Bouchéry

Picking a restaurant’s ‘surprise’ menu can be a risk, but from the first aromatic whiff of the herb and seafood broth that opened the mystery meal at Bouchéry, it was clear this was a gamble that had paid off. With chunks of fresh nautical crustaceans, delicate periwinkles and strips of sea lettuce, combined with an earthy mix of fresh herbs, seasonal vegetables and nutty kamut wheat grains, this was undoubtedly an appetiser that aspires to greatness.

More was to follow. Vegetable oddities are a speciality here and the main course featured cardoons together with the bulbs, leaves and flowers of wild bear’s garlic, served with a polenta croquette and that queen of Flemish fowl, the Mechelen cuckoo. Dessert featured marinated pear with mascarpone and tarragon ice-cream.

This was seriously good food, innovative, balanced and quite delicious. Chef Damien Bouchery hails from Brittany and earned his culinary spurs in Michelin-starred joints like London’s Club Gascon and the Bistrot du Mail in Ixelles. In 2010 he opened this place under his own name on the site of the renowned Uccle eatery Le Pin et le Vin.

A la carte choices are reassuringly limited and include intriguing possibilities such as hop-shoots, oxtail and ground ivy or Oosterschelde lobster with pine-needles, asparagus and chocolate. If you let Bouchery choose for you, his ‘instant menus’ start at €39 for three mystery courses and run up to €65 for five. That’s not bad for this quality of cooking, so go now before he wins a star and the prices head skyward.

812A Chaussée d’Alsemberg (Uccle), tel 02.332.37.74, www.bouchery-restaurant.be