My husband and I had Christmas Eve dinner at Reliva tonight - a delicious and unqiue vegetarian prix-fixe meal. I found Reliva on Trip Advisor, I think it was the only vegetarian friendly restaurant open on Christmas Eve in Bruges! I am so happy we found it. We booked a few weeks in advance - it's our honeymoon so we were planning ahead. Their website said for Xmas Eve you could either have a classic or a vegetarian multi-course meal. We signed up for two of the latter as well as the suggested wine pairings, all for 85 Euro/person. We had to wire 50 Euro/person in advance to secure the reservation. There was only one seating beginning at 7pm for aperitifs and then the meal began at 7:30pm.
Before I get to the food, tonight I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the meal when there were no surprises on the bill. I asked for a carafe of water and the waiter brought a big bottle of mineral water. I was sure they would charge us for the water and we even ended up getting a second bottle of water. Later I substituted one of the suggested wines for one not on the list. But at the end of the meal the bill was still 170E (85x2) minus the 100 we already paid, so we only owed 70. No surprises and we had so many wine refills, we really ate and drank well and did not break the bank.
Also, our meal lasted 4.5 hours and we were one of the first tables to leave! Perhaps because the restaurant was full and everyone was eating at the same time, there were long gaps between dishes but these were filled by refills of wine. Knowing there was only one seating for the night, there was no sense of rush, we were able to just sit back and enjoy ourselves.
The staff was warm and friendly and the host, the father of the chef, spoke whichever language each table requested.
The aperetif was a Kir Royale (currant flavored champagne). The first course consisted of three different appetizers- a turnip veloute soup with apple, kale chips with an avocado dip, and spiced goat cheese. All excellent. Also, great bread with olive oil and butter.
Next was a light white wine (I don't remember which) and a warm beet and pesto "pie" with macadamia nuts. This was very unusual and tasty.
The main course was pumpkin three ways with a yogurt tahini sauce. I don't usually like tahini but it was perfectly balanced in the sauce, not overpowering, and I polished this off well. My husband usually doesn't like pumpkin or sweet main courses but he liked this dish because of the interesting spices. It was not too sweet. This came with a Belgian pinot grigio. There was also an option for a red wine from Mendocini, California, but living in Los Angeles, I wanted to try something Belgian. When I told the host I prefer red wine but wanted to stick with Belgian he let me have a Belgian Pinot Noir (after the Pinot Grigio) which was not on the prix-fixe menu.
For desert was a wonderfully light "apple pie". More like a turnover, not too sweet, but with a very sweet vanilla iced cream.
And just when we thought it was over my husband had a coffee, I had Earl Grey tea and we were given a plate of treats including Cuberdons, chocolates and cookies.
It was truly a memorable meal and will be an unforgettable part of our honeymoon. The young waiter who is the chef's boyfriend at one point boasted that the chef is only 23 years old. This is not something I would necessarily brag about except that she clearly has talent and a unique vision, especially for Belgium where it's hard to avoid moules et frites let alone find a good vegetarian meal. If she has this much creativity at this young age I think she is going to go very far!
I sometimes find myself inflating stars for veg-friendly restaurants because I appreciate that they exist but the food at Reliva tonight and the atmosphere (perfect lighting, quiet music) truly deserve 5 stars on Yelp and could probably hold its own in Los Angeles where there are many great vegetarian/vegan-friendly establishments. We left at around 11:40pm and heard church bells ringing. Just a block away we wondered into a beautiful church where more and more people gathered and I attended my first Midnight Mass!
One note- when I was wiring the money for the reservation my bank required an address for Reliva's bank but Reliva had not provided me with this address. I looked on google maps for their bank and found two branches in Bruges. I used the address of the branch closer to Reliva and it worked so if you find yourself in a similar position you can try this trick and if Reliva is reading this- please supply your bank branch's address along with the wiring instructions.
Thank you Reliva for a wonderful evening and have a Merry Christmas! Also, I recommend the chef visits Los Angeles (Sage Organic Vegan, Kitchen Mouse, Amara Kitchen, Cafe Gratitude, Gracias Madre) and New York (Pure Food and Wine, Candle79) to further her research into vegan cuisine and spread it more in Europe. read more
