The one thing I really love to do when visiting my favourite city in the Netherlands, Maastricht – is to always make sure I get good use out of the city’s impeccable location and visit as many neighbouring city’s and restaurants as I can. Sometimes it means a short bus ride, but other times (like this one) it can be about three buses and an hours wait at the interchange. Thankfully the sun was shining and as you’ll shortly find out – the meal was so impeccable we’d have travelled even further to sample it.
Magis restaurant is located in the oldest town in Belgium, Tongeren. This pretty cobbled street town was founded in 15 BC and was then a base and supply station for Roman troops and subsequently went on to becoming a major trade point. The huge Gothic church in the centre of Tongeren is certainly worth seeking out – along with some of the excellent chocolate shops. The owners here at Magis are its talented head chef, Dimitry Lysense and restaurant manager/front of house, Aagje Moens – they both together make a truly excellent team. Michael Wolfs, the sommelier here was also notably charming and very attentive with some very good recommendations and very interesting wine list which wasn’t ridiculously marked up, but instead modestly. We started our epic journey here with some outstanding bread. It was very heavy in weight but its texture was light and airy – perfect for soaking up their delicious butters.
The one thing Magis really don’t hold back on (which we quickly noticed), is their pre-dinner snacks. They don’t only serve a couple of them, but instead a whole feast – even before you’ve got to your starters. An earthy flavoured beetroot creation and some crisp and salty fried shrimps really got the palate excited and both went perfectly with our glass of local sparkling wine. Beautifully cooked rings of squid were a very tantalising affair and one appetiser which was unknown to me I decided to name ‘A taste of the sea’ – although I suspect from its presentation It was a mussel flavoured puree – although don’t quote me on that.
Although firmly part of the ‘appetisers’ category, one dish in particular needed a paragraph of its own. Served on a wooden stick, the incredible cube of succulent and juicy pork belly was certainly one of the highlights to our meal. I adore pork belly, but so many places seem to rush its cooking (not here however). Here it’s been slow cooked to produce meat which falls apart in your mouth and with pockets of fat so soft and broken down that it immediately turns to liquid form from the heat of the mouth. If you want to know how to cook pork belly perfectly then come here, it simply doesn’t get any better. Shortly followed after was an amuse based on textures of carrot which was perfectly fine, but not overly exciting.
Toiling over the delicious menu we actually decided on the surprise lunch – which turned out to be a bargain, especially considering everything you see here was included. Our starter was a rather unusual offering and not something we’d experienced before – but it turned out to be spectacular. Crisp thin bread separated the ingredients in this dish, which as a single mouthful together was truly a flavour explosion. A powerful whole grain mustard, pickled cucumber, onion, chives, pigs head and a slightly more delicate mustard sauce to integrate everything together. It was so fresh it really did leave the mouth salivating and it was very well portioned too.
The food here at Magis was mostly spectacular but one dish which we really struggled to get excited about was our chunk of veal served with courgette and broccoli. As far as flavours went it was pleasant enough, but some of the cooking elements and appearance needed a little more work. The courgette needed to be a little softer, the broccoli needed seasoning and the jus was much too watery – but it did have a very good depth of flavour. As for the veal it was very tender, but it’s jelly like appearance was not appealing to look at. The flesh was too white and its raw appearance of the fat wasn’t appetising (I suspect it was cooked sous vide). The other side of the meat had been browned but I think perhaps it all should have been. As I said a pleasant enough dish and by no means awful – it just could have been improved a lot and very easily.
Our dessert here was of course yet another incredible dish for which we didn’t want to end. A sumptuous sweet rice (rice pudding) laced with copious amounts of ethereal saffron and topped with a crunchy biscuit top and scoop of homemade ice cream. Edible paint was decorated around the plate to represent a sunflower and as you can see, it arrived looking like a piece of art which we really didn’t want to spoil (but did).
By this point through our meal we were so full up (and a little tipsy) that the realisation of us stilling having a long(ish) journey back to Maastricht ahead of us settled in – when all we were ready for was our bed. A stunning selection of petit fours may have tipped us over the edge, but each and every bite was certainly worth it. Magis in Tongeren is an incredible restaurant with an excellent team behind it and one which I highly recommend. When people talk about destination restaurants, they must have had Magis in mind because no distance is too far to travel for food this good. As soon as the summer comes in I plan to spend long afternoons here on its sunny terrace and so should you – before everyone finds out about this hidden, one Michelin starred gem.
8/10
