A Rouge Affair
Brussels
Отзывы
Wow wow wow... One of the best dinners I had in Ghent, indeed during my entire month in Belgium! I ordered the 3 course "rouge affair". Each course exceeded my expectations in taste and presentation. Looking forward to dinning here again next time I am in Ghent! (- 1 star for atmosphere only because the chairs in the courtyard are a bit uncomfortable)
“Too bad the sea bream had to die for this.” Those were the exact words we gave the waitress at the end of our dinner. The evening had actually started with high expectations. We’ve had several excellent experiences at Je m’en Fish’s original location at Koophandelsplein, where the concept of refined seafood sharing plates, packed with bold flavours, always managed to impress. As locals from Ghent, a warm summer evening seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally try their charming terrace in the Zwartezusterstraat. Surprisingly, the terrace was rather quiet when we arrived. We started with two Aperols (€10 each), which were well priced, and followed the staff’s recommendation of ordering two dishes per person. We went for the razor clams (6 pieces – €15), scallops with herring caviar (2 pieces – €16), the shellfish (€16) and the Tom Kha Kai with seafood (€18). We were served 2 small loafs of bread. Extra bread? 3 euros per portion. Where the original restaurant used to surprise us with vibrant, well-balanced flavours, this time we found ourselves reaching for the salt and pepper on the table. The razor clams were rather small and under-seasoned (do check another one of my reviews for a far better take on razor clams in Ghent), the scallops were overwhelmed by truffle mashed patatos with very little scallop left to enjoy, and the shellfish in a buttery white wine sauce lacked the depth needed to leave a lasting impression. Thankfully, the Tom Kha Kai was a different story: the sauce had character, a pleasant kick of spice and was by far the most flavourful dish of the first round. The portions turned out to be noticeably smaller than expected, so after four dishes we were still far from satisfied. We therefore ordered two more substantial mains: the butterfly sea bream (€24) and the meunière-style skate wing (€29). The skate wing was perfectly acceptable. The fish had a pleasant texture, although it lacked the crispy crust you would hope for. The beurre noisette with capers was delicious, but once again the fish itself could have benefited from a little more seasoning. Overall, a fair dish. The sea bream, however, was a completely different story. Rather clumsily presented on the plate, it arrived clearly overcooked: dry, full of bones and almost completely devoid of flavour. The accompanying sauce was actually pleasant, but it simply didn’t match the fish. It’s disappointing to see such a beautiful, pure product treated this poorly in a restaurant that specialises in seafood. We mentioned this to the waitress, who replied that she hadn’t heard many complaints about the dish before. Perhaps we were simply unlucky. Will we return to this location? Probably not. Which is a shame, because this restaurant genuinely has (or perhaps once had) so much potential. Maybe it’s time to return to the formula that made the original Je m’en Fish such a success.
Throughly enjoyed this place for dinner. We tried maybe 7 dishes and ranged from decent to excellent - the highlights included the tuna tataki in mango habanero sauce, scallop crudo, and razor clams, all three of these were addictively amazing. The main course dishes (a tomato based seafood and tom Kha mussels) were hit or miss, didn’t quite come together. Overall I would definitely go again but would err on the side of small/share plates. Very picturesque courtyard to dine in was a big plus!
Great place. Nice food at reasonable price, although waiters seemed to be very busy they where nice and resolutive, and we loved the place. Highly recommended.
Fresh seafood generally taste good but I did try much better tasting dish which are similar hence marked down slightly but very fresh tasting food. The butter and the pasta are both homemade. Good environment worth trying when you are in Ghent.
