Soul food

We ended up at Soul last Sunday night, and although the experience was lovely and the food tasty, you really need some context first:

For one, I had been trying to go to Soul for about two years. The problem is that they are only open from Wednesday to Sunday and for some reason every time I thought of going there, it was Monday or Tuesday. Or New Years. Or summer holidays. Whatever the case, our schedules could not align themselves.

Second, I had just written up Restaurant Week for Flanders Today (article here), a Diningcity.com initiative whereby restaurants offer a three-course meal for 27 EUR. Soul was among the offerings. It was destiny.

Lastly, we were in Iceland on vacation until about 4 hours before the end of Restaurant Week. So it was Sunday night or bust. Also, having researched Icelandic food ahead of our trip and seeing that rotten shark and pickled testicles were among the culinary pleasures of our vacation destination, I figured a meal at a semi-vegetarian restaurant might be a light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel sort of thing. (We did eat fish pretty much non-stop for 10 days and hardly saw a fresh vegetable all week - and the fish was great.)

So after years of preparation, articles written, and Iceland conquered, we found ourselves sitting in Soul last Sunday, exhausted and vegetable-deprived. Soul delivered.

As we were there for the Restaurant Week gig, we did not get to choose our menu. Apparently most Restaurant Week diners got fish in their menus but we had specified vegetarian, which they were happy to accommodate.

We started with a tower of beet slices, delicately cooked aubergine slices, and creamy cottage cheese. It was simple, beautiful, fresh, and delicious.

For our main course, we received a substantial serving of spiced lentils with bites of carrot and pumpkin, topped with three large chunks of tangy feta cheese, and surrounded by a half-dozen "falafel" balls. Although these were recognizable as falafel, they were only lightly fried, and the batter had grated carrot and various non-falafely spices mixed in. It was chic falafel, and we enjoyed it - I just don't want you thinking of your local halal shwarma bar when you envision this falafel.

Our dessert was poached pears with a bit of caramel sauce, just the light ending I needed. All in all, I don't think we scored any savings by going via Restaurant Week, which to me means that their menu is a bit overpriced, but I'm sure part of that can be chalked up to the setting.

Soul is a quiet and cute space steps away from the Sablon. Bare bulbs decorate the ceiling (they were kept quite dim but I assume in darker months the electric lighting is stronger). I felt super trendy and cozy eating there, and it definitely seemed that most of the other diners were there on date night.

Although we didn't get to choose, I still asked to see the menu. Soul offers a number of themed menus that do not appear on their website - there's menus tailored for pregnancy, for detoxing, and for various other states of mind and body. I'm not so into homeopathy, but I can at least verify that the dishes sound tasty. Their menu is also very vegetarian friendly. They call themselves a "bio organic fusion" restaurant; I just call it yummy.

Soul

Rue de la Samaritaine 20

Brussels 1000

Tel.: 02 513 52 13

Open for lunch Wed-Fri; open for dinner Wed-Sun. Reservations recommended.

http://www.soulresto.com

St Job Soirée

In case you weren't aware, Place St Job is one heck of a dining bonanza. Avenue Jean et Pierre Carsoel, running down the hill into the square, is lined with restaurant after restaurant - every one that I've tried makes for a great night out. Prime restaurant real estate!

Our most recent excursion landed us at La Soeur du Patron. The Uccle/St Job restaurant also has an Auderghem branch, with almost the same menu. I had heard a few positive rumors about this place, so at the end of a long work day, we treated ourselves to a meal.

The interior is quite chic, with red walls, and soft lighting emanating from unusual light fixtures. I have to admit that "real" (i.e. non-fish eating) vegetarians are going to run into some issues here, but if you're fish-friendly (or even better if you're carnivorous), you'll be pleased.

A page of standard Belgian starters was followed by a page of carpaccios. Between the three of us, we were off to a running start with a tuna carpaccio seasoned à la japonaise, scampi croquettes, and a salmon tartare on a bed of taboule. As I said, short on real vegetarian options, although their page of salads looked delectable, with one or two vegetarian choices, and several others probably easily adaptable to a vegetarian palate.

For mains, they offer pastas (mostly with meat or fish), fish choices, plenty of meats, and a page of "world food", again, all with meat or fish. We opted for a lime-glazed salmon, and a perch with yellow pepper coulis (also duck with calvados, mushrooms and apples for my truly non-veggie friend). The fish were both accompanied by nicely seasoned vegetables but the fish themselves were a bit on the bland side.

On to dessert: L'Arabica was delicious although I must admit I did not commit the list of ingredients to memory. Suffice it to say, it involved meringue, mascarpone, chocolate, coffee, and I think some ice cream. Very tasty.

For our second dessert, we couldn't resist their wildest offering: speculoos ice cream with parmesan shavings and balsamic vinegar coulis. Yes, you read that right. Sound weird? It was. The flavors were (obviously) diverse and I was very aware of different taste sensations happening in different parts of my mouth. But the flavors never really came together in a coherent way, making the experience intriguing but not worth repeating.

