Toucan Brasserie — Restaurant in Ixelles - Elsene

I am writing this review with a heavy heart, as we had been looking forward to visiting this restaurant for two years, saving it for a special occasion with friends. Yesterday, we had an 8:00 PM reservation and arrived right on time. Upon arrival, we politely asked if we could sit outside at a free table for four, but the host refused and insisted we sit inside. 40 minutes later, that same table was still empty and was eventually given to a walk-in guest with no reservation, while we were still indoors.

In the meantime, it took about 30 minutes to receive menus — only after I went twice to ask for them. When we finally managed to order, it was another 40-minute wait for the starters. They also forgot our drinks and we were unfortunately not even offered bread like other tables. Our main courses arrived at around 9:30 PM.

After dinner, we kindly asked for desserts but were told that at this hour they didn't have the desserts we wanted. The waitress suggested other options, but when we said we’d rather skip dessert, she suddenly offered to make the original ones — which, unfortunately, turned out to be quite hastily prepared.

On the other hand, one waiter was exceptionally polite, apologized multiple times, and comped two soft drinks. The food was tasty and made with fresh produce, but for a place with such prestige and reputation, the overall experience was frankly...

We alerted Tucan Brasserie at time of making reservation that my wife had an allergy to gluten, lactose and soy. On arrival we were pleased that staff were aware of the allergies and checked dinner options with chef before we confirmed our selection. Unfortunately, my wife received her dish with bread croutons in it. We advised waiter who took dish away. Chef prepared the dinner without gluten and apologized. The issue that restaurant staff missed is that our experience was instantly unsatisfactory and not in keeping with a Michelin rated restaurant. For example I ate my dinner while my wife watched me (as chef was preparing her dinner) and she got to eat her dinner while I watched her (side note: her duck was so tough that it took some effort to cut it). Throughout, my wife worried about how sick she may become because of having eaten contaminated food. When the bill came we were charged for her dinner. The Tucan team totally missed how their error so negatively impacted our evening and why not charging for my wife's dinner would have been a proper small token of their understanding of how their error spoiled...

I have been a customer since the restaurant has opened. Beautiful atmosphere, good service in general unless it’s really full. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied during my last visit. I ordered the solette. There were two pieces as usual, but they were both extremely small like anchovies, almost no meat on them. Because they were so thin and small, they became extra crispy when fried with the butter. My wife, instead ordered St. Jacques. Similar issue, the portion was very small. We ordered the artichoke to share. There was probably a mistake because it’s out of season. There were no meat on them so we ended up chewing on the leaves. The price was €19 for one artichoke, but again it didn’t have any meat on it. Overall, the restaurant became pricey but offering small quantity in return. The atmosphere and the service were still great. I may give it another chance but...