Restaurant Le Martin Pêcheur 100 Boulevard Brand Whitlock Woluwé-Saint-Lambert, Brussels 1200 Open 7 days a week from 12:00 to midnight
Le Martin Pêcheur (king fisher) is a restaurant located in Brussels not far from the Parc du Cinquantenaire. It has a large terrasse which must be quite pleasant in a better weather. Inside it is nicely decorated with wood and plants. The menu is fairly varied and covers all kind of dishes, from pasta to fish, meat, mussels, salads… You have to be difficult not to find a meal that suits you.
We were four people. As main meals we ordered two gambas “vallée de Bekaa” (€34), one brochette d’agneau au thym (lamb on a skew with thyme – €19), one rôti de chevreuil aux champignons des bois (venison with mushrooms – €23). We all took the dessert of the month which was the trio de desserts (€32). As drinks we had 1/2 litre of water (€4.50) and three blanche 25cl (great Belgian beer – €9).
Interesting meals were the fondus au parmesan (parmesan cheese), the scampis frits (fried scampis), the chèvre chaud bardé de lard et au caramel vanillé (hot goat cheese with bacon and caramel with vanilla), the escargots à l’ail (snails with garlic), the vegetarian lasagna, scampi with pesto, tuna tartare and taboulé, the assiette de foie gras, the dos de cabillaud rôti crème à l’échalote citronnée et à la blanche de Haacht (grilled cod with with cream of shallop with lemon and blanche de Haacht beer).
Gambas "vallée de Bekaa"
Brochette d'agneau au thym
Rôti de chevreuil aux champignons des bois
Close-up of the venison
Everyone was pleased by their dish. I had the venison which was quite good. The meat was tender and not too overpowering, thanks to the good mushroom sauce and the mixed berries. Not exactly the light refined meal but it was very welcome after spending the day out.
Trio de desserts
Cost and conclusion: it was €121.50 in all. It is a little on the expensive side but the food, dessert included, was quite decent and the staff are very friendly. I would gladly go back. If you are in the area (in short, in the European quarter of Brussels) and into vintage cars, you should visit the AutoWorld Museum!
Samourai Japanese restaurant 28 rue Fossé-aux-loups 1000 Brussels, Belgium Open from 12:00 to 14:00 and from 19:00 to 21:00 Closed on Sunday lunch time and on Tuesday.
Good green tea
Samourai is a Japanese restaurant located at 28 Fossé-aux-loups in Brussels. It is about 5 minutes walk from the Grand Place and the nearest metro station is de Brouckère. It is rated 16/20 and a heart at Gault Millau restaurant guide and has a good reputation amongst the Japanese community here. Well, Samourai has been here since 1975 so it is pretty well known. I had eaten there several times when I lived in Brussels so this is a kind of revisit after many years.
Bento box
The decor inside has not really changed, everything is minimalist, sober but quite nice too. We ordered two Bento boxes with some green tea. The bento box was quite complete with sushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki chicken. It was nicely presented and the food was tasteful.
Cost and conclusion: it was 60 euros for two people. We enjoyed the meals which were excellent but I still feel it was overpriced despite the good quality. Could be because I got used to the good value for money in Japanese restaurants in London. Recommended if you are in the area and really want to eat Japanese food. If not, eat Japanese in London at Tokiya or Hazuki for example.
Restaurant Vimar 70 Place Jourdan Etterbeek 1040 Brussels Tél. : 02.231.09.49
Reviewed on Monday 8 June 2009
Restaurant Vimar
The restaurant Vimar, which specialises in fish, is located Place Jourdan not far from the European Commission. Inside the atmosphere is quite nice with a high ceilling and salmon pastel coloured walls with a touch of green. It feels cosy.
Inside the Vimar
Another view
They do have a carte, but the weekly updated blackboard is where they list specials and their menu. I took 2 courses plus coffee for 32 euros (not cheap – but nothing close to the Commission is cheap). On top of that, I had some wine and a dessert.
