Bistro Den Huzaar, Brugge

Through the use of Google Places and Tripadvisor we narrowed down our dinner choices this evening and went to Bistro Den Huzaar at Vlamingstraat 36 this evening. After walking about twice as far as we needed to due to deciding we didn’t need to use the map we arrived at this bistro that was very busy and we were lucky to get a table.

As it turns out we were lucky enough to be sitting next to a gentleman that frequents the restaurant often and knew the family well that owned and ran the restaurant and talked with us for the entire evening about Brugge, politics, neighbouring countries, New Zealand, the family associated with the restaurant and lots of other topics. It made for an excellent atmosphere and memorable experience.

We both went with the €32 set menu of three courses and got 50cl of the house white wine to share (which as it turned out was very enjoyable). I started with a crab dish that was excellent and Jane had a Bouillabaisse that she thoroughly enjoyed (although the mussels were a lot smaller than back home in New Zealand).

For our mains we had pork cheeks cooked in beer and cherry that were very tender and flavoursome and a generous portion of sole filled with shellfish accompanied by a rich sauce. Both dishes were superb meals of honest food.

For dessert I had the brugge swan which was pear and icecream with meringue and a chocolate sauce and made to look like a swan and Jane had the most delicious passionfruit sorbet that was accompanied by half a passionfruit and what we think was passionfruit schnapps.

After all three courses I was very full; in fact I was full after the second course.

The gentleman beside us insisted on buying us each a coffee, introduced us to various family members and as we left the restaurant it was as if we were all old friends and we had a chorus of farewells.

We would definitely be happy to return.

Cycling from Brugge to Damme

Having successfully cycled in Amsterdam we decided to give it a go in Brugge too and cycled out to the countryside along the side of a canal.

It was a lovely cycle on a hot day and just before Damme we came across this windmill that is apparently still operational. In the weekends you can go inside, but unfortunately it was closed today.

Damme is a small town.

On the far side of town is this lovely church

and we rested beside the canal with a lovely outlook.

Restaurant Review: Het Fonteintje, Brugge

For our first meal in Brugge we went to Het Fonteintje at Simon Steveinplein. Jane & I both had the EUR 19.95 three course meal.

The first course was a tomato soup that was nice and Jane did wonder if it had beef stock and potentially carrot in it.

For the main course I had the trout, which was is in a nice white wine sauce and with a jacket potato that had a lovely herbed butter. The trout was the size that would definitely have been undersize at Lake Taupo. The trout didn’t have a much flavour as I hoped and had a lot of small bones, but that is not a failing of how it was cooked, more-so that when I usually have trout it is a Rainbow Trout from Lake Taupo and has a lot of flavour and bigger bones.

Jane had the grilled pork fillet served with a beer sauce, that she enjoyed however thought it would have been better if the pork fillet had been cooked in the beer sauce.

For dessert we had a superb chocolate mouse.

The service was great and the wait staff all spoke impeccable english. They even advised me against ordering a raspberry beer with my dessert because it is more of a girly drink; I therefore had a Duvel instead (which was good).

The meal was good value for money and we would return.

An initial wander around Brugge (inc. a cool model railroad)

We travelled from Luxembourg to Brugge (aka Bruges) today. The trip took about 4.5 hours, including a 30 min stopover in Brussells where we changed trains. After finally getting a taxi at the Brugge train station (there were none around and when they did arrive they often had another job already elsewhere) we heading to our magnificent B&B accommodation at Huis Koning that includes homemade delights.

We then headed off for an initial wander around Brugge. Our first stop was just at the end of our road looking down the canal our accommodation backs onto.

Markt was our planned destination but we took a wrong turn on our way there (we in fact shouldn’t have made the turn),

where we found lots of people sitting down people watching.

We then wandered the streets south of Markt (following yet another multi-part geocache).

We also came across this very cool model railroad that was huge.

There was also a weather station we found along our way.

Wine Review: Schmit-Fohl Gewürztraminer 2009 Ahn Goellebour

Light gold in colour, this wine has a lovely delicate apricot aroma and the apricot follows through to the taste. I was pleased that there was not a strong turkish delight flavour and that the predominant flavour was in fact apricot. Medium Long tail and a very enjoyable wine to drink.

Casemates du Bock, Luxembourg

A network of tunnels with magnificent views overlooking the valley is built into this cliff face overlooking the lower part of Luxembourg. The first tunnels were dug out under the castle (that resided above) in 1644 for underground defences.

A walk around Luxembourg’s old walls and a contender for FAIL blog

Today and yesterday I went wandering around Luxembourg, and in particular around the walls and edge between the upper and lower city. Below are lots of photos of my wanderings.

and a contender for FAIL blog. You can vote for this at http://cheezburger.com/View/4805839104