In the Element

I'm both excited and sorry to say that my husband and I are moving back to the U.S. at the end of this summer. It's a new adventure - and hopefully a continued adventure in eating - but it's sad to say farewell to Brussels. What it does mean is that I've got a month of farewell dinners coming up in the next few weeks, which is great for my belly, but may not provide a lot of blog material, between the home-cooked meals and visits to many of the old favorites before we go.

One of those old favorites was L'Element Terre, which we visited last week on our farewell tour. This is one of Brussels' vegetarian restaurants, in the sense that they serve scampi. But they also offer plenty of "real" vegetarian options, based on a round-the-world theme.

Each dish first notes the country that it hearkens from. Their appetizers come in normal or "tapas" size portions, so we opted for three tapas for the four of us: Moroccan chick-pea-and-lentil-based "merguez", beautifully spiced and accented with chopped tomato and coriander; Ceylan's vegetable pakoras, which I would have called tempura, served with a pineapple-and-cinnamon chutney - a lovely flavor but not necessarily lovely with the tempura; and a Lebanese smokey baba ganoush served with the requisite pita.

My African vegetable and heavily-peppered-tofu skewers were topped with a chunky and spicy peanut sauce, served up with a pot of rice and some fried bananas. All yum although the tofu really had too much pepper. Around the table we had Moroccan tajine, again with aromatic spices and a bit of heat (a side of harissa or other hot sauce would have done well); a smooth and rich Indian chick-pea stew; and Italian vegetable strips wrapped around cheesy peppery stuffing. We had arrived hungry but by this point were happy and at the perfect point of well-fed-ness, with cleaned plates in front of us and enough room left for dessert.

Three of four dessert options involved chocolate, plus one fruit-based (cherries). We had one slice of chocolate-hazelnut torte, and another of white chocolate torte. The latter was based more on a sort of rice-pudding flavor although the white chocolate was present but not strongly enough for me, a great lover of rich white chocolate desserts. The choco-nut choice was nice, with a drier consistency and not too much sweetness. Espressos and fresh mint teas made for an excellent accompaniment.

The weather obliged so we sat in their garden, a nice, quiet and small area with tall bamboo and a cherry-plum crossbreed tree next to us. The indoors is also quaint with wood paneling and touches of red.

L'Element Terre is strong on presentation, and almost every dish is accented with a piece of fresh fruit - at least it was at this summertime meal. It's a feast for the eyes and the mouth, great for a nice and relaxing night out.

L'Element Terre

Chaussee de Waterloo 465

1050 Ixelles

Tel. 02 649 32 27

Closed Sundays and Mondays; reservations generally a good idea, particularly for garden seating in the summer

http://www.resto.com/lelementterre/

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.

Bizarro Bazaar

Bazaar has been on my list for ages - since I was last there, actually. I visited the nightclub half of Bazaar on a Saturday night shortly after moving here. For some reason we ran upstairs to see the restaurant, which was packed with people and looked swank and crazy and I couldn't wait to go back (see photo). It only took me 5 years.

Our January visit had quite a different air. It was a Tuesday and the place was nearly empty and a little lacking in heating. But the crazy decor was just as I remembered. The place has the feel of a Moroccan tent, with a gigantic hot-air balloon over the bar, and now featuring huge headshot photos of be-robed people.

But all that I had seen before. It was the food that was new. The menu is quasi-mediterranean, and I must admit we started out with some disappointments. I ordered the mozzarella and grilled eggplant; based on that description alone, I expected a warm dish. I was wrong. The dish was clearly pulled from a refrigerator moments before being brought to the table. While the dish could work in a not-warm format, having it flat-out cold really limited the flavors. Gidon, on the other hand, ordered marinated sardines, which turned out to be herring. For herring, they were good; for sardines, they were a flop.

On to the mains: we were now in much safer territory. Feeling fishy, I took their no-frills grilled salmon - even after the waitress advised that between the seabass and the salmon, she preferred the seabass. No mistakes here, though. The salmon was grilled beautifully, with crispy skin; really a delight. The rest of the plate - vegetables, etc - was nice but forgettable. Gidon opted for tuna, which was also a big hit. And our friend Richard had a beautiful and quite sizeable vegetarian risotto. Three for three on the mains.

Stuffed, we ordered one dessert between the three of us. After much negotiating, we settled on the chocolate cake "moelleux" with ice cream. "Moelleux" seems to range from "normal cake" to "gooey melty filling" and this cake - to my great joy - fell at the latter end of the spectrum. Not the easiest for sharing three ways once it started oozing all over the plate but you didn't hear us complaining.

