comme chez soi

In 2002 we had the best meal (to that date) of our lives at Comme Chez Soi in Brussels.  It was then a three star Michelin restaurant and worthy of the accolades.  We knew it had lost a star in the intervening years as the old chef retired and a new one joined the team of the still family-owned restaurant.  However, we had such good memories of the warm welcome we had received that we wanted to return.

the menu from 2002-

the menu from 2015 -

And here are the photos of the lovely meal we had there on this trip-  we chose the tasting menu (all fish/seafood) and enjoyed it very much.  We also celebrated our return by having a bottle of excellent wine...

two plates of amuse bouches to start- cold then warm-

the shrimp course-

fabulous rouget -

the lobster course-

halibut - yum!

red fruit dessert and chocolate dessert- LOL

post desserts- LOL

the meal was fabulous and the welcome again terrifically warm and friendly- we had brought our menu from 2002 and several staff members came to look at it - commenting that they had been working there when we were there last - and what position they had held at that time... really lovely evening. It was a perfect farewell to Brussels.

We went back to the hotel and packed for our trip to Amsterdam the next day.  So stay tuned....

episodic antwerp

we had episodic rain and so our touring of Antwerp was kind of disjointed.  A mere 40 minutes away from Brussels by train - to a splendid beauty of a train station. 

We arrived with the rain. but by the time we found out how to use the subway to the correct stop for our first museum, it had stopped and we had sun... for an hour or so...

we headed to the Rockox Museum- a house of a wealthy man who collected art-

then back on the subway to the city center and the town hall and cathedral- and a frites stop -

the weather did not hold completely - as we ducked into the printing museum (our next destination) - it started to hail! LOL - luckily this museum was a real find! we could have easily spent several hours there but the museum closed in just a bit over an hour -

the preeminent European printing family for several generations - the entire complex (with print shop and home and bookstore) was extremely interesting and we really basically rushed through each room because there were no less than 25 of them - maybe more... well worth the time and quite near Antwerp city center.  We got back on the subway and headed back to Brussels so we could be back in time for our farewell to Brussels dinner at Comme Chez Soi (where we ate the - to then - best meal of our lives back in 2002 when we last visited Brussels!)

so stay tuned for the meal - the photos will show a good time was had by all!