La Traverse — Restaurant in Merelbeke

Service sub par

I discovered this resto via friends in Merelbeke and I invited them for dinner as a "thank you" for help provided. We were 4 persons on April 25.

The difference between the warm welcome (by the owner I think) and coldness of the waitresses when I entered, shocked me immediately.

During the service this aggravated me more and more. We ordered an aperitif, but hardly had the time to drink it. 3 sips in (1/4 glass) the startes arrived. 10 minutes after the starters were finished, the main course popped up... the dishes did not arrive at the same time and for 1 dish we had to wait 5 minutes. When all dishes were served and my friend informed a waitress we had not received the sauces which accompanied our aged Angus, she just looked. Did not say a thing and just went off. I would have expected at least that she would say something like "I will check right away" or "I will go fetch them".A few minutes later another waitress appeared with them.

For desert my daughter ordered a chocolate mousse and my friend a tea. The spoon for the dessert was dropped (almost thrown) on the table and layed diagonally. Not even an effort to straighten it. The tea was served in a fancy container by the brand "Serax" which needed to be opened to serve it. When unscreweing the lid, it was clearly visible that the glass thread was chipped in different places... why use designer items when they are broken...

Normally I would take a ristretto and liquor to finish a good meal. By now I did not feel to spend any more money in this unfriendly environment. It overshadowed what was supposed to be a nice evening out.

The food, to be honest, was excellent. But considering the price level maintained, one, and certainly I, do expect a service at the same level.

NB: Amex cards are...

This is one of the worst experiences I had in a restaurant around Ghent. We had won a coupon with KBC (a bank from Belgium). Once we showed we had a coupon we were sent to the pickedypickedie-table somewhere in a sad corner of the restaurant. After 3 times of waving at the waitress she finally saw us and came to our table, because we had a coupon we could only take one dish, which was no problem, but all the people who took the same dish got a double portion, because we had a coupon, we only got the half. The drinks were super expensive so after all we spend more than we usually spend in a restaurant food + drinks together. (the drinks were not covered by the coupon). The whole experience felt like a total rip-off. The taste of the food...

A great place for steak, big portions focused on the meat ( not the salads). The fries are quite amazing too, i would not recommend getting extra sauce since they meat is just that good. Friendly Waiters who are not too stuff, bit more casual and a very pleasant setting. I'll certainly come back! The desserts could be a bit better, but that's not the focus of the restaurant. Tip: get the waygu Carpaccio,...