Ugly But Tasty Duck

Brings new meaning to “ugly duckling”.  Fowl, but not foul, fortunately.

This take-home roasted duck (13 euros) from the small Vietnamese grocer Xuan Minh can look a little unsettling, but when heated in the oven you will forget all that.  The meat has a great flavor with the right amount of saltiness and meatiness.  Being duck, it also has lots of fat that not only helped the duck float when alive but also helps the meat taste like poultry’s glorious version of bacon after some crisping in the oven.  Sticklers for health can scrape off all the skin, too, of course, but that’s no fun.

I tried to take a photo from the side that wasn’t cut into, so that it wouldn’t look so unappealing, but you can still see it.  Oops.  Anyway, whatever, it’s roasted duck on a plate, not the Mona Lisa.  What can you do, put glitter on it in the shape of a smiley face?  If you like duck or other Vietnamese produce, check this place out.

Xuan Minh
Avenue Georges Henri 31, Woluwe

Languages: French, Vietnamese

Eating a cheeseburger that came from a can

Remember those German cheeseburgers-in-a-can?  The ones that were rumored to be extremely nasty?  Well, the one in my living room expired a week ago, which naturally meant that it had to be eaten.  Here’s a summary in ten pictures.  Conclusions follow.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Our incredible volunteer popping it open. Everyone gasped. We crowded around. Nothing spewed out screaming like in Ghostbusters.

Popped open the other side and shucked it out. Dry bread! Someone said his hands now smelled like meat. Someone else said they smelled like poo. Someone had better have been wrong.

No campfire, so into the microwave it went! Our volunteer requested the "nuclear" setting, but we just settled for "high" for 30 seconds...

...and it came out steaming! Appetizing, no?

Modern art: the empty can.

Oh. My. God.

I shuddered at this point.  (Click the photos to expand!)

What goes better with a cheeseburger from a can than a glass of fine French red wine, of course? No ketchup or other condiments were added, in order not to taint the subtle flavors carefully engineered using the best in German technology.

Chompin' down. He did his best.

He didn't finish.

Our excellent volunteer with a steel stomach concluded a few points about this thing:

1.  It’s better than Quick.
2.  The meat actually tasted like meat.
3.  The meat also tasted like paper.
4.  The “cheese” had plenty of something awful.
5.  If you were stuck in the woods somewhere and had this canned burger, you could eat it without dying.

So there you go.  Not good at all, but in the end, you could do worse.  Three cheers for German innovation!

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

Roasted Chicken Love

Carnivores have to take advantage of the succulent roasted chickens over at the weekly Sunday morning market at Place Jourdan.  There are at least two places to choose from for the poulets, but you might have to queue for a while if you go late by lunchtime.  At 8-10 euros each for a large and tasty bird, the wait is worth it.

It’s a good thing that Brussels has several markets around the area with fresh breads, fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, fish, and all sorts of other things, not to mention flowers and cheap clothes.  Just another plus for the city.

My favorite misteak

Welcome back, folks, foodies, and foreigners!  Summer has gone by so fast, hasn’t it?  We’re back in Belgium, whether by choice or circumstance, excellent or otherwise. Regardless, it’s time to eat!

Unfortunately for the vegetarians, we return with a shout-out to an excellent place to find a cut of beef: classy Troubadour just a train ride away in Leuven / Louvain.

Before the Belgian summer ends, head out to east of Brussels in Flemish Brabant.  Sit down on a terrace upon a narrow cobblestone walkway next to other diners, and order the beef filet (~25 euros).  It should be large, rich, seared to a tender medium rareness, and succulent.  I am partial to pairing it with the mushroom cream sauce (~4 euros), but take your pick out of the selection.  Be warned that this is a lot of food, so don’t go there to graze.

Apparently the traditional mussels-in-a-bucket dish (~23 euros) is good there, too, particularly now that it’s September and the start of the season, but I haven’t tried it yet.

I still have yet to find a better steak around Brussels.  That doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking.  Got any suggestions?

Troubadour
Tiensestraat 32, Leuven

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