Discover Benelux | Bruges | Top Eat, Drink & Sleep Spots
A fusion of cuisines in Bruges TEXT: BERTHE VAN DEN HURK | PHOTOS: HET VISOEN
In the outskirts of the centre of Bruges, is the exceptional brasserie Het Visoen. Owners Yehudi van Meckeren and Nofiandri Suat are using their travel and life experiences to create a truly unique mix of French-Belgian, Asian and Asianfusion cuisine. Het Visioen has a straightforward but pleasant interior, as one would expect at an exceptional brasserie. The showpiece of the interior is the ‘Berkel-machine’; an old-fashioned cutting machine, which is used every day to slice the finest Spanish Iberico hams. The old-fashioned-styled bar offers a range of delicious cocktails and specialises in gin and tonics. But overall, friendliness and quality is their credo. “We have been open since March 2015 after a thorough makeover,” says Van Meckeren. “We wanted to create a
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place for everyone, with good service and a smile.” The combination may seem a remarkable mix for a cuisine but, after hearing a little bit more about Van Meckeren’s life and cooking experiences, it starts to make perfect sense. Van Meckeren: “My studies were in Belgium, but I have also lived in Bali for eight years, where I worked in several five-star hotels and boutique restaurants. Unlike Belgium, street food is very common in Bali and can be found everywhere. I decided to take these recipes to Belgium and to mix them with the French-Belgian cuisine.” “Every day I create a new lunch and every month there is a new menu, this is a travel through all of my experiences that I want the guest to experience.” The current menu features gently grilled North Sea
scallops on a bed of a Belgian endive salad seasoned with a soft Thai dressing on a mango base. The second course is deer fillet slowly cooked with a local beer, ‘Tongerlo Christmas’, with celery root pureé and winter veggies. The dessert is a true fusion dish, with Spanish saffron, Madagascar vanilla and Japanese Kalamansi mandarin all with a beautiful seasonal fruit salad and homemade vanilla ice cream. All dishes are also ‘á la carte’. The Visioen goes all the way to make the guest comfortable in any way and any request will be taken care of. Together with his Indonesian wife, Van Meckeren offers a superb cuisine with exotic spices, and Asian tapas. After a day walking in the gorgeous city of Bruges, this is the perfect ending to a beautiful day. www.hetvisioen.com