• On our trip to Leuven, after our great meal at Fragma we went to EssenCiel for lunch, which has one-star Michelin. 

    EssenCiel belongs to the young chef Niels Brants and his partner Romina Charels, both were formed at Nuance, the two stars Michelin in Duffel, Belgium under the chef Thierry Theys. 

    The restaurant is small with maximum 20 seats, but it has an elegant design with open kitchen where we can see the chef and his team at work. On the basement, there is a private room with a view on the wine cellar for groups. 

    The menu for lunch was quite reasonable, for three courses menu are 45 euros, four courses are 66 euros and five courses are 88 euros. 

    We started our lunch with a beautiful and delicious cocktail bases on citrus and bergamot and three delicacies as amuse-bouche. There were three types of bread served for our lunch a mini olive focaccia, a brioche and a mini baguette, all perfectly baked. 

    Our entrée was a small scallop, otoro and bergamot which was conceived like tapas where we can swallow in bite and our main dish was a haddock fish cooked with seasonal vegetables like yellow carrots and Jerusalem artichoke, it was so good that we forgot to take a picture of the dish. The dessert, the chocolate from Madagascar, hibiscus and equinox was a beautiful treat to end our meal.

    Our hostess and sommelier were very pertinence in her suggestion of wines by glass, the Spanish wine “Y tu de quien eres?” 2019 and the Italien wine Trej from Grasso family 

    The service by our hostess was very nice, casual and relax. 

    EssenCiel was an excellent choice for lunch, the food, the service and the wines are top notch.

     

    EssenCiel

    Naamsestraat 47,

    3000 Leuven, Belgium

    Téléphone :+32 16 29 06 00

    www.essenciel.be

     

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel

     

     

     

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel

    EssenCiel


    votre commentaire
  • Fragma restaurant is a real find and we have a huge “coup de Coeur” because it got everything we love. First the setting in an old historic building located in the Bondgenotenlaan in Leuven. A building with a lot of character and a beautiful large garden. The interior has a sober design with a Scandinavian feel. Two, the location which is ten minutes’ walk from the central train station of Leuven and most of all the food by Kevin Gijsembergt, a young and very talented chef.

     

    The menu entitled Fragments from the season was a great introduction to Kevin Gijsembergt culinary universe. The meal was served in seven steps plus the usual amuse-bouche and sweets.

     

    Every dish was a delicacy and a work of art, the composition of the dish, the flavors and the quality of its ingredients, all perfectly cooked. From the raw oyster with carrot and sesame’s structure to the smoked eel with pumpkin and onion dashi and the deer from the Ardennes slowly cooked with eggplant & game sauce with tonka bean to the tarte tatin with parsnip & hazelnut ice cream.

     

    The wine list was amazing but for our dinner, we chose to pair with our meal five non-alcoholic drinks which were very original and stunningly good. 

     

    The service by our hostess and sommelier was very kind, professional and very attentive to our Littleboboon Junior.

    Fragma restaurant is a must when visiting Leuven and it is only 28 minutes by train from Brussels.

     

     

    Fragma

    Bondgenotenlaan 114,

    3000 Leuven, Belgium

    Telephone:+32 16 90 66 12

    www.restaurantfragma.be

     

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma

    Fragma


    votre commentaire
  • Ziya restaurant in Mumbai is a modern Indian restaurant, with menus by the Michelin star chef Vineet Bhatia. The restaurant is located in the elegant Oberoi hotel in Mumbai with breathtaking panoramic views of the Mumbai bay and the Arabian sea.

    Ziya got great reviews in the press everywhere in India and we had high expectations when we went there for dinner on Sunday November 3rd 2019. Probably too high in respect to the reputation of Vineet Bhatia, but our dinner fell a little bit short: every bite was good, tasty but compared to our lunch earlier at Ishaara, the cooking was less refined and one notch below. Our Ziya Tasting menu was not well balanced and a little too copious to our taste.

    The wine list was excellent, especially for Indian wines. All fifteen French guests at our dinner were amazed and greatly surprised by the quality and finesse of the Indian wines we drank, be it white or red.

    The service was top notch as expected in such a high-end venue.

