Tamas Ferencz

Michelin star chef/owner Sergio Herman and his former Chef patron Nick Brill opened this contemporary restaurant in a chapel of a former military hospital. The Jane is one of the trendiest places at the moment in Antwerp with an amazing interior. The 80 seat restaurant was full lunchtime on a Thursday.
The well balanced and creative menu is served by an attentive, happy and helpful staff.
There was one menu available, together with the amuse bouches we have received 12 courses for 155 Euro.
Wine pairing is available for 75 and 95 Euros, the non alcohol- pairing is 65 Euro.
All of dishes were prepared and plated with care and attention. Some unusual ingredient pairings appeared at the table, such as chawanmushi carabinero with sea urchin and truffle soy vinaigrette, wild pheasant with paktmushroom and chicory. Our favourites were the oyster ceviche and the risotto with eel and herbs but all other plates were also 10 out of 10
Lunch was finished off with 2 incredible Jasper Valley (Massachusetts) cheese and a mind-blowing good cheesecake. Less

The restaurant is located on the 9th floor of the MAS museum in the heart of the harbour of Antwerp.
We have invited our local friend to join us for dinner, all 3 of us were looking forward to a memorable dining experience. The restaurant is modern, stylish and spacious, with a lovely view of the harbour. The welcome and the first half of our dinner couldn’t have been better. We have all opted for the 8 course menu. Have received plenty of different amuse bouches and nibbles. The bread selection is great. Our favourites were hazelnut burrata with leeks, bears garlic and capers and the hare with celeriac, green pepper and date malt. For whatever strange reason there was an unacceptable long break after the langoustine dish, we have waited over 30 minutes to receive the eel and then another 20 minutes the hare dish. In the meantime there was no communication from the staff towards us, that there was a delay in the kitchen….Finally we have received our food which we couldn’t fault all was delicious but the lack of proper service communication has put us off a bit.
Great cheese trolley with the highest quality of national and international selection.
Our reservation was for 7.30 pm and we have left the restaurant after midnight. Less

Chef/ patron: Fran Martinez

Contemporary restaurant with updated manchego cuisine. Their menu is a showcase of the locally sourced products of the La Mancha terroire cuisine and ingredients of the Mediterranean.
They have 3 menus.
The Maralba menu: Snacks, Tapas, 2 Starters, 2 Main dishes, Cheese varieties and 2 desserts- 50 Euro
The Festival menu: Snacks, Tapas, 4 Starters, 2 Main dishes, Cheese varieties and 2 desserts- 69 Euro
The Grand menu de Fran Martinez: Snacks, Tapas, 5 Starters, 3 Main dishes, Cheese varieties and 1 dessert: 90 Euro

Wine pairing is available for every menu.
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Chef: Josean Martinez Alija (1978)

Nerua is situated in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Tipical basque dishes are featured on the restaurant’s menu but in the chef’s haute cuisine version.
They offered two menus, one 9 course for 110 Euros (additional wine pairing for 42 Euro) and another 14 course for 145 Euro (wine pairing 65 Euro). Both menus are also available with non alcoholic pairing.
Generally the plates were nicely presented, flavours were good reflections on the culinary traditions of the region. Just to name a few of our favourites. Attentive and friendly service. Very pleasant evening. Less

One of Spain’s iconic restaurants so we had really high expectations. Our dinner table was reserved 2.5 month in advance. We have both had the tasting menu, with 5 starters, 5 main meals, 4 desserts and wine recommendation.
By our opinion the dinner for a 3 Michelin star restaurant was average at its best. Lack of sophisticated flavours, the amuse bouche were nothing special and mostly average ingredients were used with most courses.
Two dishes are worth mentioning. One of the starters, mackarel with txakoli and smoked melon and one of the mains, monkfish with black bean sauce were both exeptional. And this is where the Arzak story ended for us. Service was not friendly, everyone seemed to be working on autopilote mode. As the result of that the ambiance of the whole evening was not relaxed. We have finished our dinner in 2 hours 15 minutes.
Our visit did not match the criteria of a 3 Michelin starred restaurant and certainly not the fame of Juan Mari and Elena Arzak Less

