L’Aurige

I have lived in Etterbeek since 1999 and had never given much thought to the hotel restaurant next to Mérode metro on Avenue Tervuren. The hotel looked tired and I assumed that the restaurant would be of a similar ilk, providing nothing more than standard fare. How wrong I was!

Everything about this establishment contradicted my first impression. The first surprise was the interior. Belgium likes to hide its attractions from the fleeting visitor so that you step inside a building only to be awestruck by the ‘Tardis’ effect, whereby the inside is far larger than imagined. So it is with L’Aurige, housed in a 1912 mansion house a few steps from Cinquantenaire Park.

The terrace, which was completely renovated in 2010, is a south-facing sun trap. Inexplicably over the years, I have sat in the shaded terraces on the other side of Avenue Tervuren between Merode and Montgomery, but never on the sunny side of the street!

The menu offers classic Belgian and French cuisine of a high standard and at very reasonable prices. If you have children you will love this place as it is possible to enjoy ‘adult’ food whilst the kids can choose from a wide variety of tasty pizzas cooked over a wood fire. With its clever design, the restaurant lends itself to a variety of purposes: intimate dining, business lunches and family visits.

Our starter was delicious thin slices of pizza, fresh from the oven and the Pizzaiolo also provided hot mini bread rolls. Main course was fresh tuna with vegetables cooked to perfection, while dessert was a crepe Suzette. Service throughout was friendly and efficient.

Another pleasant surprise was the drinks menu. In addition to a wide selection of highly regarded Belgian beers, the wine list is truly international. The particular bottle of Vergel we tried from Alicante in Spain was fabulous. The smoothness of the wine belied the fact that it was of a typical robust variety, popular in Spain. Unlike the vast majority of the country’s wine featuring Tempranillo grapes, the Vergel was a blend of Merlot, Monastrell and Alicante Bouschet.

24 Avenue Tervuren 24, 1040 Brussels, 02.735.71.03; www.laurige.be

Three-course meal with drinks around €25-30