Flâne Restaurant - Caviste

Let me get straight to the point: it's been a long time since I've had this much fun at a restaurant in Brussels.

Young chef Paul Ravet - also behind the successful transformation of the former Winery Brugmann - is running this restaurant in the peaceful municipality of Watermael, just a few meters from Wiener square... and it's simply fantastic.

"Just" a restaurant, with real quality ingredients and recipes that do them justice. No shared plates, no gimmicky concepts, no promises of journeys through time or to the other side of the world. And to wash it all down, plenty of well-sourced bottles that won't necessarily drain your wallet... fantastic, I'm telling you.

That evening, on the 68€ menu, a few very successful appetizers, a fantastic amberjack with goat cheese and shiso ice cream, a cabbage-sesame-oregano dish that was absolutely delicious, scallops with forest floor aromas, a comforting piece of beef perfectly paired with the best the season has to offer, and a dessert as simple as it is addictive.

Everything in perfect balance and without any fuss, very well-executed cuisine with exactly the right amount of personality and creativity. And to top it all off, the place is beautiful and welcoming, elegant and unpretentious. The service matches: friendly and courteous.

Definitely worth trying and worth going back to without needing to be asked twice.