Sweet, creamy goodness at El Vergel

One can understand the steady price inflation at El Vergel over the years because its food is so darn good.  Portion sizes might not satisfy everyone, but the flavors should.  Case in point: the El Vergel cheesecake.

Don’t ask me what’s so Latin American about this cheesecake, but I’m not complaining.  It boasts a smoother and creamier texture than some New York or Chicago cheesecakes, and there definitely is no air or puffiness to it.  It’s really rich, but miraculously at the same time it’s not too rich, and like gourmet Marcolini chocolates, the sweetness doesn’t overpower the senses or leave your mouth dry.  The crust also balances out the creaminess perfectly, with a strong biscuit-cookie taste and crumbly texture and just the tiniest, tiniest hint of saltiness.  This cheesecake in a word: fantastic.

The only complaint is that the individual slices are getting smaller at the restaurant!  Just buy a whole pie to avoid the trouble and cut yourself your own huge piece.

El Vergel
Rue du Trône 39, Ixelles

Cheesecake:  A
Languages: English, French, Spanish

Celebrating the Fall of the Wall with Western gluttony

At least one cute girl was spotted peacefully reading books inside cozy Maxburg by Schuman, so the place clearly has more than great food.  The home-like establishment has delicious German comfort food in excellently sized portions, all served within friendly and familial surroundings.  The standard wiener schnitzel (~12 euros) is a savory slab of fried flattened pork, accompanied by a generous crunchy green salad and fried potatoes.  I also tried the beef stroganoff in a creamy red wine sauce (~13 euros) the last time I was there, and the well-cooked meat had a deep and bold flavor that was very tasty.  If you don’t feel like driving across the border for food like this, just head over to the European quarter.

Maxburg
108 Rue Steven, Brussels

Food: A
Price: A
Atmosphere: A-
Languages: German, English, French

Belgian sophisticate

Their cold carpaccio of scallops had an exquisite taste, slightly salty and even more slightly sweet, but the roasted salmon really impressed me more. The salmon meat was still tender as if cooked slowly under low heat, and the rich flavor was excellent. It was served with sides of herbed rice with a kind of melted cheesed mixed in. The buttery flavors matched well, and together with the appetizer/entree, wine, and dessert, it made a very good meal (50 euros).

The gimmick had been that we could taste three very different mystery white wines before our first course and choose the one we liked best. Then we did the same for red wines during the main course. It was like a game, as if we had to choose the right one, and for wine connoisseurs it could be interesting. I left the critiquing of complex smoky aromas to the Belgian wine specialists but did my share of tasting, followed by inarticulate commentary.

We had settled on majorities in favor of a French white and Spanish red, although by the end of it we must have had about five times as many glasses on the table than we needed and looked like a bunch of drunks. I’m not sure that it matched the warm and elegant atmosphere that surrounded us, with its wooden plank walls full of Belgian and Congolese art, but in the end it had been a good night there, which ultimately was most important.

Voltaire
Jules Vandembemptlaan 6a, Heverlee

Food: A
Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Price: B-
Languages: Dutch, English, French

Loud and proud in Place Lux

Can’t beat a classic meal at Fat Boys!  I haven’t run across another place in Brussels with as consistently great burgers.  Accompanied by fries, wings, and a beer, how can you go wrong at this rare and rough sports bar in the city?

The expat English-American atmosphere lends to the flavor.

Fat Boys
Place du Luxembourg 5, Brussels

Food: B+
Price: B+
Atmosphere: A-
Service: A
Languages: English, French, Dutch

Good Greek in Leuven

The relatively new Greek restaurant Zita over in Flemish Brabant had romanced me with its roasted lamb chops and spiced orzo platter (20 euros), but it was the service that really won my heart.

Considering that the fried calamari (13 euros) was nothing special, and that the orzo seemed too run-of-the-mill and a little too salty, the lamb easily was the second-best part of the experience.  Those chops were cooked perfectly for me, tender and full of that deep, unique flavor that only lamb can have.  Maybe authenticity is not the primary goal of the place, but the food was good anyway.

If the menu was secondary, then the very best part was our waitress, who rolled with the punches of serving a large table of guests and brought out all sorts of dishes for us with an unusual proficiency and laid-back humor that I can appreciate.  She was an education student at the local university, so I suppose that’s no surprise.  Her future colleagues will be lucky.

Zita
Tiensesteenweg 347, Kessel-lo

Food: B+
Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Price: B
Languages: Dutch, English, French