It was our last night in Europe this trip and we were very tired. So we opted to walk to the Grand Place just outside our hotel and hope to find something somewhat fancy and exciting.
So we walked down this lane packed with restaurants with servers holding large banner-size picture menus outside their doors, pitching their specialties to the crowd passing by.
We came across these two guys selling us the idea of a seafood mixed grill for two and offered us free drinks. (How did they find out about my weakness???)
Well, the banner of the seafood mixed grill looked really good, and the idea of a platter of seafood chargrilled over open fire sounded great. Moreover, my feet were too sore to walk any further so that's what we decided to get.
But minutes after I placed my order, I realized that I just ordered a bunch of seafood at "market prices" and had no idea whether I needed to take out a second mortgage to pay for my meal. These folks must have learned this trick from a Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong or Monterey Park!
So the platter came and it looked absolutely amazing (see picture!) There were a whole lobster split in half, 4 pieces of a white fish, 4 pieces of salmon, and a dozen or more large shrimps. It also came with a huge serving of yummy Belgian fries.
The portion was so large that it could easily feed 4. So they sold us more seafood than we could really realistically finish. Ah... they must have learned this from a Chinese restaurant too!
While they were learning their sales and marketing ploy from some Chinese restaurant, these guys must have also stolen the restaurant's recipe of salt and pepper shrimp too!
Cuz the shrimps were so delicious and flavorful. Seriously, they tasted like salt and pepper shrimps from some bomb Chinese place. Wash them down with a nice bottle of Belgian beer and I was as happy as a clam (although there weren't any clams on the seafood platter.)
The white fish was super yummy too. The server told me the name of the fish twice but I just couldn't remember it. Salmon was good, albeit not the best item of the platter. The lobster was very lightly seasoned, which was the right way to do it, so you can taste the natural flavor and sweetness of the shellfish. Although a bit overcooked, grilling a split lobster on open fire is da way to do it!
Food was legit! Service has been prompt, friendly and attentive. The vibes were cool. The people were nice. We were at the Grand Place in Brussels - all was good!
But when I asked for the check, I felt like I was in some high end Chinese seafood restaurant, because I still didn't know how much the bill would be and whether I would need to sell some of my limbs to pay for it.
(Note to self: I need to stop doing this. Find out the price, market or not, before ordering!)
Turned out it wasn't too bad. The seafood mixed grill together with about 5 or 6 drinks cost about 90 Euros or slightly over US$105 based on the current exchange rate.
Not bad for a meal that I'll remember for a long time! read more