My ambition upon retirement from Spart Towers was to become a Lady who Lunches. The fates have conspired against me. Firstly they gave me a second in command who hates posh restaurants and gourmet food. Secondly, they gave me diabetes. And thirdly, corona virus has resulted in a series of lockdowns of the restaurant sector. I have managed to get out for the occasional socially-distanced meal with a select small group of friends maybe three times in the last six months. For a food writer, it is hardly encouraging.
My aristocratic friend the Dowager Duchess of Merthyr Tydfil, Myfanwy to her friends, recommended a gourmet restaurant out her way, where they offered a business lunch for 40 euros, which seemed just about within our budgets.
Chateau Jourdain
Maxime Colin (no not the Birmingham City French international) is tucked away in a leafy part of Kraainem, on the eastern outskirts of Brussels, technically in Flanders, but then I could walk to Flanders from my house. The restaurant is situated by a lake in the grounds of the Chateau Jourdain, a long-abandoned country house now used as an events venue. An idyllic setting on a warm summer day. Unfortunately the day we chose to go was grey, cold and wet. But hey. This was all about food and taking our pearls out for an airing.
The restaurant has been there since 2016 and can boast three chef's hats and a 15/20 in the Gault & Millau guide and one plate ("good cooking") in the 2020 Michelin Belgium. Maxime Colin was named Young Chef of the Year in the 2016 Gault & Millau in his previous role as no.2 at the prestigious Villa Lorraine.
Not him
We had booked ahead, of course, and despite the coronavirus there were a good half dozen tables occupied, and we were received with suitable deference and a dollop of hand sanitizer at the door. A bit of bowing and scraping is what you pay for in these places. I had judiciously stashed my rucksack in the car and brought a neat little handbag to carry my pills and personalized toothpicks. They did not give us stools for our bags, as I have seen in some restaurants, but we had a nice round table in a window corner.
We must have been served by about six different staff: the manager, the cloakroom girl, the wine waiter, the hors d'oeuvre waiter, and possibly a different waiter for each course, although as they were all masked up it was hard to tell. They all seemed very young, and their English a little shaky, which is rather surprising in Brussels and even more so in Flanders. They were mightily relieved when we switched to French.
The Duchess ordered bubbles to wet our whistles. As you do. While we sipped our champagne the manager explained the menu. Unfortunately, either due to the mask or his poor English, it was a bit rushed and I didn't catch it all. Somewhere in the dish of the day was mussels, I think, which ruled it out for me. The alternatives were not numerous - always a good sign - so I chose beef followed by fish, and Myfanwy did the opposite, fish and then meat. All the wines on the list were by the bottle, but after some eyelash fluttering we managed to negotiate two glasses of a pleasant white wine, which the sommelier took longer to describe than it took us to drink.
A word of warning: if you want the 40 euro business lunch menu, make sure that's what you're ordering from.
Our starters for ten: Raw Daurade royale (bream) marinated in citrus vinegar with slivers of radish, and Wafer thin slices of 40-day aged Holstein beef tataki with blackberries and minutely diced carrots
It was absolutely delicious, every mouthful. A treat for the eyes and the tastebuds. The slightly obsequious service was a little OTT for me, although the Duchess seemed to find it all perfectly normal. This is how the other half of Merthyr Tydfil lives.
Le Soir, March 2016
