The long awaited Belga Cafe has finally opened its doors. The restaurant first opened for limited service last Saturday, and has been packed for dinner ever since. One eGullet member posts that

… they are having anything but a soft opening. The joint wasn’t just jumping, it was slammed, with every seat filled, three deep at the bar and people waiting outside on the street. The hostess said they’ve been booked out every night so far — who says Capitol Hill can’t support decent places?

Belga Cafe’s menu is wonderfully unique, a real departure from other cuisine on Capitol Hill. Highlights from the “euro-fusion” menu include “Le Saumon” (salmon two ways with leeks and Duvel beer sauce), “Eendeboorst” (sweet and sour duck breast with duck confit, celery root, and geuzekriek beer), and mussels served in your choice of six different sauces. The mussels come with “Real Belgian frites” and Flemish mayonnaise. Also of note is the restaurant’s beer list, with five different beers on tap and over thirty Belgian beers available in bottles. Though only open for dinner now, the restaurant will soon expand to include lunch service and “Belgian waffles and chocolate” themed weekend brunches.

As Tom Sietsema noted in his Weekly Dish column, Belga comes with quite a pedigree. Head Chef Bart Vandaele was once executive chef for the Dutch ambassador. Before coming to the United States, Vandaele was a sous chef at Restaurant Scholteshof in Belgium. During his tenure there, the restaurant received two prestigious Michelin stars. Though the lines are long now, DCist is eager to sample the restaurant’s wares — if only to compare their fries to those at Amsterdam Falafel House.