Stirwen — Restaurant in Etterbeek

We had a business institutional lunch and chose this place due to a local recommendation. 5 people, 4 of them had poultry (quite nice). I chose fish, catch of the day. 331 EUR total check. The problem was that when I got my fish, I started to eat it just to find out after a couple of bits, a thick black long hair under the fish piece. The hair was at the ver bottom of the plate so it just phisycally couldn't had felt during the lunch. By the way, none of my party had that type of hair. Disgusting. Immediately I asked the server to take it away, showed her the problem, and told her not to bring anything else since my stomach was closed and couldn't eat anything else. She inmediately recognized the problem and even told me from whom it could had felt in the kitchen. They didn't apologise but rather (against my explicit instructions) brought me another fish. I said I didn't want it and got a cold look... When I asked for the check they had charged me 40 EUR for my menu. I complained and said that I had no problem paying for it but that I didn't think it was right nor nice. Answer I got was an angry argumentation about the fact that they only had one women in the kitchen and that it had been an accident and that it was my problem if I hadn't accepted something else to eat instead. This was just enough ... not only had they brought me food with an hygienic problem and had not excused themselves for it but rather wanted us to let it go and pay for it. Just unacceptable. Since I was on a business lunch I didn’t go over with the discussion, went over the lunch so that no one would notice the incident and paid the bill. Will most definitively never come back and take the place out of our company list of places to go for institutional lunches. In addition, our table was just in front of a door from which a lot of disgusting smells came through during the meal. Another unacceptable mistake in a self described "nice...

Incredible food that is delicious, combines high quality ingredients with unique flavors, and looks pretty! I highly recommend this restaurant.

Having tried a few 1- and 2- Michelin star restaurants, this place is up there with them, with a calmer vibe and a more down-to-earth team.

Atmosphere: the seating area is spacious. Seats are not cramped together like many other restaurants. The set up brings noise levels down and makes Stirwen a perfect restaurant for a calmer or more romantic dinner. 10/10

Service: The staff are friendly and helpful. They try to explain everything in English and make their guests welcome. I met the head chef who shared a lot of insights into the ingredients and dishes! 10/10

Food: Modern French dishes that combine high quality and/or unique ingredients beautifully. I really enjoyed the warm langoustine starter. The delicately roasted langoustine combined delightfully with the shellfish sauce + foam. I then had venison for my main (first time) and loved it. The meat was very soft and tender (like a very high quality beef tenderloin, except with a slightly different flavor profile). It was not ‘gamey’ at all, thanks to the younger age of the venison (as I found out from the chef). The meat was balanced nicely with soaked pears and different vegetables, along with a sauce that included a hint of cocoa. For dessert, I had their hot and cold chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream, which was rich and surprisingly light. (I normally skip dessert in restaurants but I was enjoying my time at Stirwen and wanted to continue the experience.) 10/10

Definitely will be back whenever...

These sophisticated guys of Stirwen are re-writing the book of fine dining in their little, well-decorated restaurant. I can say that the six-course-dinner I had in this place was one of the best meals I have ever had. You can sense the staff's enthusiasm in everywhere, from the inner design to the way they talk to you. The waiter's broad explanations of the meals and wines were pleasing. He was obviously much experienced and knowledgeable in his job. The selection of wines they had was very good. The food they served was all delicious and pleasing to the eye. Later, in a chat with the chef, we learned that every ingredient he had used was fresh and brought to the place on the day they were cooked. I especially enjoyed the frog legs, the seafood plate (with sea bream, mussels, squid, clams and shallots cream) and the rabbit dish. The place is open during lunch time as well. So, I recommend to give it a chance before quickly jumping to one of the Brussels' older well-known...