The sea is very much the focus of the new pop-up restaurant opened by Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens in the original Hertog Jan and recently Bistro L.E.S.S. The pop-up is Bruges’ new hotspot for summer.
The pop-up restaurant opened a few days ago in time for the summer season.
Following the successful opening of the new L.E.S.S eatery in the centre of Bruges, Gert and Joachim are offering a taste of the sea this summer in the Flemish city of Bruges. Under the guidance of chef Pieter Lefevere and host Maxime Depreitere (both former Hertog Jan), the restaurant will remain open till the end of September before the place undergoes refurbishment before the opening of a new concept to create a typical Flemish bistro before the end of the year.
This is another concept that they have worked on since closing their flagship three Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan in December last year. The concept again focuses on sharing and simplicity.
On the menu, guests can choose from a wide range of crustaceans and shellfish, including North Sea shrimps, whelks, lobsters, crab, Breton oysters, mussels, clams and various others fish dishes.
The pop-up will be open from 5 pm in the evening and there will be two seatings of around 35 people. The restaurant also has a terrace.
As an aperitif, customers can choose from a range of small dishes to share such as whelks, calamari rings, shrimp croquettes and the small grey shrimps.
For starters, there is a choice of a range of dishes such as clams and mussels.
For main courses, guests can choose between crab, lobster, prawns and fresh fish. We tried the sea bass on the test night. It came out perfectly cooked. Cooked with lemon, olive oil and rosemary, it was moist and perfectly seasoned and accompanied by a ‘bar bulot’ salad.
Joachim Boudens told Food and Wine Gazette that they did not have plans yet to make this concept permanent since they will refurbish the restaurant to turn it into a traditional bistro but they were testing the response and did not exclude that they would reopen the concept in one form or another after September.
There is also a bar serving a range of wines, summer beers and champagne Billecart Salmon. Bookings are open on their website.
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