What’s up, Old Boy? While renovations are hammering away at their flagship establishment over on Rue Tenbosch, John Prigogine and Xavier Chen (also the founders of Rambo) have taken their lively Asian fare and pulled up stakes near Place Flagey, for a pop-up restaurant that’ll rock your socks off until February 2025. Inside the former Michelin-starred Chez Marie with its oh-so nostalgic vibes (dark and moody woodwork, worn leather benches, brass light fixtures), chef Yannick Carr (ex-Gaggan in Bangkok) and his team have whipped out the nuoc-mam sauce, cilantro and triple X hot chilies that earned them their Thai-Vietnamese street cred, switching things up for a Belgian-style remix. The result? A five-course menu that you’ll want to gobble up in delight: endive bites filled with punchy grey shrimp; crazy-good brioche (from Renard Bakery) topped with a soy-cured egg yolk sitting happy as a clam among a slathering of glazed oyster mushrooms; some neo-waterzooi, tom yum-style with grilled chicken thigh, raw julienned carrots, leek and watercress; barbecue grilled Holstein rib steak, maître d’hôtel butter and (slightly squidgy) fries seasoned with galangal powder; green papaya salad revisited with radish and cabbage; and a slurp-a-licious milk tea crème brûlée with a zesting of orange to finish. All wrapped up in one hour and forty-five minutes, on the dot – then out you go! // Jean-Eude d’Aye-Quiry
FEELING THIRSTY? A short wine list that you’re sure to love: Méharée, a carignan, syrah and grenache blend from the Domaine de l’Âme Bleue (€8 per glass), Picapol, a 100% picpoul from Patrick Bouju and Justine Loiseau in Auvergne (€51 per bottle), Cuvée à Freux, a funky white from La Sorga in Roussillon (€56), and a delicious poulsard from Les Marnes Blanches in Jura (€70). Otherwise, clean sakes (Kizan, Tamagawa Yamahai, €7-15 a glass), standout bottled beers (3 Fonteinen, Antidoot, €28-42 for 750 ml) and awesome cocktails (€13).
PRICE: Shared plates €15-30, desserts €9 (lunch), menu €55 (dinner, five courses).
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