Founeau, Brussels Belgium
For our second to last night in beautiful Brussels we decided to do it up right at a nice restaurant, one last hoorah before the journey home. Enter Fourneau, an excellent, upscale, bistro near the Magritte museum in Brussels. Upon arrival we had a little trouble deciphering the menu but were soon helped and guided towards a five-course prix fixe menu of homard (lobster).
The first four courses were all different preparations of lobster and the meal was finished with a crème brulee for dessert. An amuse bouche arrived before our meal and it was a play on the meal we were about to have. One piece of sushi, a shot of lobster bisque, and potato chips with lobster salt were presented, as the meal was to be lobster maki roll, lobster tempura, and lobster bisque. The amuse bouche mirrored the meal, a playful move from the kitchen that I found to be genius.
The first actual course was lobster maki and sushi rolls. Well made rolls with high quality lobster that was cooked to perfection. A whole claw and part of tail were plated in an eye appealing way that aided in our pleasant reception of this dish.
The next course was the tempura, and easily the star of this meal. The batter here was just enough to change the texture to crispy. The vegetables were done just right, they still crispy, not soggy or oily as is often the case with tempura vegetables. The lobster, again, was cooked masterfully: crispy, warm, butter, soft, and most importantly NOT tough.
Next out of the kitchen was my least favorite course. Lobster ravioli served in a pool of lobster bisque. The filling was good, lobster mixed with diced potato and shallots, but perhaps a bit heavy on the white pepper. The real failing here was the pasta was a little chewy. This was either a result of not being cooked in enough water or simply not having enough time in the water.
The main course was a mystery to us, as we did not know what “lumpia” was from the menu. We soon found out that it means spring roll. The simple roll was filled with that same, well cooked, buttery, lobster meat as well as French green beans. The deep fried roll was crisp and hot. All of this was served with lobster infused butter sauce and a light green salad to help balance the plate.
Dessert was crème brulee, a dessert that is often offered and seldom done well. This one was quite good. As Elizabeth noted the inside was cool and the caramelized top was perfect, not too thick or over bruleed.
Fourneau was a job well done and a good way to wind down our European eating extravaganza!
