The restaurant is very well disguised. Its sent on a main road, in a residential area and masks itself as nothing more than a luxury property. A small sign by the path, and the ring of a door bell, opens up in to a grand dining room, which took me quite by surprise. It was stunning. This is luxury dining at its finest with a clientele to match, enjoying Chateau Haut-Brion – on a Friday lunch. We were offered a seat very near the open plan kitchen watching head chef Christophe Hardiquest (who trained at two michelin starred Seagrill) preparing and finalizing creations from the kitchen.
Bon Bon was recently awarded a second michelin star, and with prices to match. A three course lunch menu, with matching wines, champagne on arrival, coffee and water comes in just shy of 350 euros for two people. We started our meal with an array of ‘finger foods’ on offer. First to tingle our taste buds was some small and delicate shallow fried cheese balls and some mussels decorated with bacon bits (resembling frazzles), and a dollop of mayo. Good, but hardly exciting.
A leek soup which had an incredible depth of flavour, included pea, cress and a subtle curry flavour, it was near perfect in soup terms. It was just a shame this was only to whet my appetite and not a full starter. There was something else in this soup, which sat lurking at the bottom, and i still have no idea what it was.
A lovely, quirky taster which was a cheesey take on creme brulee i assume. Served in a hand crafted duck foot egg holder, it did put a smile on our face. While it wasn’t particularly spectacular in flavour it brought a nice few mouthful of acidity and a little humour.
Finally Brussels had some good bread and butter to offer us. We were getting worried this city had no love for it. Three butters, one salted, an amazing peanut version, and red wine infused, which was so intensely flavoured we couldn’t decide to either love it, or hate it. Bread was simple, but with such bold butters that suited us fine.
Starter arrived in the form of scallops served carpaccio style, which floated in a heavenly bath of oyster foam and mouse. It was so delicate, yet rich is was like eating something which had solely been created for my own eating pleasure – you could tell how much skill and effort went into ot creating this dish. Topped with some samphire, shaving of lime zest and dollops of exquisite caviar it was a stunning dish.
Our main course demonstrated a lot of skill, but for me personally it did not represent a well to a restaurant awarded two michelin stars. A delicately cooked fillet of pollock in sat in a sauce of carrot with smoked paprika oil, and surrounded by tart dollops of mango puree. A brush of broccoli puree and some brown shrimps lay on the side of the plate, and for me looked a bit dry and dull. Dried mango sat on top of the fish and while it was very good on its own, it in no way brought anything positive to the dish, the flavour combination was just far to excotic and intense against the delicate piece of fish.
Dessert was extremely unusual, but in a good way. Ripe pieces of mango which had been lightly torched to give it nice crisp outer and smoky taste. An outstanding chocolate brittle sat perched in the top of each piece of mango and dollops of yogurt, citrus ice shavings and a buttery crumble. A refreshing dessert, and satisfying dessert.
Perhaps our pre-dessert, after dessert was a little too good, and really put that toasted mango concoction to shame, it was excellent. A mango puree, mango sorbet, lime jelly and mini meringue was a flavour explosion on the palate. It was exciting to eat and was full of soft, silky textures. It was perhaps one of the best things i’ve eaten this year (non savoury of course).
Petit fours were very special (if a bit late). An outstanding caramel eclair had a delicate pastry jam packed with creamy caramel and topped off with a little white chocolate and gold leaf. A mint ice to refresh the palate quickly followed by a decadent chocolate truffle. A dainty marshmallow had little flavour but the creme brulee was stunning. This was all the petit fours for a single person, very generous portions.
Service here at Bon Bon was good, but by no means exemplary. It felt quite rushed with at some points things such as our starters arriving the minute our bread, butters and nibbles were all laid down, giving not much time to enjoy them. Pre-dessert, after dessert was in front of our faces the second they took our dessert plate away and when coffee was brought out to us, petit fours were forgotten, only until we had finished our drinks. For Two michelin stars this is pretty poor service, and while the food is good, its all about the experience which after walking through the doors of this beautiful restaurant, i thought it was going to be special, its just a shame it wasn’t as special as i might have hoped.
8/10
