Friday, August 29, 2008

Luncho Mexicana


I work in the EU Quarter, where all the food costs twice as much as it should, and finding a non-sandwich, non-4-course lunch is nigh-impossible. After months of Pulp, Exki, and the occasional tuna sandwich, I sometimes want to throw myself out a window. Fortunately, I have one little reprieve when things get bad: El Vergel.

This Mexican resto is actually a spin-off from the London establishment of the same name. They have a fair trade policy, several vegetarian options, and a pricing scheme in line with the surrounding area, meaning that I generally restrict myself to one or two visits a month. But still. The soups and specials are often vegetarian or available in a vegetarian format. On the menu, I've had:
- vegetarian tacos (my favorite) done up with some lovely feta cheese
- vegetarian tostadas which are a bit too small to really fill you up, and
- vegetarian empanadas with spinach and feta.

They do a range of sandwiches and salads as well. I usually do take-away but if you eat in, watch out for their juices - very tasty but uber-expensive for the teeny cup.

Things I've never taken advantage of at El Vergel include their breakfasts and their late opening Thursdays, the latter including cocktails (I guess business is going well enough that they don't yet need to offer cocktails at breakfast). Both sound worth trying and one of these days you just might find me there at 8 for a little pre-work indulgence.

All in all a good option, but be aware that it does get very busy at lunchtime and after a meal your clothes will smell Mexicany for the rest of the day. But some people go for that sort of thing.

El Vergel
39 rue du Trone
1050 Brussels
Tel. 02 502 6930
Opening from 8.00 to 15.00 Mon-Fri, plus 18.00-22.30 on Thursdays
http://www.elvergel.be

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