New Ethiopian restaurant in Brussels: Toukoul Resto Bar

We were delighted to try Toukoul, a new Ethiopian restaurant in Brussels.The 'cultural house' in the name of this place meant live music during our dinner. Nice exotic setting for a Sunday evening.

 

The restaurant has high ceilings and dark colored walls, which creates a sense of comfort and spaciness. Traditional decorations and artifacts were hanging in the center of the room.

Staff was friendly and helpful, guiding us through the 'experience' namely the gourcha, which means hand feeding your friends around the table at the beginning of the meal. However, as the restaurant started to get full, service became much slower.

We had a fixed menu, which included a mix of vegetarian and beef stews. All were delicious. Injera, some sort of thin Ethiopian pancakes, were served on the side.

If the food is still not spicy enough, do not hesitate to request some mitmita, a hot chilli paste.

We finished off the dinner with chocolate moelleux for dessert and Bissap karkadé (a sweet infusion of hibiscus flowers).

Definitely recommended!


Toukoul  Resto Bar Ethiopien (Bruxelles)
http://www.toukoul.be

Romania: pre-Easter weekend

We recently went to Bucharest for a long family weekend. Main advice if one decides to fly Tarom (or Brussels Airlines, in which case the flight is operated by Tarom): the special foods (vegetarian and especially kosher) are much better than what one would normally get.

As for restaurants (no pics this time, sorry), we went to the Chinese Garden in Bucharest, which we understood is supposed to be one of the best in town. By comparison to other Chinese restaurants in Brussels/Western Europe, we found the food quite average. Big plus for the large number of choices on the menu. My fish in soy sauce and garlic was all right. The shrimp dumplings had spent some time in the freezer and our second main dish, octopus with vegetables, turned out to be quite similar to the fish, plus way too much soy sauce and MSG. Atmosphere was nice (especially when surrounded by dear friends) but service fairly slow.

Second stop in Bucharest was the Sky Bar. Located in the poshy area of Dorobanti, in a rather banal building, this is apparently the first roof bar in Romania. Just that once you get to the fifth floor where the bar is, you realize that there are much taller buildings around and that you are anywhere but "above the city". That surprise apart, I loved the interior design (very chic white chairs and cosy couches, cool lights and entertaining music). They also have a big terrace which must be very nice in the summer. The menu was generous for both foods and drinks, including some original non-alcoholic ones. Definitely recommended!

A nice little surprise was also the Aristocrat restaurant in the old centre of Targoviste, a small city 80km away from Bucharest. We were the first customers that evening, so the staff was welcoming and friendly. Small elegant place, although quite common, with some comfort food options (mix of French and Italian, plus some Romanian options). What was probably best about it were the prices!

PS: r1d may not share the same views, he is more demanding and critical when it comes to food:)

Chinese Garden (Bucharest)
http://www.chinesegarden.ro/bucuresti/
Sky Bar (Bucharest)
http://www.skybar.ro/

Restaurant Terborght in Huizingen

Looking for a gastronomical Sunday brunch? To welcome the spring, we decided to try Restaurant Terborght in Huizingen, which holds one Michelin star and received a score of 15 in the Gault & Millau Belux 2012 edition.

Located in the province of Flemish Brabant, about half an hour's drive from central Brussels and close to exit 20 of the E19 highway, the restaurant is set in a renovated building.

A small stream runs next to the kitchen.

The lady who owns and manages the restaurant welcomed us by the door with a smile. Our jackets were promptly taken away and we were led to our table.

The designers have decided to retain some of the old charm inside with the rough brick walls.

The mises en bouche were served. Here's a 'group picture'

And now one by one - starting with twists and dips 

Three delicious bouchées en dégustation

Mussels. The small green macaron accompanied the mussels brilliantly

Then came the breads (from left to right: seaweed, brioché, wholewheat, white) accompanied with olive oil and butter (which was a tad too cold and hard). Also, for a Michelin starred restaurant, I would have expected a waiter to ask later during the meal if we wanted to have some extra (or warm) bread.

Hot and cold eel. Here's the cold version:

and the hot version underneath

There was another appetizer: poached quail egg, écrevisses and spinach mousseline. It looked so good that I forgot to take a picture and just grabbed my spoon :-)

Entrée 1: Tuna carpaccio & tartare - langoustine – encre de seiche – avocat – radis – soja – sésame

Beautiful presentation which up close looks like this. Besides the presentation, the tuna was neither fresh nor of the best quality.

Entrée 2 served in a sphere: Potage de coquillages & crustacées, tomate,  parfum d'anis étoilé

and underneath the potage some king crab

The main dish: Jeune pigeon d' Anjou - topinambour – potiron – oignon – jus de curry rouge (unfortunately the jus was not a good match for the pigeon). On the side (outside the picture), they offered a spicy fried pigeon drumstick (cuisse & maïs – PX – piment).

Then began the surprise desserts en dégustation. We were expecting a couple of small portions to sample. Instead, we received a full desert: white chocolate ice cream & pina colada. Delicious!

To our surprise, a second dessert was brought: panna cotta, banana and chocolate.

And of course, some mignardises to finish off the meal.

Service was good. We were welcomed with a big smile by the lady owner/manager. The waiters were trying their best. However, some of the younger staff seemed a bit apprehensive of serving non-Flemish speaking customers.

Overall, a great Sunday lunch, which at € 44 for the 4-courses menu (and many extras) offered good value. Definitely recommended! 

Restaurant Terborght
Huizingen, Flemish Brabant
http://www.terborght.be