Bazaar

Rue des Capucins 63

1000 Brussels (Marolles)

Tel. 02 511 26 00

http://www.bazaarresto.be/

Open from 19h30 Tuesday-Saturday

Newcomer to the EU Quarter

Today's episode brings us back to the Quest for Good Lunch Food in the EU Quarter! There is a new arrival on the scene, and I couldn't be happier about it: Guapa. Not only is it nearly the closest eatery to my office, but they have a respectable amount of vegetarian lunch options, and they are first and foremost a juice bar, with a mouth-watering selection of fresh fruit juices made to order.

Let's state up front that Guapa is outrageously priced for what you are getting. That is (unfortunately) in line with just about every other eating establishment around here, however, so I can't condemn them too much. The killer is the juice; at around 3.50 EUR a pop - and that for the small size - adding a drink to your lunch suddenly involves quite a price hike.

While I can't justify a daily juice, I justify the ones that I do buy by reminding myself that people the world over are buying Starbucks coffee for twice this price and they aren't getting any of the vitamins or just plain yumminess of fresh squeezed juice.

The ambiance: bright, green and clean, but not for the hard-of-hearing - those juicing machines do make a racket...

The food: two soups each day, one or both vegetarian. Often on the salty side but they don't shy away from giving their soup some really flavor - definitely among the tastier soup options in the area, which is great as the chill of winter sets in. Four quiches, again with some vegetarian inclusions.

Then there's the (ubiquitous and seemingly obligatory) fridge full of prepared food. Their first day open (yes, I was there, I'm that desperate for new food around here) their "meal of the day" was a salad with smoked salmon, leeks, and a poached egg. Super. Most daily meals feature meat, however. I'm also a fan of their spring rolls with a spicy dipping sauce, and some other salads and sandwiches make for a decent, if smallish, selection.

Their vegetarian meat-alternative-of-choice is a product I had (shamefully?) never heard of: Tzai. I have scoured the interweb but all I know is that it's soy-based. Can anyone help? I feel my vegetarian credentials are taking a big hit here. It does taste pretty yummy but I always like to know what I'm eating.

Guapas are all over the city, so drop in on one, pick up a lunch, and if you feel up to it, splash out on a juice - Ginger Lime is at the top of my list. What's your favorite?

Guapa
23 rue de Luxembourg
1000 Brussels
http://www.guapajuice.com/
Open Mon-Fri from 7:30am to 7pm
Also at various other Brussels locations - see their website

Spice Up Your Life at Slurps

This was a lucky find. My friend, Sarah, stumbled upon this Bio-Vegetarian gem by accident, and I was fortunate enough to benefit from her newfound knowledge.

Like other vegetarian restaurants in town, Slurps is a combo shop + resto. They take it a step further by holding cooking classes, but more on that later.

The look is great – lots of clean, crisp lines and very modern. You almost feel healthy just for walking in the door. The service is friendly and helpful. We were off to a good start.

The cuisine here is Ayurvedic. Despite the vast amounts of explanation in the menu, I have to admit that I’m still not sure what that is all about – there’s almost too much information in the menu and we were hungry so the focus was more on the “what” than the “why” or “how.” However the dishes were recognizable – at least by name – as Pan-Asian: miso soup, palak paneer, etc. A good amount of Indian influence.

For starters, we had the aforementioned palak paneer, as well as a mung bean soup (with a poached egg – yum!), and artichoke pakoras. For mains, we moved on to a seitan with hoisin sauce served with risotto; haloumi cheese skewers and rice; couscous with seitan and vegetables; and a green curry with Quorn. The bread was a foccacia-type, with some oil and spices, very light. In short, nothing disappointed. All were beautifully spiced (if sometimes a bit heavy on the salt). We were in veggie heaven.

Slurps is happy to spice up more than your food: the first Thursdays of the month, you can join a “dating cooking” class (among other classes that are offered): cook your own dinner, learn some new recipes, and maybe find yourself a date. The open kitchen used for these classes is at the back of the dining area, meaning the six people signed up that evening became our entertainment. They did seem to be enjoying themselves, and if their food came out anything like what we were served, they were at least guaranteed a good meal.