    Dining at Ziya was a nice experience, but somehow it left us a little bit frustrated probably because we had too great expectation from Vineet Bhata.

     

    Ziya

    The Oberoi, Mumbai,

    Nariman Point, Mumbai,

    Maharashtra 400021, India

    Tel : +91 22 6632 6210

    www.oberoihotels.com/hotels-in-mumbai/restaurants/ziya/

     

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

    Ziya

     


    2 commentaires
  • Initially, we wanted to lunch at the Sant Anton market in Madrid, but by the time we got there on Saturday November 9th 2019 at 2pm all the restaurants and Tapas bars were full, so we had to improvise and find a place to eat for the seven of us.

    By chance after walking five minutes away from the market and turning onto the Calle de Pelayo at number 4, we found Gastronomaquia, The name and the look of the restaurant appealed to us and by checking the menu all of us wanted to taste their cooking.

    It was our lucky day as they had one big table left, near the kitchen, that could sit our party of seven. Everything on the menu looked good, so we decided to order several entrées to share such as mushroom croquettes, tuna tartar, grilled goat cheese and tiradito Gastronomaquia. These entrées confirmed our first impression: they were all tasty and pretty good, but the best was yet to come with their “A Banda” rice, their own version of the paella with mussels, clams and gambas. To conclude this very nice lunch, we had a Mojito sorbet and chocolate cake, both delicious.

    The wine list was very interesting, the white wines particularly caught our attention and we selected a dry white wine from the island of Lanzarote in the Canaries called Bermejo Seco. This too was a lucky and amazing find.

    The service was very nice and welcoming.

    Gastronomaquia was a genuine serendipity and a good alternative from the eateries at Sant Anton mercado. It deserves to be discovered when you travel to Madrid.

     

    Gastronomaquia

    Calle de Pelayo, 4,

    28004 Madrid, Espagne

    Tel:  +34 915 22 64 13

    www.gastromaquia.es

     

    Gastronomaquia

    Gastronomaquia

    Gastronomaquia

    Gastronomaquia

    Gastronomaquia

    Gastronomaquia

     


    votre commentaire
  • On our first day in Mumbai on Sunday November 3rd 2019, my colleagues and I went shopping to the Palladium Mall but before wandering around in the mall for Mumbai goods, we decided to have something to eat.

    We spotted a spacious restaurant named Ishaara, It was a place flooded with natural light, well-designed and cheerful. The teak wood furniture added to the warmth and accentuated the lively ambiance. The five of us decided to give it a try and we were blown away by the food and the service.

    The food was modern Indian cuisine, from across various regions of India, very refreshing. The corresponding sign for each dish made it easy for us to place the order with the staff -- all with speech and hearing impairement -- starting with the comforting street-food, which is a highlight here. 'Dilli Aloo Tikki', 'Bhutte Ki Khees', and 'Chicken Nukti Boti Kachori', are absolute must-haves. The 'Chicken Moringa Soup' is well-made and a flavorful treat and the Lobster Patti one must not miss. Every dish from the Rogani Roti to the steamed rice was delightful and the desserts from the Yuzu lime mousse to the Vanilla Pod Aga Agar were a knockout.

    The wine list was interesting but a little expensive for lunch so we went for the Kingfisher beers.

    The service is provided by a well-trained staff, their warmth and alertness is hard to miss. We wish we had the same level of service in restaurants in Europe, especially in France where the service is often mediocre.

    The food at Ishaara was high on flavors and textures, real and robust, without pretense. The price was easy-on-the-wallet and the portions good value for your money and much better than most Michelin-starred Indian restaurants whether in London or New York.

    A must-go while in Mumbai.

     

    Ishaara

    3rd Floor, No. 462, Palladium Mall, 

    High Street Phoenix, Tulsi Pipe Rd, Lower Parel,

    Mumbai, Maharashtra 400013

    India

    Telephone : +91 86575 31988

     

    Ishaara

    Ishaara

    Ishaara

    Ishaara

    Ishaara

    Ishaara

    Ishaara

     

    Ishaara

     

    Ishaara

     

     

     


    votre commentaire


    Suivre le flux RSS des articles de cette rubrique
    Suivre le flux RSS des commentaires de cette rubrique