Jump to content

paulbrussel

participating member
  • Posts

    377
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by paulbrussel

  1. Indeed, I just learned from a friend in BCN that he passed away. Very sad news! Always when I went to BCN I passed by one of my favourite restaurants in Europe. He was a great chef, and a very nice man; as Corinna, always when by him I had a nice, friendly and interesting talk with him.

    All the best for his family, friends and his restaurant colleagues!

  2. Tomorrow I arrive in Brussels and have made a reservation at the Sea Grill. Is it still one of the best in town? I very much enjoyed my last visit there a couple of years ago. Appreciate all comments.

    I know your post is almost 2 years old and there has been no comments added. I will be in Brussels in 2 weeks and I have booked CCS but not Sea Grill because of the many negative comments I have seen on other websites. Would anyone recommend it now ?

    I haven't been to the Sea Grill for over a year now, si I can't judge whether it has changed so dramatically since the chef Mattagne started his own owed restaurant. But in the past years I have eaten there over 50 times and in my view the quality was constantly high.

    CCS has all the times disappointed me (3 or 4 times).

    To be recommended: Jaloa (not Jardin brasserie), and Bon-Bon.

  3. In reply to ameiden: I started to say to the chef that the food was good as ever. So there was no difference in that respect.

    Nevertheless, the cuisine has stayed about the same over the last 10 years, and so changed little. This probably has lead to the decision that also the second star has been taken by Michelin, leaving Bruneau now with only one star.

  4. After almost 10 years I had such a bad experience last Saturday at Bruneau (now two starred, fro a long time 3 star restaurants) in Brussels that I just sent the following letter to the chef, stating that the arrogant and very rude attitude did decide me never to go there again:

    Jean-Pierre Bruneau

    Chef de Cuisine

    Avenue Broustin, Bruxelles

    Bruxelles, le 8 mai 2009

    Monsieur,

    Depuis des années j'ai savouré tout ce qui provenait de votre cuisine. J'ai toujours eu une grande admiration pour vos qualités en tant que cuisinier.

    Comme je vous l'ai dit samedi dernier, malheureusement ce jour-là c'était la dernière fois que je me rendais dans votre restaurant. Votre hôtesse était vraiment extrêmement désagréable, ne montrant aucune flexibilité, ni de la politesse, mais au contraire: elle m'a montré, en présence de deux amis à moi, un grand dédain pour quelqu'un qui depuis presque dix ans déjà vient régulièrement chez vous. Le ton sur lequel elle m'a répondu sur toutes les propositions de compromis faites par moi, était vraiment incroyable. Je ne pense que ni moi, ni aucun autre client chez vous, ne mérite un tel traitement.

    Je vous ai averti par après que c'était ma dernière visite chez vous. Vous m'avez choqué en me répondant: "Ce n'est pas grave!", réponse suivie par les mêmes mots quand j'ai montré à quel point j'étais stupéfait par votre réponse.

    Tout cela m'a bien expliqué comment un chef aussi arrogant et avec un tel manque d'éducation a pu recruter une hôtesse qui manque également d'éducation. Votre réponse m'a confirmé que j'ai fait le bon choix de ne plus venir chez vous.

    Vous étiez presque indifférent vis-à-vis de moi. Je suppose et j'espère que vous êtes aussi indifférent au fait que j'ai déjà commencé à déconseiller votre restaurant aux autres gourmets. Dès lundi, quand on m'avait demandé, en tant que grand amateur et connaisseur de recommander un restaurant pour un dîner d'une compagnie de renom, je me suis décidé de ne surtout pas recommander le vôtre.

    En ayant écrit beaucoup de critiques de restaurants sur internet, aussi sur les meilleurs restaurants de l'Europe, je communiquerai également ce traitement minable sur internet.

    En même temps je copie cette lettre (en b.c.c.) à mes amis et connaissances à qui j'avais recommandé votre restaurant et qui sont venus chez vous.

    Etant encore furieux, pour la première fois, je me sens incapable de clôturer cette lettre avec une formule de politesse.

  5. I think I made my point about Beluga.  :wink:

    I have had a meal at Beluga 9 times, the last time in June 2005. I thought about going there again, since some people say Van Wolde has become better. But I am eally a bit shocked by all this negative feedback here!
  6. Le Fourneau

    Again, perfectly simple. and perfectly cooked.

    Nice, your Brussels reports!

    The sentence I quoted is exactly the reason why I come here quite often for a quick dinner of about 45 minutes and with two glasses of wine for about 30-40 €, incredibly good priced for Brussels for dinner (lunch is quite another story!).

    [i wanted to have dinner tonight there, but they are closed this week.]

  7. Tonights dinner was in a rather nice restaurant on the far side of Aalst - name uncertain.  The entire menu was in flemish, and while we have several french speakers with us, the menu was a guessing game.  In spite of that we ate well.
    Difficult to eat high end in Aalst.

    [Just to be precise: your post suggests that Flemish and French are alike - of course some one who understands French will never be able to read Flemish unless he also learned Dutch / Flemish.]

  8. I know this is an old thread, but I will second the recommendation of the Sea Grill at the SAS hotel.  Quite simply, one of the finest meals I've ever had anywhere!  And as others have said, it is nearly impossible to get a bad meal in Brussels,  or Belgium for that matter.
    I can certainly again agree with the first recommendation.

    The second unfortunately is certainly not (longer) true!

  9. Exorbitant prices on food and unusually high markups on wine make the overall experience here more expensive than meals at say Bruneau or the Sea Grill.

    If you want to treat yourself, it is worth the expense.

    For me there is some incoherence between the two remarks.

