Restaurant De Linde, Brugge, Belgium

I haven't written anything about restaurants for a while on this blog so I have been checking my last photos from my vacation and I will review some places. Our first vacation day was spent in Brugge, Belgium, one of the most beautiful medium size cities in the world and a short distance from Amsterdam. I never get tired of visiting it. As always we stayed at the Crowne Plaza, which has the best location in town. This time we decided for the first time to have dinner there as well - it would be more comfortable with kids and less touristic - real Belgians were dining there. There is a Spare Ribs Festival going on there this summer at De Linde, with a very large buffet. Ummm, my kids love spare ribs paired with jacked potatoes.

While I was helping my little girl with her warm meal, hubby arrived holding such lab tubes for us (above).

"I have already had one of these, it is l-ov-e-l-y !", he added. What is it ? Fruit Juice ? Carrots ? Pumpkins ? A sauce ? Does it take paprika ? Is it liquid iced cream ? "None of them. You will have to discover it yourself", he replied.

Yep. I am married to a misterious man.
Always pushing me to my own conclusions.

Where can I purchase such tubes ?

Tapas de saumon fume, capres et tomates sechees

Hapje van gerookte zalm met appelkappertjes en zongredroogde tomaatjes

Smoked salmon with apple capers and sun dried tomatoes

(Note: it is difficult to find such giant capers in Holland. It is NOT available at Dutch supermarkets, but I have found them at "Xenos" nearby Asiatic and Italian groceries.).

I found the presentation and quality of the cold buffet perfect. Everything was delicate and balanced, presented in small dishes and trays, in a very Belgian style served by real professionals with a smile- I miss that a lot when back in Holland. The tapas of chorizo didn't belong in the summer buffet of salads/fruits/sea food - but that is my opinion and a minor thing. There were two options of warm dishes: cod fillet with seafood sauce and tomatoes (superb) and the spare ribs - which I found a bit dry and over baked. The tiramisu and the claufoutis were my faves for dessert. Hubby and son licked their lips with the chocolate mousse (they had a couple of them - good chocolate is addictive). Soft silky mousse of Belgian chocolate and crunchy flakes of chocolate...

Assortiment de petits gateaux

Assortiment van mini gebakjes

Minicakes

Mousse au chocolat aux flacons de chocolats croustillants

Chocolademousse met krokante chocoladekorrels

Chocolate mousse with a crumble of chocolate

The Spare Ribs Festival at De Linde (Crowne Plaza Brugges) lasts up to Sunday 29th Aug. 2010.

Prices: 26,50 euros per person, excluding drinks, including coffee or tea. I think it is a very good price for unlimited trips to the buffet and excellent food - not to mention the gentle quick service. In Holland you can easily pay 25 euros for a regular entree-mediocre warm meal-small dessert (paired by a mediocre service as well). Children between 2 and 12 years pay 2 euros per year.

Oh yeah ! I almost forgot to tell you readers about the content of the lab tubes. It is a cold and unpretentious Spanish soup: gazpacho. Tomatoes, peppers cucumber, garlic, onion, bread, olive oil and vinegar. So refreshing in a hot day and so full of flavors. According to hubby it does match very well with the chorizo sausage (and the smoked ham and the melon). Indeed.

Mistery solved.