One of the advantages of having a party is enjoying the presents afterwards. We got a few restaurant vouchers from friends who know that we have a pasion for good food. Sans Cravate was one of the vouchers, and a very good choice, because we hadn’t been there yet. So last week we booked our table and we entered the restaurant in de ‘Langestraat’ for lunch.
The waiter escorted us to a nice table, he said. The start was already promising… With a Gin & Toinic and a bio sparkling wine, we took a look at the menu. You have a menu available in 4, 5 of 6 courses, dishes à la carte and a lunch suggestion. A few years ago, the restaurant earned a Michelin star.
The appetizers arrived soon. We enjoyed a surprisingly fresh cheese with radish and spring onion (delicious and very refreshing), smoked potato in hay, soup of green asparagus, tartar of sea bass with a foam of gin tonic and a last appetizer of smoked eel. Very impressive and original, we we’re very excited about the rest of the menu!
We decided to order the 4-course menu, for filip with accompanying wines and for Annemieke with a winetaste arrangement. This was possible and was suggested spontaneously (in contrast to De Karmeliet).
The first course was amazing. Marinated scallops with red beet. The next course was already the main course, which was a bit confusing, we ordered 4 courses and had expected 2 starters and 1 dessert. The answer was simple, the third course was a goat cheese dish and last course a dessert. A bit atypical, but fine for us.
The main course was just as excellent. Sublime veal from Corrèze, the first pees, potato soufflé, pastille of marrow. We got two very nice pieces of meat, perfectly cooked, a real treat to taste it …
Also surprising was the goat cheese dish with pickled celery. The combination was just perfect. We we’re also very into the cheese plate and so ordered an extra dish. We got 4 pieces of really quality cheese, perfectly ripe, spicy chutney and a brioche bread with nuts and figs. Yummy!
The dessert was a piece of lemon tart (which was a bit too sweet), ice-cream of mascarpone and crème of basil. Coffee and tea were served with some more sweets and cookies.
During lunch we we’re served by excellent staff, very young but very focused. The lady of the house wasn’t present, but her co-workers really did well. There was one little mistake, when the new red wine was served in the glass in which we just finished our white wine, but they fixed it immediately and apologized with a friendly note. The wines were excellent. There is an open kitchen, so you could see how they were working on the menu’s. You could sense that the service was very relaxed, everybody knowing very well what to do and doing it with passion. The fact that everybody is at ease, also reflects on the really nice atmosphere in the restaurant itself.
Sans Cravate earned it’s place on our list of favorite restaurants. If you’re coming from out of town, you can spend the night in their Bed&Breakfast: La Suite. After opening a few months, they already git a design price with their interior. Also here you can see that they do it with their hearts.
We payed €260 for this lunch. The voucher came in more than handy… Thank you: Bram and Sophie, Sophie and Steven en Bram and Wendy and Sans Cravate!
