Mer Du Nord seems to be the most common name found in the shopping directory of Brussels. And I thought it was unique. It was the name of a kid's apparel line and possibly every other seafood joint. I was looking for this particular Mer Du Nord throughout the 2 days I spent in Brussels and by chance, a very remote stoke of luck when the sis insisted we visited the Stock Exchange and Fish Market that we found it! Oh yes, the one and only review I read was good enough to warrant a visit here..it does not help that their website is only in Belgian or French!
The stall packed at tea time. The ungodly hours people eat. Tourists or not, everyone seemed to have an inkling what to order, if not...speak Belgian at least.
Getting a butt space is as easy as it looks, squeeze in at any conceivable space and place your orders.
Behind the counters lie a lovely beautiful hopefully delicious mess.
The handwritten menu...spy the four stick figures? That is a mere hint of what was in store.
The friendly waiter-cook flashed a grin and made some recommendations. With a loud clanging of the frying utensils, food gets served up as fast as you place your order. In fact, everything happened in a span of a flash.
Sea snail soup
Unlike escargots, these sea babies are shellfish with a fin-like shell that can be peeled off easily. The clear broth is by no means a pushover, potent stuff I say. Celery, a dash of chilli padi and tons of sea snails, wholesome broth! Awesome for the frosty weather that had greeted us the moment we hopped off the tourist bus.
More soup! Seafood soup, not for the faint hearted.
Rich tomato based soup with huge seafood chunks which made seafood fans out of the family.
Comes with thick cheesy baguette toasties for dunking. Not for the clean eaters, this was oh-so-awesomely-good with the flavourful soup.
White Bait Fritters fried to such crisp, the whole idea of calories was abandoned miles behind. Fresh and Fried are such oxymorons but Noordzee gets is so very right.
Scampi! Panfried prawns...slurp worthy! Not such a great fan of this as compared to the outstanding others.
One of the few jovial, chirpy, boisterous, fun-loving...hilarious bunch of staff that Mer Du Nord has. Never have I had such an enjoyable tea-lunch-meal before. Food made fun, these folks at Mer Du Nord make it that easy. Their funny antics like dashing in for a photo whilst you're snapping away or hollering "See you tomorrow!" or wagering a finger "No photos...." before breaking into a cheeky smile "If only they're good." BOY, where did such lovely people come from?
I held my breath when the bill was called. 16€ and it was a huge sigh of relief. For all we ate, it would definitely be worth more than just that in the city centre proper. Yet another occasion of chance and it proved worthwhile the try. If I may insist...please TRY this if you're in Brussels. For the food, for the warmth...a hidden gem.
Drop by their frozen seafood mart if you fancy their seafood offerings for takeaways!
http://www.vishandelnoordzee.be/nl/home.asp
Mer Du Nord (Noordzee)
45, Rue Sainte Catherine,
Brussels 1000
Belgium
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