Dinner at Roue D'or

I have returned from my dining experience at Roue D'or. For those that know me well enough, you know that there are a few things on my list of "Do NOT eat" - such things as vegetables (especially green ones), any type of seafood, and pretty much anything that isn't familiar. I'm just kind of a basic girl. But it's hard to be that way when traveling to such glamourous places, and with such fancy people, as our lawyers are. After I met Johan, I was delighted when he took me to a little Brasserie, called Roue D'or. According to their card, it's "The Place to be in the Heart of Brussels." It was totally empty when we arrived, so the attentive waiters helped us with our coats, and seated us at a tiny table in the back. I wasn't so sure it was the best table when we had to pull it out just to sit down, but it turned out to be great because it gave us a view of the rest of the restaurant. The decor was fascinating - it reminded me of the brasserie in Something's Gotta Give, when Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves meet Jack Nicholson at a brasserie in Paris (as a footnote, I sent some of our lawyers there for a dine around at our meeting in Paris - Le Grand Colbert). Apparently, Rene Magritte has left his impression all over Brussels, and after being there for a few minutes, I looked up to find a beautiful sky ceiling - decorated with men in dress coats who had sprouted wings and were flying away, and faces of men in bowler hats, and a hot air balloon with clowns and acrobats climbing from it. Quite unique and very entertaining - I loved it. When I wasn't paying attention, Johan ordered an appetizer of what turned out to be goose in some type of creamy pate-type mold. Apparently, we were to eat this on a brown bread toast, interspersing it with cornichons, which are tiny pickles. Apparently, "cornichon" is French for "gherkin." Yes, yes, the only thing in that list that I eat is the brown bread, but I ate all of it, and actually quite liked the cornichons - but I'll deny it if you tell anyone! One of our waiters was rather easy on the eyes, and accidentally brought us someone else's dinner - or maybe he just liked me - wishful thinking! With it, he brought some delicious looking french fries...I'm a sucker for those pommes frites! So Johan ordered them with my sirloin, which rivaled anything I've eaten at a steak house in New York! (Including Sparks) I had the sirloin with a bearnaise sauce, and it was pretty good, although the fries were the best part of course (see what I mean about my palate? At least I'm expanding!) For dessert, Johan insisted I try a local Belgian specialty, even though I was totally stuffed - an apple tart tatin. I could see it from my seat, and it did look delicious, so I relented. My eyes did not fail me, and I ate the whole thing, which I regret already. But it's apples, so it's healthy, right? At any rate the meal was delicious. Johan then wanted me to see a true Brussels cafe, so he took me to one of the oldest bars in Brussels, which had a strange name - something like Ye Olde Good Time. I'm serious. (Au Bon Vieux Temps)You reached it by ducking into this narrow (and I mean NARROW) cobbled alleyway, and heading down to a small doorway - very Sherlock Holmes follows a clue stuff. We went inside, and I felt as though we were transported to medieval times, complete with King Arthur's round table chairs around the room. However, the chain smoking old bartender and the one cross-dressing customer in there with a friend showed me that we were indeed in the 21st century. Only one glass of water later and I was already smelling of smoke, and dreading my five am wakeup tomorrow, so it was back to Hotel Amigo for me. And now to bed before my flight to Stockholm tomorrow!