The blackboard with the suggestions
I chose les asperges (asparagus) à la flamande as first course followed by le filet de plie (plaice) meunière beurre aux herbes fraîches. As dessert I had a strawberries/white cheese that wasn’t on the carte (but that the waiter suggested). The asparagus was pretty good nice and tender, not at all stringy – very well cooked, and arrived piping hot. It was nicely seasoned too, nothing too overpowering. The plaice was OK… It was nicely cooked and seasoned. But it is a difficult fish that has a tendancy to be quite soft – and so it was in this case. I’m not sure if cooking it just a little longer would have helped to make it a bit more firm, but if it is the case, I with they had! With that small improvement, it would have been excellent. The house wine was a pleasant red. The dessert was fantastic! The strawberries were beautifully ripe and firm, very sweet, and perfectly accompanied by the white cheese. Nothing stingy about the portion either. Coffee was good – no complaints there. They did provide cream, but the coffee was neither burnt nor bitter, so it wasn’t needed.
Les asperges à la flamande
Filet de plie meunière beurre aux herbes fraîches
The strawberries dessert
Cost and conclusion: it was 44.10 euros, with service charge included in price so nothing else added which is nice. 32 euros for the starter, main course and coffee, 6.50 euros for the dessert and 5.60 euros for the wine. The meal was very good. At 44.10 for one, it is not exactly cheap but its not outrageous by Brussels standards either. As I’ve found on previous occassions, this restaurant is not fast so it is perhaps not the best place when you only have a limited amount of time for lunch. But if you are able to take your time, it is a step above others in this vicinity.
Restaurant Les Crustacés 8 Quai aux Briques 1000 Brussels Belgium Tél. : 02.511.56.44
Reviewed on Saturday 6 June 2009
Les Crustacés (crustaceans) is a restaurant specialised since 1963 into fish dishes, mussels, seafood platters and lobsters. It is still possible to eat meat but then why would you go there? The place is in an old house made in bricks and inside the design is cosy. The little dining rooms are quite pleasant. It is located near Ste Catherine Church and in the former Marché aux poissons (fish market) area, a place well known for its seafood. We chose this restaurant as it looked a bit less touristic than some of its neighbours. Their menu is quite large with many set menus: a €23 3 course menu with fish or meat, a 3 course lobster menu starting at €33, a tasting menu at €38 with aperitif and coffee included and a €47 menu with aperitif, vines and coffee included. There is an excellent 3 course lunch deal at €12 and of course you can choose à la carte as well. There were three of us for dinner: I took a menu, offering 3 courses for €33. The others chose entrée and main course a la carte. Our starters were Moules gratinees (€12), cocktail crevette (€15), and Coquille St Jacques gratinée (included in menu price). The Coquille St Jacques was exactly as expected, and very good – it just could have been a little larger (only two scallops in there!). The moules gratinees was likewise reported to be very good and well cooked. The cocktail crevette was not really as expected – it was a salad with crevettes (small shrimps) but reported to be surprisingly good. As main courses we had a half lobster (homard) in butter sauce (included in menu), and two soles meunières (butter fried sole, €25 each). All were very tasty, though perhaps the lobster just a touch overcooked. This was all washed down with a very pleasant bottle of blanc de blanc (white wine, €20), and a bottle of mineral water (€7!!). Having taken a menu, I was the only one with dessert. I chose vanilla icecream with red fruit coulis. This turned out to be a mix of strawberries, plums and actually a passionfruit sauce – fine, since I like passionfruit and it was very good (but again, not exactly what I was expecting). We ended the meal with two double espressos and a thé infusion (€4 each). All very good – no weak or burnt coffee here. Since it was a business dinner I did not take photos of everyone’s dish – as you can understand 😉
Coquille St-Jacques gratinée au fromage
Moules gratinées au fromage
½ Homard Grillé beurre
Glace Vanille et son Coulis de Fruits Rouges
Cost and conclusion: the full bill was €149 service charge included in the price meals. The itemised bill is 2 double espresso (€4 each), 1 infusion (thé – €4 ), 1 bottle of blanc de blanc (€20), 1 litre of mineral still water (€7 !), 1 moules gratinees (€12), 1 cocktail crevette (€15), 2 sole meuniere (€25 each) and the €33 menu. Not too bad for three people in Brussels, including wine! The price for the bottle of water was outrageous though!