Elkano

Chef: Aitor Arregui
The restaurant was founded by Pedro Arregui in 1964 . In 2014 when Pedro passed away, his son Aitor took over the restaurant.
Their signature dishes are the Turbot and the Kokotxa.
As turbot is one of our favorite fishes, we were really looking forward tasting what foodies call the best of the world. Indeed it was fantastic, as generally everything we had was the highest quality. We have ordered from the a`la carte menu.
Kokotxas in green sauce, followed by crab shell stuffed with its own meat, fish soup. Finally the grilled turbot arrived which was fileted and served at the table.
All dishes were literally thown on the table with no or hardly any explanation. Each course followed the other in such a hurry that the waiting staff had no time to give us fresh and proper cutlery. Constantly we had to ask for more water, we had to pour the wine for ourselves as no one bothered..
Eventually when the turbot was served the maitre came and explained the different parts of the fish, which we could also eat beside the fillets.
The restaurant was cleary missing more waiting staff everybody was running around whitout any coordination.
For a Michelin starred restaurant the service was shocking. Pity as foodwise the place has great potentials. Less

El Poblet was Quique Dacosta’s original haut-cuisine restaurant in Denia where he has started his career in 1988. After he renamed the restaurant for Quique Dacosta Restaurante, the El Poblet name and concept with a selected team was moved to the centre of Valencia in 2012.
The kitchen of El Poblet is lead by Head Chef Luís Valls, the maitre of the house is Manuela Romeralo Zamorano.
The restaurant develops a very innovative and committed market cuisine with few elements of its mother house, the 3 Michelin stars restaurant in Denia.
They have two menus. The smaller 9 courses El Poblet menu and the 12 courses Menu Ciutat Vella. Our choice was the extensive menu this time. Less

Les Pres D’Eugenie Michel Guerard

Restaurant Les Pres D’Eugenie located in the countrysides’s spa resort in the Landes.
Michel Guerard opened his restaurant in Paris in 1965. He was awarded with his first Michelin star in 1967 and the second in 1971 than he moved the restaurant to Eugenie les Bains. He got the third Michelin star in 1977. This is one of the longest running 3 Michelin starred restaurants in the world.
Michel Guerard (84) is an iconic chefs of France, for his many achievements such as promoting the Nouvelle cuisine in the 70s together with Paul Verge, Paul Bocuse and Pierre Troisgros.
Many great chefs were trained here under his supervision: Alain Ducasse, Michel Troisgros, Quique Dacosta, Massimiliano Alajmo.
He was awarded for Meuilleur Ouvrier de Français in 1958 as pastry chef.
They have two menu: the "Jour de Fete" menu for 198 Euro and the "Palais Enchante" menu for 255 Euro. Wine pairing is not available!
Started our evening in the garden with Badinguet Coctail, after were escorted to our table inside the restaurant. We have opted for the Palais Enchante menu with 6 courses plus the amuse bouche and petit four.
Caviar, palace potato, half lobster, pigeon, beef, all prepared to perfection, plated beautifully. Remarkable cheese selection and souffle with berries and verbena ice cream to finish the evening off. We are really grateful that we had the chance to taste the food of this remarkable gentleman. No wine pairing is available but the sommelier is helpful with his suggestions to compliment each course.

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La Cabane a Huitre
This lovely seafood bistro in Biarritz run by a nice full of smile couple, Sophie and Laurent

They serve the best and very fresh top quality oysters:
-Marennes d’Oleron
-Fines de claires oysters from an oyster farm that won the Medaille d’Or in 2016 and the Medaille d’Argent in 2017 from the Concours General Agricole Paris (CGA).
-Spéciales Bretagne
-Ostra Régal from Ireland.

They also serve grilled squid, seared St Jacques scallops with seasonal vegetables, shrimp with aioli or mayo, sea snails cooked in a traditional house-made broth, grilled razor clams or cooked with chistorra (Basque sausage), hake casserole, king prawn in house sauce, marinated anchovies), marinated octopus, and mussels. We will make sure to return every time we are in the region.
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