paulbrussel
-
Posts
377 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by paulbrussel
-
-
You are welcome, Mark! Do enjoy Brussels when you het here.
By the way, over the last couple of years, Michelinstars have come and gone.
So refering to my earlier list, the following changed:
Aloyse Kloos * [14] (Hoeilaart)
Brouette, La * [12]
Deux Maisons, Les * [14,5]
Maison du Boeuf, La - Hilton Hotel * [15]
Orangeraie Roland Debuyst, L' * [15] (Nossegem)
Truffe Noire, La * [13]
Vieux Boitsfort, Au * [14]
Villa Lorraine * [13,5]
all lost their one star.
Bijgaarden, De * * [15,5] (Groot-Bijgaarden)
lost both stars, first 2006, second last week.
Bruneau * * * [18]
Comme chez soi * * * [16,5]
both lost one star and went to two stars.
-
Indeed, Dutch people stay at home till midnight and then go sometimes out for dancing or watching fireworks in town.
Most trendy clubs are very expensive that day and you have to book quite in advance.
Contrary to Holland, many Belgiums do go out for dinner on New Years Eve (called Sint Sylvestre here). In Brussels mostly the high end restaurants offer special, great menus, wine included and at 00.00 champagne for all guests.
An idea to go to Brussels and spend the night there?
-
Hi Mark,
About Antwerp, I don't know much, honestly.
About Brussels, well of course things have changed in the last couple of years.
First of all you could keep in mind that dining in Brussels is much more expensive as lunch; for the latter the competition is huge.
Great informal dining - well, what should be meant by that. Let me say that the following are good quality for money, and not formal:
Armes de Bruxelles, Aux [12.5] - famous, old resto in centre of town; classic cuisine (bib gourmand)
Balade Gourmande, La [13] - modern on classic basis; informal, family resto (bib gourmand)
Belga Queen [11] - modern brasserie in old restored office building, Belgium cooking
Chez Marie * [13] - great wine list; brasserie, not very cheap
Clef des Champs, La [13] - French Provence cuisine; great value for money, esp. lunch (bib gourmand)
Dames Tartine, Les [13] - two ladies in small brasserie (bib gourmand)
Fin de siècle [11,5] - Rue des Chartreux (there are two); very informal; cheap, good simple food; mostly students and artistic people
Fourneau, Le [13.5] - informal eating in open kitchen; modern; very good products; owned by former Michelin starred chef Evian, tapas like menu (bib gourmand)
Gourmandin, Le [13,5] - small family owned resto
Idiot du Village, L' [11,5] - small brasserie, French cuisine
In 't Spinnekopke [10] - famous Belgium cuisine, informal brasserie
Intermezzo, L' [10,5] - informal Italian resto near the opera; only opened for lunch and Friday evenings; cheap
JB [13] - informal, family restaurant, modern on classic basis, good value for money (bib gourmand)
Larmes du Tigre, Les [11,5] - Good Thai cuisine
Plattesteeen [10] - informal simple resto in centre of town
Resource [15] - modern, good cuisine; young chef of the year 2006 Brussels GaultMillau
Roue d'Or, La [12,5] - famous, informal good brasserie in centre of town
Vigne… à l'Assiette, De la [13] - informal, modern cuisine; interesting wine list; very good value for money (bib gourmand)
Viva M'Boma [12.5] - informal, classic Belgium cuisine (bib gourmand)
-
resto.be has changed a lot. It was in the past possible to insert negative comments, but later on they were all removed. So the customers comments are not reliable at all, since they are only positive.Resto.be is a bit strange...it has consumer reviews and general information but also hosts several of the restaurants' websites (for a fee I would imagine) so there's something of a conflict of interests at times. However, it was a great tool when I was exiled in Antwerp for 6 months with work and needed a different place to eat each night
As a data source for info however it is quite good.
-
From today there are only two 3 starred restaurants in the Netherlands: Oud Sluis and De Librije.which one would you recommend in terms of food? because we're only 23 and 21 , we'd like to spend just 140 euro per person for the meal (either lunch or dinner). thanks!(Parkheuvel, due to its change of chefs in June 2006, went from three stars for Cees Helder to one star for Erik van Loo who had two stars before in his former restaurant...)
But I do fully agree with UE: when you choose, do go to Sluis: a very interesting and modern restaurant. De Librije is much less daring and I would say a bit more classic. (And I am not totally sure, but I even think De Librije is more expensive.)
