La Rigue — Restaurant in Knokke-Heist

A Disheartening Experience at ‘La Rigue’

Upon entering ‘La Rigue’, the anticipation was palpable, thanks to the hearty endorsement of Chef Peter Goossens’ adeptness in Belgian and French cuisine. The establishment beams with a promise of an exquisite dining experience, embroidered with passion, top-notch ingredients, and a relentless quest for perfection. However, as the evening unfurled, it became a tableau of unmet expectations and culinary disappointments.

The initial excitement ebbed as the bread, the precursor to the meal, arrived with its first piece dried, hinting at a lackadaisical approach to freshness as it had likely seen the outside of the oven more than once. The butter, a supposed gentle companion to the bread, bore an unwelcome strand of hair, setting a precedent for the lapses that were to follow.

The first dish, a promising ‘Croquette with Hand-Peeled North Sea Shrimp’, turned out to be a misnomer. The scant presence of just three shrimps felt like a culinary faux pas. The narrative of underwhelm continued with the potatoes accompanying the cod; they were half-raw, a textural letdown. The cod itself was an ode to blandness, bereft of spices or any semblance of flavor, a stark contradiction to the culinary narrative that was promised.

The general ambiance, though aesthetically pleasing, resonated with a cacophony that made a simple conversation a strenuous endeavor. The disorganized albeit pleasant decor seemed a metaphor for the entire experience—appealing at first glance but lacking substance and meticulousness upon a closer look.

The reservation process was another hiccup. A €50 charge on the credit card, intended as a deposit, remained unadjusted in the final bill. The casual dismissal of the oversight as a ‘simple computer mistake’ was a cherry on top of a rather unpalatable experience.

In retrospect, ‘La Rigue’ appears as a beautiful premise marred by a series of culinary and service misadventures. It’s a symphony where the notes of elegance and finesse are overshadowed by discordant chords of negligence and disappointment. Despite the allure of its decor and the initial promise of a transcendent dining escapade, the reality that unfolded was a far cry from the expected...

We went by for breakfast as external guests. The lady who took our reservation via phone at the front desk was extremely friendly and had set the expectation for a phenomenal experience. Unfortunately various aspects about our stay did not quite live up to those.

Firstly I would however like to mention the exeptional parts about this visit namely: the breakfast selection was fresh and well maintained the fruits especially, were outstanding! the patissier did a phenomal job and delivered one of, if not the the best croissants and pain au chocolat we ever had! the quality of dishes and cutlery used is definitely worth mentioning

Now to the parts that were rather disappointing and definitely to be improved for a 4 star - aspiring 5 star Hotel of this class. staff is notably unfriendly. No, thank you, good morning, can we bring you anything else … nothing. when entering the dining room, the first thing you see is rows of dirty tables with left-over food, bread crumbs on the table and dirty dishes - not quite the most desirable first impression when staff took away the dishes from the table, we had to ask 3 times to get new cutlery, so we could continue the breakfast the coffee and tea we ordered in the first 5 min of our arrival came 25 min later (when we were almost done with the first round of breakfast) the eggs we also ordered in the first 5 min of arrival came astonishing 35 min later staff definitely is not trained to accommodate guests, as incidents like the following occurrences ; sneezing in your palm and directly continuing service, going through your hair and swishing over the face and then touching the bread barehanded to re-arrange were happening frequently, chewing gum (with open mouth) is most inappropriate.

Overall we had a good-ish experience and would love to come back to see if any of the above improved over time .

Service 2/5 Execution Kitchen 3 / 5 Quality of Products 5 /...

Had a lovely dinner with friends at La Rigue. Service and atmosphere were great, as expected from the hotel and chef.

We came for and expected a premium Belgian brasserie styled menu, and that is exactly what they delivered. We ordered mostly Belgian classics (garnaalkroket, sole, videe, crepe suzette) which were all top notch. The langoustine appetizer was more gastronomical than the other dishes, it was really good, but felt a bit out of place compared to the other more classic dishes.

One major disappointment were the fries that were served with our mains. They were hard and tough to bite through. My table companion thought she found a piece of bone in her videe, but it was a fry. Come on, Peter, we know you can cook good fries, and we should be proud of our Belgian fries. These were more like failed McDonalds fries. Give them some thickness and some love to show your guests what fresh Belgian fries should be like. This should be the place with top quality Belgian fries, and they were definitely not good, worse than the average Belgian brasserie. We asked about this with our waiter, but he ignored our comment.

For a 3 course menu with 3 people, without wines, we paid just over €400, which is pricey for a brasserie menu, but inexpensive for a meal directed by Peter Goossens. Pricing was OK for the quality we got, minus the fries. The terrible fries is the reason why I removed one star...