This work introduces a novel approach to quantum simulation by leveraging continuous-variable systems within a photonic hardware-inspired framework. The primary focus is on simulating static properties of the ground state of Hamiltonians associated with infinite-dimensional systems, such as those arising in quantum field theory. We present a continuous-variable variational quantum eigensolver compatible with state-of-the-art photonic technology. We apply it to the study of static properties of the Bose--Hubbard model in 1+1 dimension and demonstrate its effectiveness and practicality, highlighting the potential of continuous-variable quantum simulations in addressing complex problems in quantum physics.