The bill worked out to about 45 EUR per person, although we paid a bit less after scoring a RestoPass discount. All in all, a nice meal with some adventurous flavors; worth a visit, but not for every day.

La Soeur du Patron

Ave Jean et Pierre Carsoel 5
1180 Uccle
Tel: 02.374.08.80

Chaussée de Wavre 1700
1160 Auderghem
Tel: 02.675.00.92

http://www.lasoeurdupatron.be/

Both locations closed Saturday/Sunday lunchtime

Sunday evenings are complicated - Uccle is open Fall/Winter on Sunday nights, Auderghem in Spring/Summer, at least according to their website. Call ahead in any case, as reservations are a good idea.

Yum Yum chez Bon-Bon

You don't need me to tell you how good Bon-Bon is. Putting aside it's Michelin star, every review seems to be downright orgasmic when they start in on Bon-Bon's fresh market menu. But they have yet to answer the burning question: can they do vegetarian?

Gidon and I were celebrating the last of our anniversaries (huh? see here - click on "Two weddings?") and decided to splash out with a dinner at Bon-Bon. After all, we'd heard so much about it and thought it was worth the risk. Also, it's right in our neighborhood and we pass it all the time, and what's a better way to tempt someone than that?

We called ahead of time and they said they could do vegetarian, no problem. When we confirmed the reservation, they wanted the full run-down of what we do and do not eat. This was way more interest than any Belgian restaurant has ever taken in my diet before. After a lengthy explanation (yes to cheese and tuna, no to turbot, please don't ask me why) we were warned that they do either a 3-, 5-, or 7-course dinner, and 7 courses was going to be a bit difficult under the circumstances. We could decide between 3 and 5 that night. Fair 'nuff.

The restaurant itself is small, lots of wood panelling, and a nice mix of old styles with modern touches. We started with a creamy mozzarella and fresh tomato amuse bouche. Simple but elegant. We also got started on their tasty, crusty bread with salty butter that was a lovely accompaniment throughout the evening.

They showed us the menu of the evening (other than the 3/5/7 bit, diners are not given a choice), even though we wouldn't be seeing a great deal of it. For the meat-eaters out there, it sure looked tasty on the page - and at the table next to us, where we watched them work their way through the 7 courses with much pleasure and appreciation. We opted for 3 courses.

For our starter, we had a fresh tuna tartare with a herb sorbet. A refreshing kickoff - and one that we shared with the rest of the restaurant. Our main dish was a vegetarian concoction: celeriac raviolis; cooked bok choy; a crispy latke - I mean, potato pancake; and a few other veg, all accompanied by a bearnaise sauce that I enjoyed but Gidon might have preferred a few other flavors along with it.

At this point, I did have a moment of panic in my head: although the food had been delicious, the portions were small small small, and I thought "we're going to head home, having spent a decent amount for this fancy meal, and I'm going to have to make dinner!" Fortunately, my freaking out (as usual) was premature. For one, those small portions are served slowly and are more filling than you expect. For two, we weren't even halfway through the meal yet.

We were offered the cheese course, and you don't need to sell me on cheese. This was an add-on to our 3-course menu but well worth it. They wheeled out an exquisite selection of about 20 French and Belgian cheeses, which our waitress described so quickly, I could barely process it. Overwhelmed and mouths watering, Gidon and I asked her to just make up a selection of her choosing - 8 different cheeses in total. We were both blown away by the first, which I described (in a good way, I swear!) as tasting "like a farm." It was a strong, earthy flavor that was just terrific. We followed it up with chevre, blue cheeses and others, but although all were delicious, that was the most memorable. Now if I could only remember what it was called...

They asked if we wanted dessert or would move straight on to coffee. 20/20 hindsight: we should have gone to the coffee, which is accompanied by a small selection of four 1-to-2-bite delicacies. But in the interest of research, or because it was our anniversary, or whatever excuse you want to insert here, we said, "dessert, please!"

The waiter said: "Your first dessert will be fresh pink grapefruit with lychee and rose sorbet" but I have to admit I kind of tuned out at the word "first." A scrumptious combo although a bit too sweet for Gidon. This was followed by Dessert, Part Two: essentially some frozen yogurt (plain, i.e. yogurt, flavor) and lait d'amande ice cream. Both were lovely although I'm more of a fruit-for-dessert person myself. Also around the second dessert was when I started announcing that I was going to "explode," which was promptly followed by the arrival of the coffee with its accompanying set of desserts. My, my.

When the bill arrived, it was obviously nothing to sneeze at. But we had had a special, if somewhat restricted meal, and certainly an anniversary to remember.

Bon-Bon: salon d’artisan cuisinier
Rue des Carmélites, 93
1180 Uccle
Closed Saturday lunch and Sundays.
Tel: +32 (0)2 346.66.15
http://www.bon-bon.be