Waffles and Surprises in Brussels!

Aight so Leng, Chuen, Sandee, me and Ah seng decided to travel, and travel we did. We were mostly burnt out from the recent final exams and so none of us were quite up to walking and sightseeing. Certainly we've earned the right to holiday, we were now officially stress free upon the completion of our degrees! 3 cheers to the end of our childhoods and heya to the endless years of mortgage paying and income taxes and I think I better stop before I become too depressed.

Ultimately we decided all we wanted deep down was to plunk our bums in a cafe sipping good coffee and to laugh at those unfortunate souls hurrying past us about their business and work. Brussels it is then, we decided. Brussels! The capital of the European Union, the city of mussels, waffles and all things chocolate. Needless to say we were much surprised to find the citymates of Manneken Pis actually more relaxed than we were. At times I wondered (with genuine fondness!) if the City's economy was fueled by the mere laziness of its denizens.

Onward to official stuff, crisp and all business-like now am I. 4 eateries of note in Brussels. But first, Waffles.

Forgive me if I laugh at your misfortune and stupidity if you do not at least try the Belgium waffles at the Café du Vaudeville ("Vauderville"). Having heard much of the apparent overratedness of Belgium waffles (not to mention our first experience with Belgian waffles, see pic below, seriously wtf it was horrendous. Absolutely terrifying) I must admit that I approached the Vauderville with much reservedness and skepticism. Fortunately my mistrust was misplaced! The Vauderville is located inside the Galerie de la Reine ("the Arcade") and is on your right approximately halfway through if you enter from the direction of the Grande Place. The head waiter was extremely courteous and was glad to seat us outside the cafe, in an excellent location to laugh the day away. Preliminary glances at the price menu caused many initial anxieties, in the book of Kean waffles priced at 7 Euros a piece better be frickin good.

Example of FAIL Waffle

I picked the Apple Waffle in a rare moment of fickleness. Now, we all know apples are fine when sweet. Baking with apples, however, is a rather risky venture. Bakers rarely, if ever, cook with RED apples. Red apples tend to brittleness and do not bake well at all. There is therefore the usual risk of having sour green apples in your pastry if you have the nerve to order such. Remember friends, that in pastries and starters you are either looking for sweetness, acidity, or if it suits your fancy, god knows why, back of the tongue bitterness (For the love of Assam Laksa people, this is why coffee was invented. Sheesh); never saltiness or sourness.

Ah Seng also chose the Apple Waffle. Leng had the Ice-cream and Strawberry Waffle, Sandee and Chuen picked the White and Black Belgium Chocolate Waffle. The Chocolate Waffle was the first to arrive and was an instant delight to my palate. Allow me to emphasise: no chocolate, No Chocolate in this world that I have thus tasted can even hold a candle to Belgium chocolate. Sweet, distinct and creamy, yet possessing that subtle hint of bitterness that lingers in your mouth after the first swallow, it is the perfect companion to a good pastry. Which brings us to the waffle itself. Served warm and taken fresh from the oven, it was baked to perfection. Tender is a word normally reserved for meat but I shall take the liberty of applying it here. What the heck, a tender waffle? You have to try it to believe it. The taste of the waffle itself represents another wonder. The batter must have been perfectly compositioned, I wouldn't be able to reproduce it in a gazillion years. Every bite was a delight.

Rofl in my Wafl Imba Chocolate Waffle

Perhaps my palate longed for more chocolate, for the ice-cream waffle, although also masterfully prepared, seemed to be lacking in impressiveness. The Ice-cream was high qual stuff don't get me wrong, but it appeared insignificant compared to the chocolate.

Ice-Cream Waffle!

A happy ending to this waffle story! My apple waffle finally arrived, and I was shocked initially to see the amount of syrup flowing on the plate. Certainly, I thought, the apples cannot be sweet, why otherwise did you coat it with syrup if not to conceal the sourness of the apples? How wrong I was! The apples, baked perfectly, were sweet and juicy! Sherbet was sprinkled on the waffle making it the perfect "icing" for the whole deal. All in all I was once again pretty impressed with the meal. I for one certainly finished my portion happily.

Sweet Happy Ending - Apple Wafls

In general, everyone appeared genuinely satisfied with the snack. What then did we do? Obviously we proceeded to order a couple of drinks, to sit back, to laugh the afternoon away, inwardly smiling at the busy townsfolk while savouring the remnants of a unforgettable meal in our bellies. But that is a story for another day :)


Café du Vaudeville
Galerie de la Reine
1000 BRUSSELS ( CITY )Phone: 02.511.23.45 Fax: 02.512.40.77

Closed on Open 7/7 (close on Sunday at 8pm)

First!

Greetings weary travellers of the internets! Pray take a seat, are you comfortable? Good! Let's swap seats this wooden one is murdering me arse.

Some amongst your number are undoubtedly already familiar with me, unquestionably many of you have a reason or another for wanting to smother me with a teddy bear, for that I apologise, I sincerely do! As for those of you who don't already know me, pray allow me to remedy that.

Hi! My name's Chui Kean, you may call me Kean thank you very much! Some of you lifeless World of Warcraft players may want to armory me and gape at my epix, but lets not get waylaid here. I am, or well at the time of this writing, a law student. Bless the gods and George Lucas for not making a 5th Indy Jones Movie, I will be graduating on the 24th of July 2008 and thereafter I will have acquired the ability to SUE!

As the intellectually competent amongst you would have gathered by now, this is, or primarily is, a food blog. Now! I wouldn't go so far as to review the places I write about, I am not nearly qualified enough to do that. Anything recorded hereinafter are merely musings, (Yes musings! Imagine me swirling and sniffing my Milo Ais while whining how the vile flavours decimate my palate and you'll have a good idea of my personality. At least before the mamak owner butchers my face) of the places and restaurants where I dine at.

Two criteria suit my idea of a good place to eat. Firstly and foremostly, the quality of the food. Nothing, and nothing will ever corrupt that, and this is my promise to you. Along this journey I shall be using many technical culinary terms, I trust you will pick them up along the way. Secondly, and only slightly behind in importance, is the price of the meal, the sacrifice you must offer, the deal you must seal. This obviously includes your money's value for the meal, the availability and accessibility of the restaurant in question, and finally to a lesser degree the service afforded.

Several disclaimers! Firstly, I do not, or rather, cannot, drink any form of alcohol. I am notoriously allergic to it, much to my dismay I assure you. Therefore wine tasting is unfortunately out of my league. Secondly! If you post any legal questions here, and if I answer them, don't come whining to me when you find my bill in your post box the next day. Thirdly, take whatever I say with a pinch of salt, I am only legally competent and I apologise if I offend any culinary professionals in this blog.

Having said that, any recommendations and requests for reviews are absolutely welcome! Regrettably I may only visit those restaurants you recommend in London or in Malaysia. My team will be in charge of tasting in London, while I will traverse Malaysia in search of good foods meselfs.

Phew finally! I hereby declare this blog christened! Without further ado, let the tasting begin!