- Product Rating -

A place that doesn’t really deserve two Michelin stars: Restaurant Nuance (16. July 2022)

| August 22, 2022 | 0 Comments

Since we were in a group and I wasn’t really aware where we were going, I figured only towards the end of the evening that the ‘Nuance’ has two Michelin stars. Frankly, I’m not sure, I share this assessment. We went for the “7-Course Menu” (EUR 215.00) with “accompanying wines” (EUR 100.00) and it started super promising. The “tartlet with kiwi, avocado, green asparagus and melon” was absolutely delicious and a great bite to start. The “waffle with cheese” on the other hand was rather intense and needed a bit of adjustment time of the palate.

The next amuse bouche, the “tartlet with hamashi and ginger flower and watermelon radish” was about as amazing. Fresh, playful, a combination of many flavours and textures – making it a perfect bite.

For the “deep sea shrimp and sea lettuce and cheese”, the same was true. So far, I was kind of mind-blown. I hadn’t expected anything since I didn’t really inform myself, but I must say that I absolutely liked it.

When they served the “goat milk butter and classic butter”, I was intrigued …

… and enjoyed that they served “three different kinds of breads”. The goat milk butter was truly delicious!

The first course of the evening was a “goose liver with raspberry, dried cranberry and beetroot with butter coffee sauce” which was exquisite. Fresh, intense, overall lovely! Absolutely enjoyable. So far, so good!

The “dorade with watermelon radish, shisho and rose oil, clear tomato” definitely looked pretty and pretty interesting but wasn’t necessarily the most amazing bite I have tried in my life.

The “mackerel’lisette’ with Hokkaido rice, cucumber, algae, verbena and miso sauce, and oil” on the other hand was a great again. The saltiness of the mackerel in combination with the sweetness of the verbena and miso – outstanding!

The “European lobster, bouillabaisse, almond cream, carrot and sea buckthorn” was definitely an interesting bite, but somehow the lobster taste got a bit lost in the rest of the flavours.

Next in line was the “sea bass with leek, lemon, green pepper, based on fermented anchovies” and frankly, it was somehow uninspiring, but I did really like the fermented anchovies as it is one of these strong flavours, I truly enjoy!

The “Holstein beef with different zucchini with garlic and pistachio oil, sucrine, wasabi” was nice, quite interesting really. I mean, the beef was of good quality, and it was prepared in a very enjoyable way. So, absolutely nothing to complain about with this course – besides the fact that it was a rather regular bite and not really that much of a surprise in terms of flavours and taste.

The “cheese board” for which they charged an additional EUR 25.00 was a bit uninspiring, besides the two extra cheeses you could ask for – those were actually delicious. The rest was somehow rather simple and standard.

Then, it was dessert time. The “blueberry, praline and sumac” was nice and somewhat refreshing.

I really liked the looks of the “apricot, fennel, pandan” dessert, although, I must admit, it wasn’t that much of a surprise or revelation trying it.

Last but not least, the last ice cream was actually quite nice and right down my alley – but also due to the fact that it was containing vanilla, which is one of my favourite flavours.

Finally, it was time to try the “friandises waggon” which came with a selection of sweets, and you’re allowed to pick as many as you want. Now, usually, I wouldn’t go for too many sweet dishes really, but given you had the opportunity to kind of unlimitedly try, I decided to do so.

And went for quite a selection of different friandises – some of them truly exquisite! So, when it comes to the friandises, this is really quite exquisite.

However, even though the place is super nice and friendly and overall quite lovely, it is also a bit disappointing since the service and the overall experience is just not two stars as I know them. Yes sure, the whole thing is somewhat nice and somewhat lovely – but it is not what you’re looking for when it comes to a proper two Michelin star experience. At least not from my comparable experience.

All in all, I would probably not visit the Nuance again. It offers a nice selection of dishes, in a very lovely setting – but the staff is not entirely on two Michelin star niveau (water glasses were not refilled, the wine of the wine pairing was served too late) and neither are the dishes. Get me right, they are great. They are excellent – but there is nothing astounding in it. And personally (besides the amuse bouches), if I decide to try a nice place with 2 Michelin stars, I expect one or two surprises at least.

Rating:

Atmosphere:
Service:
Dishes:
Price-Performance Ratio:
Overall Rating:

Contact Details:

Restaurant Nuance

Kiliaanstraat 6-8

2570 Duffel (BE)

Tel.: +32 15 63 42 65

E-Mail: info@resto-nuance.be

Homepage: http://www.resto-nuance.be

About the Author:

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.
EUR 2'800.00 (incl. tip) Filed in: Antwerp (BE), Restaurants
×

Post a Comment