La Figoule, Brussels - Spanish Cuisine with a Modern Twist
New year, new spot. La Figoule, located
quite towards the end of Avenue Louise, not far from Bois de la Cambre, is a
new restaurant that popped up about four months ago.
Combining the best of Spanish cuisine with
some modern details, while putting highlights on the most important
ingredients, La Figoule’s chef creates dishes that make you want to come back.
He was taught at El Bulli, one of the most famous Spanish restaurants known for
its molecule cuisine and artistic display of dishes. But it’s not only him;
Jeremy, one of the three owners (1 Belgian, 2 French) as well as the waiters at
this place are very friendly, attentive and helpful.
Once arrived at La Figoule, you’ll enter
into a spacious, bright and modern place, furnished with colourful chairs and
tables in red and turquoise to your right, while on the left side you’ll see a
big wooden drawer with old bottles, wine glasses and jars filled with sea salt.
A few steps up and you’ll spot the big bar to your right. It has everything
that’s needed to prepare a great cocktail and the waiters are happy to help you
with your choice. On the left there is a row of light wooden tables, a long
bench and some nice woven chairs. By looking through the big glass surface in
front of you, you can take a glimpse or two into the kitchen. Two floors up
you’ll reach another room, filled with yellow chairs and tables, which from
this week onwards is the restaurant area. Downstairs you can have cocktails,
while enjoying some Tapas with it.
Now about the most important part, the part
that probably interests you most. La comida. The food. After Jeremy introduced
himself, he also introduced to us that day's tasting menu. 6 courses were
waiting for us. But first: an Amuse-Bouche. A piece of aubergine tempura with
spicy Andalusian aioli, tomato chutney and fried chips of Pata Negra ham kicked
off that evening's menu. Followed by two jamon croquetas, fried to perfection,
creamy and soft. The next dish, tuna tatar, looked almost too nice to touch or
even eat it; served in a little bowl made from fried wonton dough, together
with orange fish eggs (ikura?!), while having this smooth and soft texture and
a very extraordinary taste that’s hard to put into words. Speaking about
amazing texture - the final starter of this menu was a very soft Mozzarella di
Bufala on diced tomatoes with ponzu and black garlic ice cream. Oh yes, my
taste buds didn't know on which ingredient to concentrate first.
This definitely heated up our appetite and
we became curious about the two main dishes to follow. First, there was cod on
a potato puree, with crunchy sautéed sugar snaps in a reduction made from the
fish's own sauce and olive oil. The meat part was represented by a piece of
suckling-pig wrapped in lard, served with a creamy mushroom sauce. Very crispy
on the outside and soft on the inside, this was a great dish, but we were quite
saturated at this point already. But what's a Saturday evening dinner without
dessert?! - If possible, one that involves chocolate. They seemed to read my
mind and there it was, a chocolate fondant, with cherry ice cream and white
chocolate mousse. I guess this speaks for itself, I would just add that the
fondant was perfect (and many times it's not these days). A firm outside part
and once you dig your spoon into it, all the perfect, still warm and liquid chocolate
that's inside appears, just to be paired with the ice cream that's waiting for
it.
Enough for now. I'm getting hungry and if I
could, I would go back to La Figoule at this very moment. It’s a great place
for a relaxed evening, with good food in a buzzing atmosphere.
Prices: 20€ for a lunch menu, in the evening it's around 10-15€ for a starter and 18-27€ for a main dish
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