rizoom — Restaurant in Ghent

Rizoom is one of the rare places I have to look beyond what I like, and judge it 5/5. This restaurant puts forward a minimalistic and subtle menu, clearly doused in expertise and eye for detail. What makes it the perfect place is the combination of carefully perfected elements: Service is skilled and trained, as here, for the first time in a long time, I actually listened to their explanation of what was in front of me and how it was prepared. More often than not I drift away during these types of explanations, that are often drilled into the staff. Not so at Rizoom, every person approaching the table seemed to have grasped the dishes and their reasons perfectly. Same goes for the sommelier, who had a fun fact or insight to tell about every single wine or farm the wine originated from. Never once sounding rehearsed or droning on. Water was refilled in the spot, napkins replaced whenever necessary, all needs were seen to. When I made the slightest move to ask for attention, someone would pop up straight away without feeling stiff of stand-off ish. I think they have nailed this kind of establishment, perfected it. Now, as for my tastes, it wasn’t completely my thing. The dishes are exquisite and super subtle, the ingredients seem very pure, it just lacked the (maybe more crude) punch I like in food. Maybe it is the profound Japanese background the cuisine is based upon that maybe isn’t my thing, but when the dishes did pack intense flavours -as some did-, they didn’t sit well with me. However, I feel that is my “fault”, and it does not reflect on the amazing skill and experience the people at...

Was brought here by my friend Rob for my birthday and experienced one of the greatest meals of my life. I have experienced quite a bit of fine dining and I cannot think of a more enjoyable experience. From the first sip of the Robert Moncuit grand cru mensil 2015, I knew I was in for a wild ride. The depth of wine knowledge from our server and his effusive love for the game augmented an already stellar wine pairing. Rob went for the non alcoholic flight and this is the first time in my life I encountered a team that understood that the goal is not to mimic the alcohol pairing by making cheap imitations of wine or sake but to create completely unique non alcoholic drinks in conjunction with the kitchen that stand on their own as world class drinks that enhance the dishes… and this is coming from an alcohol enthusiast who previously scoffed at all non alcoholic pairing attempts (and Rob has subjected me to a few). All fish dishes were world class and the wild duck in gravy still has me salivating seven hours later. Forget partridge in a pear tree… how about partridge chewed and consumed with warm sake stock, mother’s milk of the earth realm. We felt impeccably cared for by each member of the staff that we came into contact with. No pretension just highly skilled artisans absolutely crushing it at the top of their games. I will be back...

If you are looking for sophistication, this is surelly the place to be.

We got the tasting menu with 4 matching wines. Food was just fantastic; we loved the asian influence and we do appreciate the level of research that must have gone into each of the dishes; it was surelly a nice and tasty experience.

I am not a wine expert, but I've subjectively found some of the matchings a little too adventurous.

Service has been great throughout the night; I communicated to them that it was our 10th year wedding anniversary, and even though I was pleased to have found an hand written card on the table, I expected a bit more effort...

The restaurant ambient felt very warm and cosy. It has been a pleasant night, so I would definitively...