-
Comme chez soi just lost its third star iin the Guide Michelin 2007 (published today), as for me was already justified years ago.CCSoi is the most expensive and the worst among these five restaurants.... -
The best way is to take the train to Waregem and then a cab from the station to the restaurant.Could anyone give suggestion, what would be the best way to get to the Hof Van Cleve from Bruges - assuming that I don't plan to drive? Thanks -
A few weeks ago I tried to book at Müller's for a Friday evening dinner half December: then already all Friday and Saturday evenings were booked for the rest of the year. So I think booking quite in advance is to be recommended.
-
Berlin, esp. formally East berlin, is a very nice place to go to.
Foodwise, I don't know whether Berlin has much to offer (although I liked restaurant Zander in Kreuzberg). The starred restaurants are terribly expensive and require booking in advance.
Modern cuisine does exist e.g. in Dresden, also a nice city to visit. Lesage was one of the most interesting restaurants there, even more interesting then the starred restaurant Carroussel.
-
Indeed, the new patisserie used to be the old Marcolini shop.
-
Everything is a matter of taste of course.
But I could highly recommend Wittamer and Pierre Marcolini, both on Grand Zablon for pralines.
-
Just this week Pascal Jalhaij announced that he would quit the Palace Hotel in Noordwijk after about one year.
The reason he gives is that he misses his Amsterdam clientèle that he had before in the NH hotel in Amsterdam at Resaturant Vermeer.
So I suppose he will get back to the big city again, leaving the mondain coast. But there has been no announcements about his plans.
-
I can fully agree with kerriar that most of the restaurants in the Saint-Cathérine area are not outstanding.
Apart from what he mentions, you could also try:
LA MAREE
Tel. : 02.511.00.40
Fax : 02.511.86.19
Rue de Flandre 99
1000 BRUSSEL ( STAD )
(Closed Mondays and Tuesdays: fish restaurant)
or
VIVA M'BOMA
Tel. : 02.512.15.93
Vlaamsesteenweg 17
1000 BRUSSEL ( STAD )
(Only opened for dinner on Thursdays, Fidays and Saturdays: specialised in organs.)
-
La Clef des Champs is certainly a very good (more traditional food) restaurant to go to, especially for lunch. They offer a 3 course prix fixe menu (about 7 choices for starter and alike for the entree) at lunch time for 16 €, the same for dinner for 32 €.
This is only for Mondays to Fridays.
One of my favoorite restaurants in Brussels is the more modern cooking Resource, this year being the Most Promising Chef of the Brussels Region in the guide GaultMillau (http://www.restaurantresource.be/).
-
I think 15 % tips is well too much in Brussels. it is normal to give about 10 % for a modest check and a good meal, and 5 % for a big check and a (very) good meal.Yap, it is €22 times 13 (plus 15% tips).[And I had it twice in 12 years, having visited Sea Grill 51 times in that period...]
-
I am afraid the only ***-restaurant in Brussels is not worthwhile: Comme chez soi (see other thread for a report).Going to brussles in september. Would like some restaurant recomendations please. First opportunity to eat at michelin rated rest. and I want to hit a least one Three star and one two star. Will be there thursday thru monday. Some small local treasures would be neat as well.For starred restaurants I would recommend Sea Grill** and Bruneau** (formerly ***). Sea Grill and Bruneau are open on Monday. Bruneau is also open on Sundays and offers a good lunch for only 45 €; the wine list is also excellent.
-
Many thanks for this very interesting report! All nice meals (except for CCS, as expected.)
I do agree with you whether the pressed lobster is worth the money (not I think, since it is really extremely exepensive), but it is worthwhile the experience and also very good. I have only ordered it twice. I would have thought perhaps that the menu would have given a broader view on what chef Yves mattagne can offer.
-
Sea Grill offers a lunch menu (49 €) and Menu de la Mer (75 €, lunch and dinner).
For dinner there is also a more extensive menu (175 €).
Most famous dish: "Pressed Brittany Lobster Prepared at Your Table".
One of my latest meals:
Parmentier de "Bintjes", Caviar, Crème Aigrelette et Ciboulette
Thon Rouge Façon "Sushi" et Foie Gras Poêlé Laqué, Gelée de Pommes, Sésame
Homard Breton et Ris de Veau au Miel et Epices, Agrumes, Emulsion Vanille, Saffran
Saint-Pierre Poêlé, Mousseline de Pommes de Terre au Wasabi et à l'Ail Nouveau, Emulsion Citronnelle
Sole meunière, Béarnaise d'Huîtres de "Prat Ar Coum", Quelques Girolles et Tomates confites
Agneau de Sisteron, Ragoût de Fèves, Girolles et Olives, Emulsion d'Ail d'Ours
I declined the rest of the menu (desserts).
Special about this restaurant is the use of excellent products and the complicated dishes which offers nevertheless excellent harmony of tastes and textures.
