L'Idiot du Village
Price guide: Expensive
Rue Notre-Seigneur 19, Brussels, 1000
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#3 of 30
expert-rated restaurants in Brussels- Recommended for:
- Business travellers, Couples, Foodies, Honeymooners, Mature travellers, Art, People watching, Romance
Best for Romance - Expert review of L'Idiot du Village
Delectable French food served in a romantic setting.
Established over 15 years ago by host Olivier le Bret and chef Alain Gascoin, this secluded, shabby chic restaurant shelters in the shadow of the Palais du Justice and has entertained celebrities, government ministers, and even the Belgian king and queen, who come for the inventive menus.
Food and drink:
Choose from handwritten menus offering the likes of warm foie gras in vanilla and milk veal sauce, and iced meringue with caramel and salt. All served on elegant white-and-blue motif porcelain plates.
Ambience:
Enter through the thick velvet curtain and you’re immediately struck by the intimacy of the place — there’s only space for 35 people — and the low lights make it very romantic. Old wooden desks serve as tables and there’s lots of exposed brick walls and funky chandeliers. During the day it’s popular with businessmen; come nightfall it’s mainly romantic couples.
Service:
Olivier and staff were very welcoming and helpful.
Location:
In the Marolles district, just south of Place de la Chapelle.
Price advice:
Mains around 20 euros; the 2-course lunch is good value at 16 euros.
More information on L'Idiot du Village:
- Price guide:
- Type:
- Restaurant
- Food:
- Dutch, French, Traditional
- Address:
- Rue Notre-Seigneur 19, Brussels, 1000
- Telephone:
- +32 2 502 55 82
- Serves:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Opening times:
- Mon—Fri 12pm—2pm & 7.30pm—11pm, closed Sat & Sun; closed for a month mid July—August.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Reservations:
- Always essential
Community comments (1)
I have been in quite a few restaurants in my life – I have reviewed more than 300 restaurants in the last 3 years – and among them there were several gourmet restaurants. I am outraged by the shocking food and service I got in this one. I started asking for a flute of champagne for aperitif and they served me a glass of bubbles that did not quite tasted like one (I am trained as a professional sommelier and am certainly capable of recognizing champagne). I asked which champagne it was and I was told it was a glass of Cremant de Bourgogne… we start with the wrong foot here: this is not only inadmissible but close to fraud. We then had frogs’ legs which were just acceptable and a fois gras which was barely OK. They then served our order of sea bass and scallops and my scallops come plunged into a sea of butter sauce. Now, I am intolerant to lactose and when ordering scallops I would not imagine they would cook them with butter, which is something I have never seen in my whole life. When I told the waiter – a guy who probably lives down wisteria lane – that I could not eat that, he told me that I should have known and that they cook all their dishes with butter as If this were the most natural thing on earth and I were the stupid here. He didn’t even offer to change the dish or to help with something else and even passing by tried to make fun of me. When I complained with another waiter, the reply I received was “This is not my business” forget this place: food is very, very short of being good and the service is probably the worst I have ever had. The mix of arrogance and incompetence is the worst thing you can face. Truth be told, the interiors are not bad, though a bit overcharged for me.