And yet another great spot in Saint-Gixelles… Pretty cool, right, it's not like that, but anyway… there are 17 other neighborhoods in this city, packed with people, and they're hungry too — let's be real! Fair enough. End of my little grumpy rant from a jealous guy who'd kill to have a brilliant bistro like Kartouche just around the corner from his place.

Cooking "like grandma's (or great-grandma's)", but better. A few well-crafted, unpretentious dishes, even a little sake to shake things up, attentive service and absolutely lovely people… The kind of feel-good, no-nonsense spot we love.

Géry Van Peteghem's cuisine (ex Nénu, St-Kilda, etc.) is as comforting as it gets. That evening, the following perished on our table: a crispy eggplant, a pâté en croûte and some pickles, bonito with a fantastic combination of seaweed and orange zest, a tasty venison carbonnade served with a whole regiment of homemade croquettes — wickedly indulgent — and a perfect line-caught sea bass & mussels, though not a photogenic one to save its life. Their indispensable bitterballen, which we didn't even have time to snap a picture of (thanks Gilles), and a divine waffle filled with diplomat cream and fresh figs wrapped up the feast. Yeah, we basically tried everything — but there were six of us, and we're greedy.

I think that's pretty clear: gotta try it urgently if you haven't already… and if you have? Go back! (Reservations more than recommended. Closed weekends and Mondays.)