Den Gouden Harynck*
Sometimes curiosity killed the cat ... in this case, curiosity led to a disappointing dinner. It was quite some time we wanted to go to Brugge (Belgium) and try either the Karmeliet*** or the Den Gouden Harynck* (read * as michelin star) normally described like the tradition of vlanderen and the modern view on flemish cuisine. Highly praised. As we managed to book another triple star (that is an 8 months waiting list!!!) we decided to opt for the modern praised Den Gouden Harynck*.
This is how it went ... yesterday evening.
Good start. Very friendly and nice atmosphere even if it felt that the tables were crammed as much as possible to get as many people in as possible. We get promptly the menu and our glasses of champagne .... we wait quite a lot to order. Well, we though they do not want to be oppressive. Our choice was the season menu with the wine arrangement (4 courses) ... with the idea to also get the optional cheese tray.
Amuses arrive right after we ordered. The first was some sort of solidified broth cut in tagliatelle style with some gray shrimps. Now ... nice effect but my fiancee comment (after 2 weeks of good fish in Italy) was something like: "Does it have any sea taste?". The second amuse was a strip of haring with a drop of roasted pepper cream. Tasty ... but small.
Dishes go .... first starter arrives ... ops! Are they gonna rush us into eating here?? We'll see. This was nice. The smell was fabulously of lobster and it was indded half lobster tail in a lobster bisque with cardamon and turmeric (kind of curry-like) with a rhubarb compote. Nice combination, sauce of great taste. Lobster taste ... only in the smell. Overall a good dish. Served with a very young german riesling. Good choice.
We waited one hour for the second starter ... and I noticed the reason was that they synchronized us to a recently filled table. This was the best dish of the evening. A little stripe of sole slightly fried in oil with soy sauce with some soy sprouts, tomato compote and a parmesan foam. Great stuff .... next to it some useless mini stuffed pasta they dared to call cannelloni. Well, this kind of pasta I would not tolerate in any restaurant, but given the beautiful sole ... I was very happy. Even more impressive was the wine, a Pecorino Terre di Chieti I now want to seek and buy. A fantastic white wine. We were really thrilled to get the main dish.
Now ... after more than an hour we got a sort of main dish. Again a delay due to the synchronization to yet another late coming table. Unacceptable in a michelin starred restoraunt! This was no main course ... two mini pieces of lamb fillet with a spoon of peas. Peas tasted frozen and full of lemon. The lamb ... was it lamb? It tasted only of pre-made curry. It was a 3-bite main course of poor taste and execution. Wine was just ok. I went berserk with this dish ... the cheese trolley, no way! It seemed poor and I even saw a supermarket cheese!
The dessert arrived 10 minutes after the main course. A red fruit compote with a prosecco granita. I hate red fruit and I left the dish untouched (so no comment). The dish was taken away with no comment whatsoever on the fact that it was untouched. This is an unacceptable behavior in such a place. The service treated us like just a number. Maybe we were too young to be there ... bah! We did order like most other people, though.
We paid the nice sum of 210 euros for this. Way above its real value and quantity. I would have been ok with 120 or 130 "at most"! I wanted to stop and buy fries on the way home. The level of service and care of the customer is really low. It is simply a show-off place ... you go there to say I was there. The food had one great moment and too many poor ones.
Will I go back? Only if I do not pay and drive (wine is good). Not worth it otherwise.
This is how it went ... yesterday evening.
Good start. Very friendly and nice atmosphere even if it felt that the tables were crammed as much as possible to get as many people in as possible. We get promptly the menu and our glasses of champagne .... we wait quite a lot to order. Well, we though they do not want to be oppressive. Our choice was the season menu with the wine arrangement (4 courses) ... with the idea to also get the optional cheese tray.
Amuses arrive right after we ordered. The first was some sort of solidified broth cut in tagliatelle style with some gray shrimps. Now ... nice effect but my fiancee comment (after 2 weeks of good fish in Italy) was something like: "Does it have any sea taste?". The second amuse was a strip of haring with a drop of roasted pepper cream. Tasty ... but small.
Dishes go .... first starter arrives ... ops! Are they gonna rush us into eating here?? We'll see. This was nice. The smell was fabulously of lobster and it was indded half lobster tail in a lobster bisque with cardamon and turmeric (kind of curry-like) with a rhubarb compote. Nice combination, sauce of great taste. Lobster taste ... only in the smell. Overall a good dish. Served with a very young german riesling. Good choice.
We waited one hour for the second starter ... and I noticed the reason was that they synchronized us to a recently filled table. This was the best dish of the evening. A little stripe of sole slightly fried in oil with soy sauce with some soy sprouts, tomato compote and a parmesan foam. Great stuff .... next to it some useless mini stuffed pasta they dared to call cannelloni. Well, this kind of pasta I would not tolerate in any restaurant, but given the beautiful sole ... I was very happy. Even more impressive was the wine, a Pecorino Terre di Chieti I now want to seek and buy. A fantastic white wine. We were really thrilled to get the main dish.
Now ... after more than an hour we got a sort of main dish. Again a delay due to the synchronization to yet another late coming table. Unacceptable in a michelin starred restoraunt! This was no main course ... two mini pieces of lamb fillet with a spoon of peas. Peas tasted frozen and full of lemon. The lamb ... was it lamb? It tasted only of pre-made curry. It was a 3-bite main course of poor taste and execution. Wine was just ok. I went berserk with this dish ... the cheese trolley, no way! It seemed poor and I even saw a supermarket cheese!
The dessert arrived 10 minutes after the main course. A red fruit compote with a prosecco granita. I hate red fruit and I left the dish untouched (so no comment). The dish was taken away with no comment whatsoever on the fact that it was untouched. This is an unacceptable behavior in such a place. The service treated us like just a number. Maybe we were too young to be there ... bah! We did order like most other people, though.
We paid the nice sum of 210 euros for this. Way above its real value and quantity. I would have been ok with 120 or 130 "at most"! I wanted to stop and buy fries on the way home. The level of service and care of the customer is really low. It is simply a show-off place ... you go there to say I was there. The food had one great moment and too many poor ones.
Will I go back? Only if I do not pay and drive (wine is good). Not worth it otherwise.
Labels: Belgium, restaurant, review
posted by The Food Traveller at 9:08 PM
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