, that they would instead have waffles.

Waffles are the opposite of pancakes. They offer a better flavor, they’re crispy and buttery on the outside and moist and soft on the inside. It’s the closest thing you can get to cake in the morning, without getting cake. It know it sounds like a contradiction to love waffles for that reason and hate pancakes for the other but that’s my palate. So basically, I love waffles because they are crunchy.  That’s a general rule.

Bruges was a solid affair. What makes their waffles different than other places in Utah is that their waffles are made from a thick dough with Belgian sugar pearls all inside. What this does is not only make the waffle hearty, but also gives it a snap on the outside with the crispy shell and crunchy interior. Each bite resonates as you break through the exterior to find a gem, packed with sweetness.

Submarine Sandwich - I don't know where the sandwich is...

It doesn’t need any toppings but you can adorn it with anything from fruit to creme fraiche. The Machine Gun (as featured on the Travel Channel’s  Man vs. Food) is basically a lamb sausage on a baguette with an andalouse sauce. They were out of the regular andalouse sauce so we instead got a spicy sauce called the Samurai sauce. The sauce was awesome. It had good kick to it and surprised my palate.  Bruges offers a number of different dipping sauces that compliments their fries or frites.The fries are double fried and have consistent flavor throughout.  They’re not as good as shoestring fries or my favorite Arby’s fries but they were delicious enough and even better with the sauce. Just be sure that you don’t order an extra side of fries or you’ll have more fries than you can handle.

This is the waffle by itself. Tucked inside are sugar crystals and chocolate!

On this occasion, we didn’t get our sandwich on a baguette and the bread they used in it’s place wasn’t as good as the baguette would have been. There was an unbalanced ratio of fries-sausage-bread. The sausage was the highlight but much like Mazza’s Lamb Kefhta, it seemed alone on the bun. My dream fattening combo would be to dip the sausage in a batter, fry it up and serve it with a side of fries and fresh dipping sauce. Glorious corn dog for sure.  Bruges is located across from Pioneer park, next to Tony Caputo’s. While it sits in the shadow of the premier sandwich shop in Utah, Bruges carves out it’s own niche by providing an incredible waffle found nowhere else in Utah.

PS – I love crepes so I guess pancakes are the middle zone of nastiness. But crepes is a story for another day.

Friend Meter: Tony, Spencer, Elisa