Chambar

Belgium and the Maghreb on Beatty

3.5 of 5

Belgium and North Africa do not share a border, but they share a table at Chambar. The restaurant at 568 Beatty Street built its name on that pairing, moules and frites on one side, the spice of the Maghreb on the other, and it has carried the idea long enough that nobody calls it an experiment anymore. It moved into a room roughly double the old one, with high ceilings, brick, heavy timber beams and a patio that catches the sun.

Brunch is weekends only, nine to three, and the menu reads like somebody packed for two trips at once. The Paella comes with curried orzo and chorizo. Le Boeuf is chargrilled steak with fried eggs, the plate for anyone who skipped dinner. The Gaufre à la Truite puts smoked steelhead trout on a sourdough waffle, a savory waffle that makes a fair case for never ordering the sweet kind again. Then they offer you the Liège waffles with toppings and the case falls apart. Shakshuka, a roast red pepper stew with baked eggs, is there for the purists and holds its own.

Chambar is a dinner restaurant that happens to do brunch well, so the service carries the polish of an evening shift and the prices to match. Book ahead. Take the patio if the weather allows. If you come back at night, order the moules frites, because a Belgian kitchen that cannot do mussels has no business calling itself Belgian, and this one has been doing them for a long time.

Order this: Gaufre à la Truite, Paella with curried orzo and chorizo, Le Boeuf, A Liège waffle
The damage: $$$
Go: Saturday or Sunday between 9 and 3, booked
Find it: 568 Beatty St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2L3
Website: chambar.com