Avalon, Gent, Belgium

Whoa.

Avalon Restaurant. This place is crazy good, and I mean that the dish I got there rivals Millennium in SF, Madeline's Bistro in LA, etc. Not in a fancy expensive pretentious way, but in a "oh my god, this food is so good" way. We came here twice, and so loved our meals that we ordered the exact same thing the second day.

Here is the dish I had, the "Tempeh Reuben"

I will be showing 3 angles of it...

It was literally one of the best dishes I have ever had. Hands down.
Frickin' Quarry Girl should fly to Gent just to taste this thing. I have to say when it arrived at the table I was a bit freaked out because I was expecting a typical Reuben sandwich. But I dug into it and the freshness of the sauerkraut, the lightly toasted and perfectly prepared bread, the immaculate tempeh, and the "Russian dressing" all in combination was an explosion of taste, and 4 days later and I am still gushing about it.

The vegetables and salad the were served with the Reuben were also prepared from fresh local ingredients and changed daily. Seriously, the best Rueben I have ever had.


Deanna says, "Being vegan it's not that often that I come across a vegan quiche. The only ones I can remember were in Canada at Le Commensal, or in Paris at Grand Appetite. Funny thing is I don't ever remember eating a real quiche before I was vegan! But for some reason whenever there is a vegan quiche on the menu, I have to try it. This one was wonderful! The filling was made up of tofu and broccoli with a drizzle of pesto on top. It was basically the perfect meal for a cold wintry day. The veggies on the side were incredible. Potatoes au gratin the first day, and I don't even know what vegetable that was the second day, but the whole meal felt complete and really flavorful!"

Even though we forgot to shoot it, we had amazing soup and sweet chai tea here too! looking forward to going back in March when I will be setting up my exhibition at the S.M.A.K. Museum.