La Villa in the Sky — Restaurant in Brussels

To say this meal was a disappointment would be an understatement. Having been to many 1, 2 and 3 Michelin star restaurants I can safely say the experience here was utterly dreadful. To be clear I’m comparing this restaurant against the standards expected of a restaurant holding a star. I don’t want to come across as snobby or entitled so please bear this in mind when reading my review.

When you arrive you are greeted by a man who checks you name off of a list and points you in the direction of a woman standing at an elevator. She ushers you in but not a single word is spoken, not even a hello. You go up in the elevator then once you reach the top you have a further 3 flights of stairs to walk up. A bit annoying and certainly something to consider if you are in a wheelchair or have difficulties walking, I don’t know how that would have worked. Once you do reach the restaurant the first thing you notice is the view, it is spectacular, best in Brussels by far. The setting is essentially a glass cube on the top of a building, similar to a smaller version of Kaefer in Berlin.

We were directed to an available table set for 2 and this is where things started to go a little sideways. No one spoke to us for 20 minutes…. Not a single word, no menu, nothing in front of us, nothing to drink, nothing. After 20 minutes we were asked do we want sparkling or still water. We requested still, a glass was poured then we were left again. The next thing that happened is a plate containing a bowl of dried flowers and a small chocolate ball appeared in front of us. No description of what it was, no indication if this was a suspected amuse-bouche or what. With no introduction we had no idea what to do with the small chocolate ball, do we dip it in the bowl of flowers? are the flowers edible? Do we eat this now? You must bear in mind that at this point we had not been offered a drink, beyond the table water, we had not seen a menu, we had no introduction to the wait staff, absolutely nothing. Some 30 minutes into this ‘experience’ I had to grab a waiter and ask to speak to the sommelier. He then appeared and asked what we wanted to drink. We had no menu, no idea of what we were eating, no wine list, how am I supposed to know what I want to drink. I like to start a meal like this off with a cocktail, so I asked for the cocktail menu. I was told they don’t do cocktails but if I wanted they could probably make me a negroni…..thanks. I then asked ‘well is there some sort of wine pairing? Or?’ I was told there was and to save any further awkward silence as the sommelier looked at me like I was from space, I accepted.

The wine pairing is the single most unique wine pairing experience I have ever experienced, star or otherwise. Every single wine, bar the first one, arrived after we began eating our food or after we had finished completely. Sometime around the middle of the meal we had completely finished our course with no wine to be seen. The sommelier then hurried over with 4 glasses to which he said ‘drink this first one quickly and the second is for your next course’. What an absolute embarrassment. The food was…….ok. Remarkably unremarkable. Possibly this is why it lost one of its stars and will certainly lead to the removal of its last existing star if its not improved upon. If not the quality of the food then the terrible customer experience.

By now you probably have a good understanding of how the meal went, the meals were introduced hurriedly and often incorrectly by staff that offer a service you would expect from your local pub. We often saw a chef walking around talking to tables, not ours (I’ll chalk this down to a potential language barrier but it would be a lot less insulting if someone explained this to us rather than just feeling left out).

The only thing I would like to extend to ‘La Villa in the Sky’ is my deepest apologies, I’m terribly sorry for having inconvenienced your staff with my attendance and I sincerely hope you are not inconvenienced by any other guests...

We visited for dinner on a Friday night during a short vacation to Brussels. Getting into the restaurant was a bit of a process. It seemed that all guests were booked in at the opening time of 7:30pm, and we were all asked to hang around in the lobby of the building before being escorted up in small groups based on table allocations. We arrived at 7:25pm and were in the second group taken up, being seated in the restaurant at 7:45pm.

I have to admit it is quite a unique setting, in what feels like a small glass box hidden on top of a large building. The views were impressive, even more so as the sun was setting, and there was an outdoor terrace that was accessed by a number of guests briefly to capture a few photos.

Only a blind tasting menu is on offer with a choice of 5 or 7 courses. We opted for the latter. The food was generally very nice and beautifully presented as well. Service was friendly and quite formal, but not overly so.

Although a solid fine dining experience in many aspects, one area we had issue with was the speed of service. The initial 20 minute delay before being seated set the tone for the rest of the evening. We did indicate our preference for a quicker paced meal right at the outset and a couple more times during the meal, and to their credit we did manage to almost “catch up” to the tables doing the shorter 5 course menu, but despite this we were not done until 11:45pm, which was 4h15m post arrival. We live in London and have been fortunate enough to try out most of the 20 or so 2 and 3 star Michelin restaurants in town, as well as a bunch more in New York and other big cities, and based on these experiences find 3 hours to be more typical for a 7 course meal, which upon our standard request for a quicker pace can occasionally be cut down to 2.5 hours or so. Hence for us, the 4+ hours we experienced here did feel very slow. That said, this did not seem to bother the other guests (all of which were still seated when we left) so perhaps it is more acceptable in this part of the world!

Our bill came to €680, which included a wine pairing for one person (priced at €125). Within reason and cheaper than one would pay in London for a similar experience. It was a nice meal overall, I would put the food at a 2-star level, it was an impressive venue as well, but as mentioned the slow pacing and their seeming lack of flexibility to deviate from this did detract somewhat from the experience. I would still recommend it for those who are happy to sit through a...

More than average food, unbearable chef’s attitude but hopefully good service, and clearly overpriced.

Booked a table for 2 for the birthday of my partner on Saturday evening. We were very excited to be back after a few years. Unfortunately the experience was disappointing. The restaurant lost his second Michelin star and it is totally understandable. The one left will probably follow.

The food: on Saturdays, there is a single 7-services « surprise » menu which is very restrictive. No allergies or intolerance were confirmed (even if it is asked at booking, it should be reconfirmed). The food was average and no wow effect. The first starter was way too salty. I mentioned it but it seems than the staff is afraid of the chef and don’t dare saying anything. The 2 following starters were on the edge of being too salty. The fourth one was again too salty. I could not eat it and send it back. The chef didn’t even bother going out of his kitchen and the only comment I got from the staff was that there are sorry but the chef try it and he found it « tasty » and no other customers complained … so we probably invented it. for who is the chef cooking? For his taste or for our taste? Maybe other people didn’t dare saying anything.

Chef’s attitude : hot-tempered… There were an issue with the order in the service. The chef swore, threw papers and yelled at them. Even though the staff is running and trying to do their best. After mentioning that our food was too salty, the chef didn’t even bother coming to our table. We are just paying customers.

Service: even if there has been an issue with the order in the service, the staff was very helpful. Many thanks to the maître d’hôtel who tried to round the edges and made our experience a bit more comfortable. We got some glasses of excellent wine as a compensation and we highly appreciate it.

In conclusion: disappointing food in the taste and in the creativity, clearly overpriced (he kept the price of a 2 Michelin stars even though he lost one) and...