Belgian Pigeon House in Bruges

We took a train to Bruges from Brussels in the morning and stayed in the quaint little town overnight. We had a lunch/dinner at Belgian Pigeon House. As the name implied, the restaurant was full of pigeon-themed decors. I thought it was cute.

At first, they served bread and olives and then a little cup of saffron flavored seafood soup as amuse bouche. The bread was nutty and flavorful. I liked it very much. The amuse bouche was pretty good, too. In fact we also had fish soup as a starter. Soup after soup. That was fine on a winter day. It was like Bouillabaisse, a French classic soup. Wonderful!

Our main dish was lamp fillet. Apparently grilling was the restaurant's specialty. Trying their steaks sounded appropriate. We also had potatoes to share. They didn't ask us how we would like the fillet. In fact, we weren't asked at a burger restaurant in England. I wonder that personalized cooking is more like a US thing. Anyway the lamp fillet was cooked medium, which was perfect for me. It was still tender and tasted great. The side potatoes were creamy and pretty good!

The restaurant was very cozy. There were three or four groups of customers in the not-too-large dining room, but the dining room was quiet, definitely not a tourist trap. With wonderful food, service and atmosphere, our lunch time there was remarkable.

Unlike Brussels, Bruges was peaceful with less crowds, perhaps, because it was in the mid-February. We enjoyed strolling around the heart of the ancient town. Visiting historical sight-seeing places as well as browsing local shops (chocolate shops, of course) was lovely. Actually just walking on the cobbled streets surrounded by adorable stone/brick houses - being a part of a medieval fairy tail was simply pleasant.

To be continued...