The service is one of the best I know.
-
You have quite clearly explained your rebirth from curious to interested... about Beddington's I mean :-)
-
Why more curiosity? It seems to be quite good now, as it was in the past.7) Beddington's (more curiosity than anything) -
Well - there are the high end restaurants on the wishlist! :-)Wishlist:Classics:
Bordewijk
Yamazoto
Ron Blaauw (in Ouderkerk a/d Amstel, just outside Amsterdam)
Beddington's (recently re-opened but still a classic)
Marius
Mario in Neck (category 'beyond', but still close enough to Amsterdam)
Visaandeschelde
I would be very interested in Ron Blaauw als well as Beddington's. But the first is not very easy to reach by public transport as far as I have understood.
The new Beddingston's must be good, as I heard.
Visaandeschelde disappointed me quite much years ago, but do I understand well that is has gone up? New chef de cuisine?
[Why aren't La Rive and Vermeer on your list?]
-
Hi Klary,hey! New King is my favorite as well! Here are their oysters
paulbrussel, unfortunately my budget doesn't allow me to eat at high-end places very often. But I do feel that Amsterdam has something to offer in the what you call middle class or upper middlleclass department. I hear good things about consistent good quality at Bordewijk, Van Vlaanderen, Segugio (Italian) and Le Garage... and many new places are popping up.. although ofcourse those may not be passed the initial hype yet.
I often feel that it is the "lower middleclass" restaurants, where you still pay what I consider quite a lot, where you will be disapppointed. For instance I had dinner at Klokspijs recently.. they had good reviews everywhere.. I think we paid about 90 euro for 2.. I though the food was pretty awful, pretentious, etc. I was wishing we had gone to a nice Indonesian or Turkish or Greek place instead of that so-called inventive and creative blabla.. okay done ranting now...
Bordewijk I visited too long ago and I wasn't very impressed then although it seems to get still good critics.
Van Vlaanderen has been visited by close culinary friends of mine who were quite disappointed.
Another good culinary friend was indeed impressed by Le Garage, although I am not sure I would like to sit amongst the Dutch VIPs.
Klokspijs I have never heard of, and unfortunately: I am one of those who likes very mich the "cuisine moleculaire", which is only to be found in Holland, till some extent, by Oud Sluis, but well: then we are already talking about the best restaurant of Holland :-), although which doesn' mean the most expensive one...
On the other hand, I do agree that I prefer good "lower middleclass" restaurants then more expensive blabla-restaurants which are not giving what they pretend.
PS: are the New King oysters better then those of Nam Kee then?
-
Hi Mark,Hi Paul,Wish I could help with the * and ** categories, but I really haven't been eating at those kinds of places since I've been here...
As for Nam Kee...maybe it's because there were so many excellent Chinese restaurants where I used to live in the US, but...while I find Nam Kee to be "good Chinese food" (in that the menu offers many dishes that have their own distinct taste, style of preparation, spice level, regional affinities, etc.), and definitely one of the better Chinese places in Amsterdam, I wouldn't make a special trip to eat there. It might just be me. If I was going to go to the Zeedijk, I'd rather eat at Bird (the Thai restaurant not the Thai snackbar) or New King (Chinese).
mem
Well: I won't come from Brussels all the way just to eat at Nam Kee :-). It is just that since the book and the movie, the oysters are so famous... Anyway, I was talking about the Nam Kee place at the Prins hendrikkade, not the other one which seems less good.
I heard indeed good stories about The Bird. New King I didn't know uptill now.
Paul
-
November last year I was there for dinner and the next day for lunch - both times the extensive surprise menu. They really managed to have about 10 dishes each meal, totally different, and very interesting. Prices, especially for wines, have always been pretty low in Spain, I think.El Cellar de Can Roca offers both a la carte and a fixed price menu; and from what I've read in other posts, chef Joan Roca is also happy to select a surprise menu on request. Last year, we paid €67 per person for the tasting menu, so I'd imagine that it has gone up slightly this year. There is some great value on the extensive wine list and we paid €29 for a wine pairing.I do'nt remember the prices of the fixed price menu, but we paid about 120 € pp, drinks included.
I will go back in October - may be I will report here.
Antwerp/Brussels: informal dining recs (Merged)
in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining
Posted
Not informal restaurants but very good reports are given about:
Restaurant De Koopvaardij (in Stabroek) near Antwerp - indicated as worth a Michelin star in 2008.
http://www.dekoopvaardij.be/
Restaurant Kasteel Withof (in Brasschaat), also near Antwerp.
http://www.kasteelwithof.be/.