Den Gouden Harynck

e l e g a n t Midweek 60 € dinner at Den Gouden Harynck. It’s a bit off-​the-​beaten track as you discover the location and once inside, the night begins. It’s a bit of the usual fine dining routine, from the minute you’re seated to the cheese cart finish.
Amuse-​Bouche: Oyster
Amuse-​Bouche: Clam
Appetizer: Sea Bream Tartar
Main: Pigeon (cooked pink)
Dessert: Meringue topped with Orange Cream Ice Cream
The place was perfectly western elegant and refined, from the table setting to the plating. The amuse, did just that and somewhat went overboard as to beat it’s appetizer. The dishes are nicely prepared but you do have to wait a bit in-​between each course.
If not for the loud-​speaking local across us, we would have even felt awkward chatting. As we had our meal without a fault in service, I noticed a couple let’s called them «big-​heavy-​camera-​carrying American tourist» had less than perfect service in comparison. It was unusual given that we had the exact same everything, almost.

1 Michelin-​Stern zu sehr günstigem Preis… zwingt zu 5 Unilocal-​Sternen.
Tatsächlich finde ich das angemessen, obwohl
— es im Grunde nur 1 Menü zur Auswahl gab
— der Wein nur flaschenweise zu erhalten war
— die Rechnung für den ganzen Tisch bezahlt werden musste
Für uns alles keinerlei Problem! Dennoch Verständnis für andere gute Gäste, die da nicht mithalten können.
Als Gruss des Hauses kam ein Hauch von Matjes auf ebenso frischem Brunoise-​Krams sowie eine dicke Auster in Sojamilch mit Kresse (nicht jedermann’s Sache, aber Kneifen gibt es nicht bei uns).
Anschließend mit dem Auge unerkennbare Garnelen mit Kaviar, dann ein Teller mit allerlei superior Happen Fleisch (Lamm mit perfekt gewürztem dicken Fettrand z.B.) sowie als Gang 4 nicht allzu süsses fruchtiges Dessert.
Leise, aber erkennbare, Hintergrundmusik.
Interieur ohne jede Beanstandung, Service korrekt, für unseren Geschmack zu zurückhaltend. Grosse Weinkarte. Gottlob kleine, feine Portionen.
Für belgische Verhältnisse königliche Toiletten.
Sternekenner, das ist eine Empfehlung!

«Dream»?
Den Gouden Harynck was tagged as «DREAM» in Caps by my Unilocal friend during our planning stage on our Google Map… A Michelin 1 Star restaurant.
But 39 € 3 course lunch special or a 55 € 3 course Mid-​week special and I love SPECIALS!
Booking the reservation was easy via their webpage, much easier than finding the restaurant in the dark.
3 Course Mid-​week Menu is a steal but of course if you prefer you can order a la carte or the 4 or 5 course taster menu too. The only restriction is that the whole table has to participate. The staff here was really accommodating even willing to replace the main for the 4 course taster menu from lamb to fish… but of course we ended up getting the Mid-​week prix menu.
The ambiance here is classy and upscale. The service here is detailed and attentive. There is no printed menu for any of the prix menu but the staff will go over
2 Surprise Amuse-​Bouche: Oyster and Clam
Appetizer: Sea Bream Tartar
Main: Pigeon (cooked pink)
Dessert: Meringue Topped with Orange Cream Ice Cream
Every course were well prepared and plated.
Den Gouden Harynck is definitely worth a visit if you are in Bruges.
And for my Unilocal friend, It was a pleasure to have make your dream came true!

We were taking a roadtrip across from Paris to Amsterdam and i was looking up Michelin starred restaurants along the way and this one in Bruges was so cheap that we had to stop by. Mid-​week price-​fixed 3-​course menu for 55EUR (Tues-​Thurs). Where can you find this?
The food was great, but the experience was not that memorable so i’d have to provide a point-​form review.
Some general information:
— 4-​course (75EUR), 5-​course (89EUR) menus are available at any time
— if you choose price-​fixed, you cannot choose your courses — you’re at the chef’s mercy
— service is good, as one would expect
— food is fantastic — a lot of fish
— no wine pairing offered and all wine are sold in bottle form only
— a giant cart of cheese is wheeled out to you after dinner
— a la carte menu available
What we had:
— two amuse-​bouche (!): a beet-​root soupy sardine dish which i wasn’t crazy about. The beet-​root part was great, but i dont generally like sardines. My friend who does, really loved that dish so i gave it to him. The second dish was something with wasabi and i liked it much better, although i have already forgotten what was in it
— appetizer: giant grilled (or is it pan-​fried) fish. No bones with a wonderful selection of condiment pairings, that are great eaten individually with the fish or altogether with the fish.
— main: pink iberico pork cutlets with also a wonderful selection of sauces and condiments. They didn’t all go together well, but individually with the pork they were fantastic.
— dessert: some sorbet with orange zest and syrup. good but also unmemorable.
The food admittedly is great, but the restaurant lacked a lot of little things that makes up a 5-​star experience. Like the Michelin guide suggests, it’s not worth a special journey or a detour, but it is a good restaurant in its category so check it out if you happen to be in Bruges (it’s smack in the middle of the small city).

This was the best meal during our 2.5-week trip.
**Two different amuse bouche’s (forget what they were, but they were GONE)
**We got the 3-​course lunch menu — the starter, which was a mackerel with really subtle Japanese accompaniments — was one of the single best dishes I’ve ever eaten. The mackerel — which is usually a very oily fish — tasted so delicate that even my picky ass 5-​year-​old liked it.
**Spanish pork loin was of the highest quality, very tender; our 8-​year-​old loved it (the seasonal winter vegetables less so, but they were great too.)
**Cheese cart is totally worth it (though expensive at 13 or 16 euros’ PP)
**The proverbial «second cheapest bottle on the list» we got was a really nice pale Pays D’Oc rose that went with everything.
**Word of caution, coffee is 8 Euro’s a cup. It is delicious and comes in a cool cup, but still.
**Location is awesome, right across from the OLVK and the Groeninge museum.
**The art on the walls is out of this world.
** The «rekening» was pretty big — while the lunch menu was 39 EUR PP, the kids’ was 29 EUR PP, and all the extra charges (coffee, water, cheese, etc.) were pretty steep.

A great meal, with every course upping the ante.
I enjoyed the number of different flavours and textures on each plate and the finishing touches were excellent: from the scallops with a scent of bergamot on the plate, to a hint of candied orange with asparagus, through to beautifully cooked lamb and basil yoghurt with the dessert.
If Brugge is somewhere you wouldn’t intend on going to very often then I would thoroughly recommend trying this place out.