L'Amour Fou

Date of visit: January 2012

Cuisine: Belgo-American

Price range: $

Rating: 3/5

Ambience: this little restaurant is located just opposite the Place Fernand Cocq, in the Ixelles area. The concept is that of an American diner serving Belgian food and the atmosphere is very informal, with large and small tables grouped quite close together, no tablecloths and bottles of mayo, mustard and ketchup as the only centrepieces. When we visited it at lunch time, the customers were mainly families with children and young people. There is only one main dining room, which is part of a period building and has high ceilings with cornicing and ceiling roses; oddly enough, someone has decided to hang massive planks of wood from the ceilings, covering up the splendour of the original décor and obtaining a final effect that leaves a lot to be desired. This is the only fault I could find, other than that the walls are decorated with cool prints in bright colours and as long as you avoid looking up at the ceiling, the place looks cool and pleasant.

Food: the restaurant's speciality are the burgers, with 13 different kinds on the menu. Most of them come with divine Belgian frites (fries), made fresh and with the skin on - this place is worth visiting for the frites alone, I reckon! A few of the burgers come with cajun wedges, which are soggy and disappointing. The menu includes small dishes to share such as nachos, quesadillas and mezzes, a few salads and three or four main dishes that are not burgers. I ordered the "Pêchon" burger, i.e. a deliciously fresh white fish fillet in a light, crispy batter, sandwiched between a fragrant bun, with a home made tartare sauce and baby watercress leaves. It was faultless, to the point that although I always try to order different things from the menu when I visit a restaurant for the second time, in this case I will have to chose this dish again! My boyfriend went for the "Canard déchaîné" burger, which consists of a patty made of duck meat, served with hoisin sauce, spring onions and cucumber in a white bun. He loved it, but thought there was still room for improvement: one, the cucumber came in a single, massive thick slice which did not blend well with the other flavours; and two, it was served with the mediocre potato wedges instead of the outstanding frites.  

Service: the staff were all people in their early twenties, who apparead to struggle a bit to keep up with the orders once the restaurant became full. They did not seem prepared to make any particular effort to please the customers, either: when my boyfriend asked whether his duck burger could be served with frites instead of potato wedges, the answer was just "sorry, no changes". How difficult could have been to accommodate this small request? Instead, they suggested he ordered an additional portion of frites, which he did; however, the waitress failed to communicate this to the kitchen with the result that we had to remind her that we were still waiting for the frites, and they were brought to the table once we had finished our meal, with no apologies. Poor. 

Drinks: good selection of Belgian beer, wine and soft drinks. The mint tea is made with fresh mint leaves and the coffee is really good, too. 

Damage: Our bill for two burgers, one portion of fries, two Oranginas, one beer and two coffees came to €44. 

Verdict: this is a great place to visit for an informal lunch with friends, when you are not afraid to use your hands to eat, you don't mind waiting a while for your food and don't expect silver service. With these conditions and because of the delicious food, I would go again. 

Address: 185, Chaussée d'Ixelles, 1050 Brussels. www.lamourfou.be

Basta Cosí

Date of visit: August 2011, December 2011

Cuisine: Italian

Price range: $$ 

Rating: 3/5

Ambience: Basta Cosí is a charming and extremely busy Italian restaurant located in the  Châtelain area. On both our visits it was packed, but we managed to snatch a table despite not having a reservation. In the summer, it is possible to eat alfresco, overlooking Place du Châtelain; this would be quite charming if it wasn't for the fact that all the smokers opt for the same option, so you end up savouring your meal enveloped in cigarette smoke - not for me! The interior of the restaurant is tastefully decorated, with warm plum tones and funky glass lamps and chandeliers. 

Food: the menu offers a wide range of dishes prepared with traditional Italian ingredients, but with a modern twist - do not expect the usual spaghetti bolognaise. Whilst there are a few classic recipes such as lasagne, you can also find intriguing choices like pasta made with cocoa, in a gorgonzola and walnut sauce. The menu comprises meat, fish, pasta, risotto and pizza options, and a decent selection of vegetarian dishes. 

On our first visit, for starter my boyfriend had skewers of queen scallops and king prawns wrapped in streaky bacon, and black pudding: it had a good balance thanks to the saltiness of the meat and the sweetness of the fish, and he loved it. I had a pea and mint soup with prawns, which was creamy and tasty. For main, we both ordered monkfish, which was served in a deep bowl, surrounded by a potato broth and potato chunks: unusual but delicious, the fish was cooked to perfection and the portion was generous. The dessert of tiramisú did the job of finishing off the meal with a little sweetness but was not particularly remarkable. 

On our second visit, I ordered pizza; the restaurant offers the option of having half of your pizza scattered with one choice of toppings, and the other half with completely different toppings altogether, which I thought was brilliant! I decided to go with half a Romana (anchovies, capers and olives) and half a Prosciutto e Funghi (ham and mushrooms). My boyfriend picked a calzone stuffed with ham, porcini mushrooms, taleggio cheese and truffle cream. I was really impressed with the pizza dough; crispy, light and exactly how it should be. There was a generous amount of toppings and the tomato sauce was nicely seasoned, which does not always happen. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The calzone was less of a successful choice: the part with the stuffing was delicious to start with, but became rather overwhelming and rich halfway through, and the calzone itself was too doughy and bland around the edges. I believe these particular ingredients would work great as a pizza topping but proved to be too much for a calzone stuffing.  

Service: the staff were nice and helpful, doing their best to accommodate us when we did not have a reservation, swiftly fixing our wobbly outdoor table on our first visit and answering our questions about the menu. As soon as we were seated, on both occasions they brought us some bread and olives to nibble at while we were perusing the menu.

Drinks: great selection of Italian wines that goes beyond the usual Chianti and Pinot Grigio.

Damage: the final bill for our first visit was €105 (for the fish dinner) and about €40 the second time, when we had pizza.

 

Verdict: considered the plush area it is located in, this lovely looking restaurant charges a reasonable amount for the good quality of the food it offers. The dishes are creative, made fresh and tasty. I will definitely go again.  

Address: Basta Cosí, Rue du Châtelain 30-32, 1050 Ixelles, Brussels. www.bastacosi.com