The Rice Bowl Blog Day 12
26/11/14
Lunch @ Scheltema, Brussels
Zeeland Mussel casserole à la Marinière & French fries
Fresh Flat oysters
Scallops with Belgian endive & white beer sauce
Rolled baby soles and scampi flavored with truffle oil
Shrimp croquettes
Angela: We were harassed by restaurants touters along this one street where many eateries were housed: "koni shiwa.....Nie hao.....$12 euros only for seafood plate and paella, I give you free drinks...." We finally did the right thing -- we walked right into that one quiet restaurant with a small Michelin discal and nobody was screaming at the front door. Pricey menu but by golly did we eat good!! Raw oysters and mussels, scampi with truffle oil, and the crusty bread was simply heavenly.
After lunch we strolled into that little designer boutique which caught my eyes earlier (you have to ring the door bell to be let in). I knew I should have never gone costume shopping after two glasses of wine at lunch. This boutique was no mass market brand name shop but full of artistically designed vintage-contour make-new wearable arts. Each piece was totally unique with understated elegance and hidden dramatics. And the charming elder gentleman (who's a retired dentist and minding the shop for his wife the boutique owner) asked where we were from and promptly told us that his daughter was enroute to sunny Singapore this very day to get away from the cold grey weather of Belgium! A serendipity encounter indeed.
He commended us for avoiding lunch at "those thieves' eateries, they promised you free drinks but you found out later what big price you paid. The seafood were probably marinated and sat there since last Friday!" It was like a scene out of those classic Hollywood 1950s movies where the women were up at the tiny maisonette of the shop trying out dresses after dresses (in our case for production costumes of course) and the men were chatting downstairs ready to pay the bill. We have to depend on Edwin's plastic as mine was stolen a week ago.
My objective of the day started out as not to get robbed again. We willingly emptied our wallets when we left the shop. The wife shop-owner would have been so pleased with her husband's catch-of-the-day. And folks, please look out for the premiere of Ms Mimie's gorgeously red laced-up leather sandals with the top part of the shoes shaved off. Her feet never look sexier :) Our eyes finally have their turns for the feast of the day (and I mean sightseeing Brussels here)!
Mimie: To say something is good or bad, it is very subjective and sensitive as it could be related to the culture as well. A meal in a Michelin's chef restaurant was kind of a waste for me as I can't differentiate good mussels from bad ones. My tastebuds were never been trained for this kind of food before. However, the butter was excellent.
การที่จะบอกว่าอะไรอร่อยหรือไม่อร่อยมันก็ขึ้นอยู่กับวัฒนธรรมที่เติบโตมาด้วย ร้านอาหารรางวัลมิชลินจึงเป็นเรื่องสิ้นเปลือง เพราะไม่ได้โตมากับอาหารแบบนั้น เลยแยกไม่ออกว่าอะไรคือของดี อะไรคือของไม่ดี แต่อย่างไรก็ตาม เนยอร่อยมากๆ
Tomomi: レストラン探しをしている時に、呼び込みが凄いいかにもツーリスト向けの通りがあった。まるでボートキー。観光地に行った時は、よく目を見開いて、見極めないといけないね。
While we were looking for restaurants to lunch at, we passed by this particular street where there were so many touters calling us to eat at their place! This scene reminded me of Singapore's Boat Quay, where it is also a tourist spot. We had to open our eyes and be sharp while choosing the right restaurant to eat at!
Edwin: To be the Michelin chef's restaurant for at least 6 years in a row! In the Grand Place of Brussels where history meets art and cuisine. Need I say more?
