Maison Antoine
Small Frites with House Tartare
Fricadelle
Shrimp Croquette / Cheese Croquette
Beyond frustrated by Bouchery’s refusal to seat me due to a “mistake,” the name clearly in the online reservation system but not in the paper ledger despite a confirmation E-mail on my phone, it was with no other alternative offered that a trip was made to the most famous Friterie in all of Brussels, the queue at Maison Antoine only a dozen at each window, but still moving ever so slowly.
Not particularly ‘sold’ on Belgian Frites being better than elsewhere after trips to Georgette and Tabora, one could not help but wonder if the historic kiosk at Place Jourdan in Etterbeek was doing something “special” to outpace the rest, and although the number of sauces and ‘snacks’ do indeed outnumber any other place in the city while the surrounding environment has grown to accommodate a “BYOF” economy the simple fact remains that these are merely fried potatoes made by teenagers in T-shirts.
Waiting for perhaps thirty minutes, the rain having stopped for once with several patrons taking large orders to parties-in-waiting at nearby bars, the cash-only nature of Maison Antoine led to a somewhat truncated experience as there were limited Euros left in my pocket, yet making due with four items plus a sauce for just €8.90 the Fries, sampled first, were actually the least impressive item ordered – the texture of smaller pieces crunchy and preferable to larger slices while the thick white sauce was rich with herbs and actually pretty great.
Now convinced that Belgian Frites are really just a delivery mechanism for Sauce, further bites from the 1948 hut included crispy fried Meat not quite as rich as that at Café Georgette, the two styles of Croquette actually much better with the Cheese version actually preferable to mild Shrimp flavors as the texture came across less runny, reminiscent an Italian Arancini with particularly creamy rice.
www.maisonantoine.be/