From Italy to India

This past weekend found us at two restaurants, at quite different ends of the culinary spectrum. Saturday night we went to A'mbriana, an Italian place in Uccle that other blogs and reviews online seemed fond of. Sunday night, we were kindly invited by the Hindu Forum of Belgium to a Diwali celebration at Krishna, an Indian restaurant in Overijse. Very different, and both very lovely. Let me elaborate:

A'mbriana: I'll be honest with you: there aren't many vegetarian options. The husband and wife team who run the place did do their best to try and accommodate us with all our weird eating habits (we can only imagine what they were saying about us in the kitchen). While the ordering process was a bit laborious, once the food started arriving, we had nothing to complain about. Some nicely spiced olives and crusty bread to begin, followed by a fish amuse bouche that we had to turn down for the shrimp (us: "what kind of fish is this?" Waitress: "It's good."). On to the entrees - a plate of marinated salmon and basil, flavors all very well balanced, and one of the specials - fried cepes. Three letters for you: y-u-m. For the mains, I opted for canneloni, which was basically pure cheese and pasta and might have benefited from some spinach or tomato. Gidon went with another special, a baked cod with vegetables. Short on starch but tasty. If you can stand the limited options, or if you're out with a non-vegetarian, this is a good way to go (although I can't vouch for the quality of the meat dishes).

Krishna: the Diwali celebration meant that we were on a fixed menu Sunday night. We were also eating with a bunch of people who knew Indian food a lot better than we did, which was a real treat - for one, because the food was nicely spicy without even having to ask. We started off with some fried cauliflower with yogurt sauce. The menu featured a beautiful dal (lentils), aloo sag (potatos and spinach), mixed vegetables, rice (with a strong clove flavor), and puri bread. While I can't speak for the menu you might get on a regular night, based on this meal, I can only imagine you'd be pleased.

A'mbriana
Rue Edith Cavell 151
1180 Uccle
Tel. : 02.375.01.56
Closed Tuesdays and Saturday lunchtime

Krishna
Brusselsesteenweg 312
Overijse
Tel. : 02.688.04.99
http://www.krishna-restaurant.be/
Open evenings only except Sundays