Eating at “THE” Restaurant, at THE Hotel in Brussels

I had seen the “announcement” of the launch of THE RESTAURANT, at the The Hotel in Brussels via Twitter… in September….

and put it down on my list of restaurants TO visit….But it took almost 2months before I finally got there!

Thankfully – I managed to convince fellow food lover and photographer extraordinaire, Alison from Cheeseweb fame, to accompany me!

The (actual) restaurant is situated on the ground floor beyond the hotels reception desk, past the lounge and bar area, where your coats are whisked away and you are gently guided through to your table across plush carpeting. No sooner had I been seated, when my handbag was raised off the floor and placed on one of the bejewelled table handbag hooks – which I thought was very clever of the restaurant to invest it! (Certainly adds a touch of class…)

our twitter #excitement got us noticed… but please note that we did PAY for our own meals!

interior of the restaurant is what can only be described as PLUSH

The concept sounded simple to start – but as soon as Alison and I started to peer into the iPad abyss of options – we amicably agreed that a 3course set menu (with wine of course) based on the Chef’s suggestion was a better option!

Essentially, Pierre Balthazar (head chef), invited 3 international guest chefs (French, Italian & Thai) to prepare creations based on the same 9 basic ingredients – but in 2 versions: Classic & Creative… giving permutations of  54 different plates!!!

Our 3 course set menu included an appetizer (Salmon, shrimp & vegetables), a starter (French theme: sautéed foraged mushrooms with slivers of truffle), a main (Thai Creative: roast beef fillet with green papaya salad served with rice) and dessert (Caribbean Chocolate, coffee & ginger) – all washed down with sufficient amounts of white & red wine – for 80€ per person.

appetizer: Salmon & Shrimp

Mushroom starter

Fillet main course

 

dessert…

My worry with set menu’s is that sometimes I need to stop at Mc-D’s on the way home… but this was definitely not the case here – in fact, I am pretty sure that I waddled all the way back home …

Would I head back? Most definitely …. especially since I have only worked my way through 2 of the 54 options 🙂

The Restaurant

Address: Boulevard de Waterloo 38, The Hotel, 1000, Brussels, BELGIUM

telephone: +32 2 504 13 33

email: reservations@therestaurant.be

www.therestaurant.be

Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 12h00-14h30 & 19h00-22h30 (closed on sundays)

DRESS CODE: smart casual