Au Grand Forestier — Restaurant in Watermael-Boitsfort - Watermaal-Bosvoorde

First the good: the steak. It was generous, of decent quality and perfectly cooked with a nice char on the outside. Top marks. Also the tuna tartare, which was half-decent (although not fantastic). The dressing was a bit creamy for my liking. The toilets were clean, and all in all the venue is modern but also warm. Now the rest: In summary, some of the issues are specific to me as a coeliac, but there are also general issues. The food isn't terrible but lacks imagination and care. I feel all in all it's a bit lazy - like customers will keep coming because it's the only option in a fairly well-heeled neighbourhood. Quel dommage! The meringue glacee is actually a chunk of normal (not frozen) meringue with vanilla ice cream, chantilly and chocolate sauce. It was fine, but disappointing given it was branded "notre specialite" on the menu and the most expensive dessert at €13.45. The fried fish looked like it had come out of a packet - basically coated in golden breadcrumbs. Fish and chips should be coated in a beer batter, light and crispy - there's plenty of videos on YouTube, look it up. The salade de chevre was incredibly unimaginative and overpriced. Finally, I am coeliac, and therefore need to follow a gluten-free diet. The consequences of not doing so amount to something like a week+ long hangover, plus serious digestive issues and more. (In short it's not deadly, but unpleasant enough to warrant good care.) While the first waitress appeared well-informed about gluten, the rest of the staff clearly had no idea. Having specifically requested a GF tuna tartare, it arrived with toast on the plate, and none of the staff seemed to know I'd asked for GF (the original waitress was nowhere to be seen, and just looked embarassed when she did turn up to sort things out). When I sent it back and asked for it to be moved to a fresh plate, it came back 30sec later with clear wipe marks where the toast had been (despite promises that the plate had been changed). Needless to say they hadn't managed to get rid of all the crumbs. Further, when I asked about gluten-free dessert options, the waitress thought the meringue glacee was out because it had milk. I mean... Finally, an offer of gluten-free toast or crackers would be really nice. They could be frozen and defrosted to order, or kept in dry storage if dry. Or else just say you can't cater to a GF diet (preferably when the booking is made, if the diner mentions GF.) This is a long way from where this restaurant is at, but that's what it would take for a 5* review from a coeliac - and it does happen,...

We had an issue with the hostess at the front desk. A person wrongly took the reservation by misspelling the last name and as result when my fiance arrived first, the hostess could not find the reservation. No big deal, but instead of inviting my fiance to wait at the bar like any other normal restaurant until the rest of the party arrives and sort this out, she invited her to leave the premises for the time being. (She even pointed out the exit to make things very clear) How humiliating and disgraceful. My fiance is Brazilian and does not speak perfectly french. Is this how you welcome guests? No respect. What a poor image you are giving to the restaurant. The hostess is missing basic knowledge on how to welcome and greet guests in a restaurant and should be trained. When a reservation is wrongly taken, the hostess should be even more indulgent. My Brazilian fiance looks Latino and could be mistakenly taken for an Arabic person. Did that came into play? ... I hope not otherwise it will be disgusting.

And when confronted, she deliberately lied by telling us she invited her to wait at the bar.

This is unacceptable and I hope that the restaurant will take immediate action on...

Unfortunately this place is not what it used to be before confinment.. . We had a couple of disappointing experiences in 2022 and 2023. We answered the satisfaction enquiry they sent us, and we never got any feed-back. This April 24, we decided to give it another chance. Well, definitely disappointing and off the list for the future.... In a nutshell:1. no privacy, table are too close to each other. 2. Less than 5 minutes after we ordered an aperitif, our dish was served, far too quickly. 3. Fish and chips for him: poor quality, crust too crunchy , maybe microwaved at the last minute and cooked ahead of time ? i am Just asking. French fries for both, same comment, dry and overcooked. Tuna for me: unseasoned. Waiters are stressed out and seem to be working under huge pressure. We decided to make it short, not have another drink nor dessert and asked for the bill. 5 minutes later, the maitre d'hotel came to our table with the menu for desserts. No we said, the bill please... Conclusion : Quick, quick, quick ! Eat your food asap, pay asap and free the table asap! Clearly overrated and far too expensive for mediocre food , what a pity for a place which was so nice...