Slurps
Rue Dautzenberg #7
1050 Ixelles
Tel. 0477.59.17.68 or 0477.927.411
Open weekday lunches, Wed-Sat evenings
http://www.slurps.be

Brussels' Vegetarian Classics

Generally I strive to cover the places that don't turn up when you Google "Vegetarian" and "Brussels". That said, no vegetarian Brussels-based blog could possibly be complete without a visit to Dolma. Google "Vegetarian" and "Brussels" and just about everyone will send you there. With good reason.

Dolma is a fantabulous vegetarian restaurant right near Place Flagey. They offer a buffet at lunchtime and in the evenings, and every time I go, it's both different and delicious. It's all you can eat (except for the desserts). They also have a very small menu for those who wish to order a la carte, but that's hardly the point.

Round one, I hit the soup-and-salad table. A hot vegetarian soup, crisp vegetables, a couple of kinds of lettuce, something marinated, some fruit salad. If you're there at lunchtime, a hefty serving from that table could be enough to send a veggie home smiling. But there's more!

Round two: the hot stuff. First, the bain-marie, generally with two kinds of rice (white and brown), some stewed vegetables, maybe some protein. Then we move on to a whole selection of vegetarian goodness. Last week - just as a sampling - this meant: lasagne "bolognese"; beautifully spiced grilled aubergines; courgettes and peppers with a yogurt sauce (which was also delish with the aubergines); and a veggie quiche. The bain-marie featured green beans and pumpkin in a coconut milk sauce, and marinated mushrooms.

Round three: this is where I go back for more of the stuff that was particularly good in round two. Yum.

Round four: dessert. Sadly, this is by far Dolma's weakpoint. A lot of their desserts seem to be vegan, and mastering the vegan cake without sacrificing flavor is a challenge for anyone. There are usually offerings in the chocolate, fruit, and creamy departments, but I've rarely had anything worth writing home about. Thankfully by that point in the meal, I'm too full to care.

Love Dolma enough to take it home with you? Sure you do. Walk next door and you'll find their shop, full of exciting bio products that you won't find in your local GB.

Don't fancy the whole buffet-surprise thing? Check out Tsampa, Dolma's sister restaurant (plus shop!) off Rue du Bailli, where you have a much better selection in ordering off the menu. I used to eat there all the time until they started closing at 7pm; the shop stays open until 8pm these days. This makes them more of a lunchtime affair, or a really early dinner, I guess. Plus they do take-away.

Both Tsampa and Dolma are heavy on the Tibetan flag-decor (apparently the original owners were Lamas), and both have a homey feel, with lots of wood panelling.

Good food in a comforting atmosphere, and you can eat everything in the place... what could be better than that?

Dolma
Chaussée d'Ixelles 329
1050 Ixelles
Tel. 02 649 89 81 (Reservations not required but not a bad idea either)
Open Tues-Sat for lunch and dinner
www.dolma.be
Lunch will run you 15 Eur; Dinner at 18

Also:
Tsampa
Rue de Livourne 109
1050 Ixelles
Tel. 02 647 03 67
Open Mon-Fri from 12-7pm
www.tsampa.be

World melange

After a recommendation from Andreea, I finally ventured out to Hemispheres. I had oggled their online menu a while back, thrilled with the number of vegetarian possibilities. (Their website appears to be down as of this posting)

I might as well get out of the way that the service was a big disappointment. This wasn't just Brussels-usual-slowness, this was extreme-Brussels-slowness.

That said, if you're not in any kind of hurry and fancy a good meal, this place definitely deserves a spot on your list. I opted for the vegetarian menu:
- courgette patties with a nice spicy thai-dipping-like-sauce,
- fried noodles with tofu and aubergine - turned out to come in a tomatoey sauce that was a bit too much for my liking
- fruit and good quality yogurt for dessert.

Gidon took the harira soup, which was good on its own and was also nice when he added in a little harissa (super spicy pepper/garlic puree). He moved on to the vegetarian tajine, nicely done up with lots of beans but short on protein. We were both highly interested in baklava for dessert, but they were out. Gidon settled on some other dessert - neither of us caught the name - that the waiter said was the closest thing to baklava they still had left. It had less honey and was crustier than baklava and gave a good indication that the baklava would also be worth trying.

The menu covers every ethnicity of food you can think of, so this is a great place if you and your date can't come to an agreement about what type of food you want. There is an emphasis on North African and Asian foods, though - right up my alley, but maybe not yours. Enjoy!

Hemispheres
Rue Des L'Ecuyer 65
1000 Brussels
Tel. 02 513 93 70
Open Mon-Sat, except Sat lunch
Website (if it comes back!): http://www.hemispheres-resto.be