The décor is spacious, modern and inviting. Walls are covered by photos of Mick Jagger, Steve McQueen and other vintage stars knocking back booze, and blackboards behind the bar advertise the day’s liquid offers. There’s a cluster of high tables with bar stools that fill up with after-office tipplers in the evening, when there’s an inventive tapas menu featuring nibbles like octopus with fennel, sardine and preserved lemon rillettes or chorizo tapenade.
There is a reason, however, why Sjo d’O was the only place around Brussels that the 2012Michelin Guideadded to its Bib Gourmand list of best-value restaurants, and it soon became clear when a plate of plump tempura prawns arrived as an ideal appetiser while we waited for our meal.
The no-frills interior, with sparsely decorated green walls, a long wooden bar and a heavy curtain at the door to keep the draughts out, makes for a cosy, relaxed atmosphere. The quality of the food, however, is the star of the show here. My companion and I both went for the €30 menu, which comprises a glass of cava, four cold tapas from a selection at the bar and three “surprise” hot ones decided by the chef. Best among our cold starters were: new potatoes with spiced fresh tuna, chorizo mousse and Asian-marinated raw tuna.
Many years ago, I shared a flat in the south of France with a bunch of students, including a chap from Reading called Nigel. For a year he lambasted us with his radical vegetarian agenda, whipping out ethical, health and philosophical complaints every time any of us slapped a merguez on the grill or brought home a salami-topped pizza. Not surprisingly, we drifted apart after moving back to London, but some months later we found ourselves leaving a boozy student party late at night and feeling peckish.
Ensconced in a classy Avenue Louise town house, ER PU.RE is a feast for the eyes. The three dining rooms are warmly painted in dove grey and taupe, while big, bold black-and-white portraits of chef Vincent Vervisch and his team adorn the walls.
We should be thankful for the fact that the naff, boorish, bigoted and ignorant Alan Partridge is purely fictional. Invented by BBC Radio 4’s On the Hour team and portrayed with panache by Steve Coogan, Partridge exudes incompetence and narcissism.
Just like at Granny’s, La Pomme Cannelle’s strength lies in the friendly familiarity and cosiness of its atmosphere rather than in the food itself. My partner and I each took the three-course menu for €45 which included a half-bottle of respectable but unremarkable wine. The food puts a modern spin on classic Belgian and French fare.
The name Kokuban means blackboard in Japanese and it’s a name that not only reflects the space’s dark, brooding yet welcoming interior but also the restaurant’s philosophy to offer fresh, uncomplicated Japanese food on every plate, every time.
Selecto serves comfort food, though you wouldn’t know it to look at it. It’s a bright, open space with attentive, formal staff. But as Rue de Flandre’s latest homage to slow food and ‘bistronomy’, the restaurant uses fresh, seasonal ingredients to serve up creative, French-inspired food meant to warm the body and soul. Its meats are dressed in rich, creamy sauces, the pork proudly dons its fat and the chef is not shy about using salt or butter.
Bab Dar is the latest venture of Jihad Assabi, the man behind Kif Kif in Flagey. Moroccan-born Assabi is clearly a man on a mission; or rather, two missions.
The first is culinary, and boy does he succeed. My companion and I shared a starter billed as an assortment of delicate salads. Our table was invaded by twelve tiny dishes, each containing bite-sized treats combining vegetables with spices and/or fruit. Highlights included sliced carrots with sesame and rolled-up aubergine slices stuffed with almond paste.
