"Some of the best cooking I have ever had has not been at fancy restaurants, but places where people put a lot of effort into getting things right, and they get it right. They don't try to do things that they can't do; they cook the food that has been cooked for generations and they do it well, every day.Le Bruegel is on such place.It has been on my radar for several years, being a few miles from the Belgian border: a small detour from our route back home. Usually, we have been too late or too early, but circumstances favour those who plan in advance, and so we sat down in the restaurant on a cold Monday lunchtime in February.My chicory gratin was delicious, Not everyone likes this wonderful leafy vegetable, with a taste somewhere between white asparagus and celery, bitter and sweet, unctious and slightly caramelised. Such people are deluded. This was bathed in a maroilles sauce with lardons to deter vegetarians from stealing my lunch. My wife's Coquilles St Jacques, also au gratin, were tender and sweet.She followed this with chicken cooked in local beer. I did sneak a bit and it was also very good indeed. My pavé surmounted with local Bergues cheese was perfectly cooked, and came with obviously hand cooked chips.We did not have room for dessert, except for the vicarous pleasure of watching others eat it.Our friendly waitress insisted on practising her English, which was better than she claimed it to be! Excellent."
