His majesty of cocktails Paul Morel (ex-Pure C, The Jane) has been offered royal protection at the former De Koninck brewery labs. Sound the trumpets! At the top of a narrow staircase, on the second floor of this industrial building that usually acts as his workshop, the mixologist opens a very quality bar à manger, twice a year. Sent out the night we went by chef Daan Guelinckx (ex-Veranda): plump oysters harvested by De Oesterij in Yerseke, served plain or with XO sauce; subtle salmon gravlax (€12.50) topped with a mix of sour cream, horseradish and furikake; amberjack sashimi with fig leaf and wasabi (€15); finger-lickin’ good chicken marinated in horseradish, breaded in panko and dusted with piment d’Espelette (€13.50); perfect steamed dumplings filled with ground chicken, sake, ginger, soy and oyster sauce, or ponzu, chili and satsuma (€10.50). Pair it all with a mineral Cour-Cheverny produced by Philippe Tessier (€8 a glass) or one of Paul’s unique creations, made with a mezcal, sake or Japanese whisky base, like the Yuzu Margarita with hoja santa, huacatay, rose and mezcal (€14.50 to €16). Our only regret? Not being able to go there all year round… // Janjan Bon
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