At most restaurants, the diner is presented with a set menu from which to choose.
But there’s one restaurant in Brussels that’s come up with a rather innovative “new way” to dining.
At Ricotta & Parmesan, just a stone’s throw from the city’s famous Grand Place, you really can adopt a DIY method of eating.
This is how it works: You can choose the type of pasta you want and then combine that with a sauce of your choice.
But diners aren’t just given a couple or so of choices at this terrific eatery.
The menu actually features no less than 15 very different types of pasta, classifying them as “short”, “long” and “stuffed” pasta.
There are even more sauces to choose from, no less than 25 listed on the card and all very helpfully listed according to whether they go well with meat, fish, cheese or a veggie dish.
The emphasis here is very much on assisting the diner to make the right choice for him/her and that extends to another very helpful innovation: indicators on the menu that help you in your selection.
This, for example, shows which dish is a speciality of the chef or which is classed as “traditional.”
Other indicators tell you if a dish is new to the menu, a customer favourite or suitable for veggies.
This all shows the careful thought that’s clearly gone into drawing up what is a wonderful menu.
The food itself – always the main thing, after all – is just as impressive as the menu.
Everything is great but worth noting some newcomers to the menu which include the Sicilian meatloaf with eggs pasta and Paccheri with mussels saffron flavoured and fresh tomatoes.
Others worth a mention too include the Puttanesca sauce (ideal for pasta dishes) and the lobster ravioli.
For starters you might want to choose from the “Les Incontournables” – the “must haves” – although these could also be taken as a main.
They include old favourites like Vitello Tonnato, Asperges Vertes (a chef’s speciality) and a new offering – Assiette de Prosciutto, an Italian plate of prosciuto.
For mains, diners here are spoilt for choice but perhaps worth a mention is the traditional Osso Buco Della Nonna, Piccata D’Espadon (new), Gnocci Facon (a customer fave) and Rissotto with black truffle cream (another chef speciality).
Very helpfully, most of the dishes are also spelt out in English.
For dessert, there’s more equally quality offerings and you really should look out for something you’re unlikely to find anywhere else: the pizza cioccolato – chocolate pizza. A novel way to top off a lovely meal.
There’s also a fine choice of very good pizzas and if you were in any doubt as to how they’re cooked the evidence is right there before your eyes: piles of wood stacked up alongside the oven, very imaginatively decorated in old French newspapers.
Considering the top notch quality, the prices are remarkably affordable (no bad thing at the present time when purse strings are so tight) with, for instance, mains starting from just €15.90. The service is fast and efficient and they are generous here too, serving portions sure to sate any appetite.
It is one reason why the place, which can seat up to 150, is packed out so often, not least at weekend when it witnesses a constant flow of visitors, up to 400 in any one day (booking is highly recommended to avoid disappointment).
If you visit with kids you’re in for a very pleasant surprise: children under the age of ten eat free: a plate of pasta or a pizza (smaller size) and a dessert.
When you visit here you really get the feeling you’re entering something that might have come from a set on The Godfather.
The place is littered with what appears to be largely Italian memorabilia (and other artefacts, including pans hung on the wall) which is all rather perfectly in keeping with the whole concept of the restaurant (even a visit to the loo is interesting).
There’s also some great new cocktails to enjoy along with the Italian aperitivo and also worth noting is the new Osteria & Vinoteca in the same street (and owned by the same owner) called UNIK which serves Italian tapas and great wine.
Open 7/7, Ricotta & Parmesan first launched in 1999 and has proved a big success. If you pay a visit you will see why.
Ricotta & Parmesan
Rue de l’Ecuyer 31, Brussels
02 502 8082
