Cantina Valentina Brussels — Restaurant in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode - Sint-Joost-ten-Node

We came as a larger group (8+) for a birthday dinner and had coordinated with the restaurant in advance. A set menu was imposed, and we clearly flagged a severe shellfish allergy (for the birthday guest) as well as the presence of multiple vegetarians, standard practice for most restaurants. Unfortunately, these requests were neither acknowledged nor relayed to the kitchen or floor staff.

Starters included ceviche sharing plates, cheese empanadas, and shrimp croquettes, all served on shared platters, with no separation between some items, despite the shellfish allergy. After reiterating the severity of the allergy, a manager visibly scoffed before replying, “We’ll try to arrange something.” The same attitude came up again when we had to ask if the fries were cooked in oil separate from that used for the croquettes.

For vegetarians, the offer was almost nonexistent: a cheese empanada at the start, followed by a salad and quinoa side dish. Hardly a main course... No alternative was proposed.

The food itself was passable, but portion sizes were small, especially given the group size. The vegetarians ended up with little more than side dishes. At €52 per person (excluding drinks), this felt overpriced for what we received.

It was a busy Saturday, and we recognise that. However, basic dietary accommodations and clear communication should be a given, not something we need to fight for on the night.

On the bright side, the décor and ambience were pleasant, and our waitress did her best to manage the situation with care and professionalism.

Having experienced the Hoxton in London, Los Angeles, and Paris, this fell far below expectations...

Context: Sunday brunch.

The experience was poor but I'll start with the positive:

The place looks (very!) nice. But I'm not an influencer so it doesn't make it all. In my opinion, in a restaurant SERVICE and FOOD matter.

We were seated at a table that was not clean - missing cutlery, empty bottle that was not collected (and replaced after - had to ask for it). After our order, we waited for our drinks for at least 20 minutes, and one of them was even forgotten so we had to ask for it again. One of the first thing to do is to provide drinks, isn't it ? There was for the first time a kids menu (pancake or burger). We decided for the burger + fries. It turned out to be spicy and therefore not suitable for a child. Very strange to offer such products for children. At the end, we asked to take it away, one of the waiter came with an empty plastic box and was going to transfer the food directly on the table. We did it ourselves...

We ordered full breakfast peruvian. The food was oily, mediocre. No bread or any type of dip to go with the guacamole ?

The service was terrible. It seemed that we had to chase people. No one was ever looking if anything was missing or fine. It clearly looked understaffed.

The only positive thing is that the place looks (very!) nice. But I'm not an influencer so it doesn't make it all.

I would...

The food was excellent, very tasty, with an authentic Peruvian touch. We ordered the quinota, which is a very tasty hot quinoa salad, the "pollo a la brasa", grilled chicken which was wonderfully divine, and the ceviche which was also very tasty. We accompanied it with two glasses of good Peruvian chardonnay. The absolute hit was the dessert, we ordered "suspiro de limeña" which was a revelation, an explosion of flavors, surprising, mindblowing. Prices are reasonable.

We do not give five stars due to the service, although we were warned by the reviews on google, we knew that the service is not perfect, so we were not offended. Constructive criticism: it strikes us that the waiters have no direct responsibility for a table or a group of tables, so that the three friendly waiters who were walking around were not responsible for whether things were brought to us in the right order, or if something came out late (e.g. the pisco sour). But everything was solved by talking.

In short, we had a very good time. Our comment about the service wishes it can be improved. This restaurant is a promise, a plus for the gastronomy of Brussels, we can warmly recommend it. Thank you, and see...