Wow, I’m back !!! Finally !!!

Sorry again for waiting all this time, due to a lost recipe & notions book as well as a loss of some photo’s I did not have the content I wanted. But now we are back, and let me start with this great restaurant:

B23 with a great inspiring chef listening to the beautiful name of Kevin….:-) (De Backer) http://www.brouwersvliet23.be/

So I am sorry to report that I only found my old mobile photo’s and the dishes looked much better then most of these pictures show you, so please forgive me this. I guess I will have to go back soon for the latest menu and HQ photo’s!

 

Some of the dishes I enjoyed that night:

• Duck “Rilette” with pickle ice cream
• Porc cheek with aioli
• Creation of white asparagus
• Pasta “Al Burro”
• Steak Tartar (cut beef)
• Brilliant cheese selection

 

Hereby my positives and negatives (In case you read this chef, please note that all negative points are just my personal opinion and possible learning points…..;-):

+++ Great interior with a 100% open kitchen as you can see, you feel really connected with his kitchen

+++ All wines were served at the absolute best possible temperature

+++ Great hand-cut fries and homemade mayonnaise, best fries I had as a side in years!

+++ Very nice plates, high quality feeling

+++ Original and well temperatured cheese selection

+++ Great quality food and drinks for reasonable prices

—– I prefer someone hanging my coat or at least asking to take it, we had to put them over our chairs

—– Possible some extra advise on how to eat the “amuse” because with a sand like structure underneath it was difficult to take them without dropping half in the sand, it seemed a bit clumsy….

—– The “steak tartare” was machine cut….. I believe it should always and only be hand-cut to save the unique quality and taste of the beef

 

Points? Scroll below the pictures for the overall score:

I love the open kitchen!

  Great taste, but difficult to eat in a proper way….

He is a real artist! What a painting!

What a great dish! The gazpacho of white asparagus was terrifyingly great! Smooth and pure, WOW !!!

Another great combo! Where do you find these combinations, powerful stuff!

I did not like the way it was cut, was flat because of it…

NJAM NJAM ! With extra truffle

Best finish ever!!

 

Points:

Food 9.2: Some things were unbelievable, still feel warm inside 1 year later….. such as White asparagus Gazpacho…..fuck so great! But also the amount of fresh truffle on this beautiful but simple pasta dish….NJAM NJAM and do not forget about the perfect flavor combo of pickled ice cream with a poultry “rilette”.  And of course for a restaurant like this you should not talk about the fries, but please bring me a second bowl, simple perfection. And the the end with a broken down SNICKERS bar and then the cheeses withe the Spanish Lava cheese…..WOW. close to perfection at times!

Coziness 8.8: Great views all around the restaurant, warm and cozy, nothing to complain except that I like to feel more private, but that is personal.

Price 9.8: This kind of food, this variety and especially reasonable priced drinks, he deserved a big tip because with these prices I hope he still makes a descent living….?

Staff 8.2: Maybe at that point the worst point in comparison to the other 3 great points. Maybe because I expect more with this menu and this quality of food? I do not know the current situation but besides a very open chef the rest of the staff looked a bit stressed, nobody asking for the coats, waiting a bit to take our order and sometimes a slow and then again rushed service….. But maybe it was temporarily. Still overall good quality and great info given at the table and a nice and warm goodbye afterwards.

OVERALL an astonishing: 9 out of 10