By now, even very casual readers of this blog know that I’m obsessed with Restaurant Week. The semi-annual event allows humble folk like myself to dine at some of New York City’s nicest restaurants with three-course prix fixe menus, $24.07 for lunch, $35 for dinner — good for the soul and for my wallet.
So when I heard that the last week of March would be Belgian Restaurant Week, I was already sold. No matter that it bore little resemblance to the structure of real Restaurant Week, as the Belgian version basically entailed a hodgepodge of deals at different Belgian restaurants in the city. There was a Tintin Trivia Night, which I’m ashamed to say I missed. There was a “find a diamond in your beer” night, free wafels from Wafels and Dinges and $20 mussel pots and beers at Markt, a nice restaurant a few blocks from my office. I’ll let you guess which one I picked.
Inspired by Sunny Anderson, Keith and I made mussels last summer for the first time. While I’m not a huge fan of creatures of the sea, I feel like that should change, so I like to try it from time to time. Mussels had me at hello, with their oh-so-alluring combination of butter, onions, garlic, white wine and parsley. And best of all, you’re supposed to eat them with a large pile of fries. And baguette. Could there be anything better?
At Markt, I ordered the mussels steamed in white wine, while Desi ordered the garlic and cream mussels. While anything steamed in wine can never be bad, I didn’t love all of the fennel in my mussels. (In addition to being seafood/fish-averse, I am also anti-fennel. And this is not something I’m working on.) But paired with a Hoegaarden and crisp fries, it was a nice, light dinner — perfect for the onset of spring.
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