Saturday, November 5, 2011

Brasserie Pakhuis (Ghent, BELGIUM) ★★★★★

What a way to kick off our 24-hours in beautiful Ghent of Belgium with a casual and relaxing meal at Brasserie Pakhuis! Just by looking at its stunning interior, we knew it was worth the visit.

The two storey brasserie was a restoration project from a former textile warehouse and the architect here did a marvelous job turning the space into a lively brasserie with a lovely industrial vibe. I love the skylight and Roman style sculptures providing a touch of vintage chic.
 
On paper, Pakhuis is an authentic brasserie offering many Belgian classics such as steak tartare with the meat coming directly from the restaurant's own farm. 




The house specialties also include fresh oysters directly from France and a wide variety of seafood. Needless to say, we were all over these fresh Belon oysters. Very creamy and perfect "sea water" flavors.



More seafood to come in the light of a smoked eel salad. Very refreshing start.



Duck liver terrine with caramelized pear and toasts was next. Not bad considering the size of that terrine but they should have given us more toasts and pear!



Butter poached lobster, that was heavenly too. The lobster was meaty and full of flavors. I was also impressed with the Asian style coconut rice with fresh coconut cubes and carrots. That was an excellent match for the lobster.



We had just enough room for one dessert and opted for this sponge cake served with a small cup of ice cream which I managed to forget about the flavor (caramel?).



After dinner, we took a scenic walk around The Graslei, Ghent's old city centre. That was one of the most memorable nights of my time in Europe. 


Ghent ranks in the top three of my favorite cities in the world and 24 hours are definitely not nearly enough to explore this amazing city. I am sure I will be back here at some point in time.



Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: €€
Address: Schuurkenstraat 4, 9000 Gent, Belgium
Tel: +32 9223-5555
Website: www.pakhuis.be


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