[Belgium: Antwerp] 2* The Jane

Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤ (5/5)

Our lunch at The Jane turned out to be the best meal we had on this trip to Belgium! The stunning restaurant is set in the former chapel of the Military Hospital with amazing details including a dramatic steel chandelier, contemporary stained glass windows and an open kitchen encased in glass. Founded by Sergio Herman and Nick Bril, the flavors at The Jane were bold yet well-balanced with influences from around the world including Asia. The restaurant serves a 10 course tasting menu for €170 with options for wine and non-alcoholic pairing.

The first dish We Got Burnt was a cheeky reference to a fire that broke out in the restaurant earlier this year with:
- burnt sea bass marinated Japanese style and cured with burnt onion powder
- fresh acidic gel from barbecued onions and lemons
- dashi toasted kombu with smoked bonito and toasted hay
- oil of burnt onions / smoked creme fraiche pearls

House made bread and butter

While more and more restaurants in Europe and US are including Asian influences in their dishes, it doesn't always work but luckily that's not the case at The Jane as I felt that the chef's grasp of Asian tastes and ingredients was superb. 

Blue Fin Tuna Tartare with scrambled egg, seaweed and wasabi

Spaghetti Con Polpo

Then came quite possibly the best Carabinero I’ve ever had! From south of Portugal, the big and plump prawns were served two ways with carrot, quinoa and vadouvan. One was served in its shell and torched lightly at the table and the other in raw chunks.

The meal continued to impress with this beautiful and intricately-plated Foie Gras with rhubarb, hazelnut and nanko-hoshiko!

White Asparagus from Stephane Longlune with smoked eel and garden peas

Perle Blanc from Bourcefranc-le-chapus with plankton and kaffir

One of the dishes available as a add-on to the tasting menu is the Signature dish - Turbot and Oosterschelde Lobster with spinach, buttermilk and shellfish gravy! The dish was very good but at the same time, the classic flavor and style felt really different from the current dishes on the tasting menu (almost as if it was from another chef).

Pollack with grey north sea shrimp and chateau-chalon

The main star of the show was this 10-Day Dry Aged Pigeon from Steenvoorde with cassis and bbq-cabbage which was paraded to us at the table before taken back to be cut up. The smokey flavors of the pigeon was very nice and went well with the berry sauce on the side.

Burrata with gariguette, cellina di nardo and melange d'hiver

Malt with guanaja and parsnip

What an impressive meal at The Jane complete with impeccable food and service - this is a restaurant we would love to revisit again soon!

The Jane
Paradeplein 1, 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
Tel: +32 3 808 44 65
https://www.thejaneantwerp.com/

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