Having Maastricht so close to Antwerp really is a treat when I come visit. On this occasion we went there to visit a bookstore.
Morning over Maastricht was very lovely.
It’s inside an old church. Used to be independent but now is Polare which is a chain we have in Belgium too.
Isn’t that just amazing? Such a great use of a really magic space.
They also have a really impressive selection, second hand upstairs had some great gems – almost everything in Dutch though!
The Kalmthoutse Heide is a park about half an hour drive from Antwerp and which straddles the Belgium/Holland border. It’s theoretically possible to go on a short wall which crosses over – though we chose another route this time.
The walking is on sand which makes it a bit harder work at times. This bring Belgium however it is also so flat that it’s almost hard to believe. Apparently there is also a herd of sheep that live here and some shaggy little cows too.
There is also a Suske and Wiske walk with sculptures all the way.
It’s really pretty terrain, and quite varied – definitely strange for an Australian.
And here the walk home..
There are few lovelier places for a cup of coffee & a piece of cake than the Bourla. It’s almost hidden in that there is no signage downstairs except for the theatre. Just keep going inside & up the stairs, you won’t regret it.
They also do a buffet brunch on the weekends which looks like a lovely way to celebrate something..
European Christmas season brings a whole bunch of things in their real forms that we don’t have in Oz – here’s my first mistletoe for instance..
This year I had requests from my little brother & others for the good chocolate slices for sandwiches for the market – a kilo of chocolate later..
Then the perfect early lunch – did someone say oyster degustation?
Waiting to be shucked.
What a gorgeous sight on heirloom oyster plates with a glass of cava. All their liquor intact, the Speciale Gillardeau was definitely the stand out. This place also does wonderful homemade shrimp croquettes.
So technically it wasn’t a “flight” but there were a bunch on the menu and it did drink them in order.
So good! Hendricks was unsurprisingly the fave, but all were tasty & garnishes really brought out the botanicals. Would drink again.
Bonus beer from Brooklyn – DS said it was delicious.
Post sunset beach swims on a brisk day a visit to Chat Thai Randwick will warm you right up and fuel you for the trip home.
todt mun goong: Plump juicy prawn cakes in panko type crumbs fried until super crunchy. Could have been more strongly spiced though, and sweet chilli sauce & I are still not really very close.
som dtum – always wonderful, fresh, spicy and with tiny chewy dried shrimps throughout.
gaeng keaw louk chin bpla gaia – green curry with house-made fish dumplings and apple eggplants. This was utterly wonderful, dense and tasty fish dumplings in a deep rich sauce with crunchy quartered apple eggplants.
Bang Bang is kind of out of the way for me. It’s never on the way to something, but is worth the detour to visit.
Cute interiors, good coffee and a monster vegetarian breakfast (for the princely sum of $17).
As a mainly vegetarian for many years I sometimes run out of inspiration, or get in a food rut. Often the solution to this is a good cookbook (like Plenty by Ottolenghi) but more recently my solution has been to #eattherainbow.
The scientific basis for it might be rubbish, but it is a great way to put together a plant based meal that looks great, and gets you eating new things.
For each meal I try get in some purple, red, yellow, green and white.
Instagram trawling provides some nice ideas for what this might look like. Here are some pics of random meals I’ve thrown together along these lines.
Japanese style with spicy tofu, soba and enoki soup, Chinese broccoli with togarashi, seasoned laver and purple asparagus.
Beetroot slaw, chèvre, seeds and sumac salad with boiled new potatoes.
Kale, zucchini and onion, beetroot & feta bruschetta, sweet potato fries.
Red cabbage salad with tomato, cucumber, crispy fried shallots, green herbs, cucumber and yuzu dressing.
Burghul stuffed caps, saffron cauliflower, sweet potato, cucumber & cottage cheese salad etc.
This Let’s Do lunch was advertised as follows: Choose from lamb a la dolce vita; lamb shoulder, sweet potato, plum and early grey tea or No Animals were harmed; gnocchi, celeriac, carrot and beetroot.
That’s not exactly what we had on the day, but it was still wonderful.
First two tiny white pastilles on the table were rehydrated into hand towels. They got there just in time, DS was hungry and looked set to eat one of them – thinking, or perhaps just hoping, that it was just a very dry mint.
Gorgeously presented butter.
And the bread that accompanied it (or should that be the other way around?)
Amuse bouche of Green Apple, borage flours, crab and crumbs. Lovely jellied orbs, though an odd choice with vegetarian main.
Brown Brothers wine. Fine but nothing exciting.
Vegetarian option was this wonderful wild mushroom risotto with asparagus. So many great deep flavours, gorgeously tender rice and peppery micro greens.
DS adored his lamb – and so pretty!
We recently spent the weekend in the Southern Highlands for a wedding and stayed at the lovely Links House. Apparently it’s the first hotel in Australia that had ensuite bathrooms. Fancy! We stayed in the Garden Studio which is this hella cute little cottage. It also has a bath.
It’s a B&B so breakfast is included, but not basket of stale viennoiserie to be found here thank heck. Quite a long set of choices..
The Boy had moroccan eggs which were served with dukkah and hommous.
I couldn’t pass up the eggs with roasted vegetables, Turkish toast, and onion jam. Not a bad way to start the day.
Little Belgian Waffle 