    I have tried Comme chez soi several times, the last time when Rigolert was already almost completely in charge. The meal gave me (again) the impression that the food is OK, good, but nothing special except for the extremely high prices. So I would rather say: "If you want to treat yourself, it is more worth going to Sea Grill".

  10. If possible, I strongly recommend you take a taxi (about 20-30 min) or drive to Sluis and eat at Oud Sluis - the food is really good. The city itself is quite nice, and you and your fiancee could pedal in the small lake around there.
    Surely, Oud Sluis, being imho the best restaurant of the Benelux, is even a better choice as De Karmeliet.

    [You can even go there by bus 2 (every hour to Sluis-Breskens at 59 past) from the train station and stop at Sluis, Ridderstraat.]

    If you go there, do make a reservation, esp. for Friday, Saturday and Sunday quite in advance. (I tried to book for Friday dinner 9 months ahead but didn't succeed.)

  11. The Lecture Room/Library at Sketch and Pierre Gagnaire Paris are a world apart in quality. At any rate, michelin have them 1 star versus 3 star, but the difference is greater than that.
    Also Sketch, expecting something like chez Pierre Gagnaire, was terribly disapponting to me and not comparable at all to his restaurant in Paris.

    The latter I do like very much, and I have never been disappointed. The WOW factor is indeed less present, in my view, as it is at elBulli or WD50 though.

  12. Has anyone got any update on the best in Bruges as am going there early next year and want to make sure I get the best place for a romantic meal for two (pre-wedding treat for my fiance). Unlimited budget for this one so all suggestions welcome.
    My suggestion would be to choose between De Karmeliet: a three starred restaurant owned by an about 50 year old chef who is cooking already for many years at constant level, very solid, expensive, good ambiance in a comfortable way as to be expected at this level. It is a modern cuisine based on classical cuisine.

    Much more creative cuisine is to be found at Hertog Jan, owned by two young guys of about 30, cuisine inspired by the cuisine moleculaire, much less expensive, much less exclusive and comfortable but very pleasant and both guys are very good. The restaurant has one michelinstar but will certainly get in one of the coming years a second one.

    Have a look at both websites to get an impression to make a better choice.

  13. According to my source, it was a privately owned business that had been in Rotterdam before the war, and relocated to this site after the war (as of course the original building had been bombed). According to this same source, the business owner had originally asked to build his establishment directly in front of City Hall, but was instead given permission to build on the corner.

    The original establishment actually sold something that is even worse for you than McDonald's.

    It seems to have been a cigar shop before, newly built in 1970 (of Felix Heijnen), replacing an adjacent older building of the cigar shop built indeed after the bombings in 1940. Right after the bombings, temporary shops were built in front of the post office. Later the cigar shop became the first and oldest MacDonald's in Rotterdam.
  14. This must be a picture taken from your hotel room, facing MacDonald's and in the background the Post Office, one of the few builidngs that survived the Second Wold War bombardments on May 10th 1940. On the right side you see the Stock Exchange / World Trade Centre. A bit further down the street, there is a good restaurant: Amarone - worth trying, chef as well as maître coming from starred restaurants, the latter from the first three starred restaurant ever in the Netherlands, Parkheuvel in Rotterdam (now one star of a former two starred chef). Just around the corner you will also find the Asian, good restaurant Asian Glories and a bit further down you have the well known palace called Dudok, after a famous Dutch architect and the place being famous for its apple pies.

  15. Thanks for this report: indeed one of the most difficult restaurants to reacht, esp. if you - as I do - need to rely on public transport...

    You may indeed consider this as the best restaurant of Belgium (as well as the most expensive), although some people consider... Oud Sluis (just across the border in Holland) as the best of Belgium :-) - and I must admit, I do agree with the latter.

    (By the way, taking a bus from Bruges station to Sluis is indeed a convenient way of getting to Oud Sluis.)

  16. If your are in Cologne, "Le Moissonnier" (1*, going on 2) is a *must*!! They serve terrific french/experimental cuisine in a very relaxed bistro-style ambiance. The prices are very reasonable (something like 70 euros for the large tasting menu).
    Well, it was interesting at Le Mossonnier (although I didn't understand well the second star to come), but I even liked better Capricorn i Aries (1 star).
  17. Le Fourneau is on the Place St Catherine - the former fish market, today a hive of mainly unexceptional restuarants which make a living generally from passing tourists and out-of-towners.

    Le Fourneau seems a bit different

    More details here.

    - the  menu changes daily but can include:

    Le veau du Limousin, son jus stressé tout simplement,

    Raviole de homard, coulis decrustacés à l’estragon,

    Asperges de Perthuis à l'échalotte et parmesan,

    L'Obus de crabe royal à la braise,

    Prices are reasonable ( under €10 per plate) but this is achieved through small almost tapas style portions - the place seems very popular and word of mouth reports having it living up to its ambitions. One local blog report describes it as tapas meets sushi with the option of picking the size of your portion.

    All of this however is being written without having been there yet - it's been on my list for a while now and I'll report back when I actually make it.

    By way, Sensum.be looks like a very good site, aprticularly since resto.be has gone to the dogs.

    In my view Le Fourneau is the best restaurant around the place Sainte-Cathérine. I have been there already about a 20 times. It is good because of the excellent quality of the products. The dishes are indeed small, and don't expect very complex dishes. Nevertheless, the quality of the products together with excellent cooks who do respect the products and know the best cuisson, makes it worthwhile visiting. Count on about 30 - 40 € for a meal, including about 3 dishes and wines (the latter being good and about 6 are offered by the glass).

    About the menu: there is a standard one that changes every few months; there are some dishes changing every day, also depending on the season.

×
×
  • Create New...