There is no such thing as a coincidence especially when it comes to a food seeker and glorious food. I came across RAS by “accident” but I do believe that it was meant for me to have landed at their doors when they opened for lunch at 11:00 AM.
I was wandering around Antwerp, Belgium and found myself walking the pier that runs alongside the river. At the end of the pier, I saw an interesting looking building and realized it was a sleek looking restaurant with outdoor seating. The sun was out and I wanted to sit, have a cocktail and possibly eat lunch. I noticed that lunch was served at 11:00 and it was 11:00, things just fell into place.
Since it was 5:00 (17:00) somewhere, I ordered a gin and tonic to start. They served it with my favorite tonic, Fever Tree. I took that as a good omen of things to come!
First of all, I need to note that the service here at RAS was fantastic. Everyone was very attentive, fun and helpful. My server was incredible, he translated the whole seasonal menu to me since it was not in English. The regular menu was in English so no problems there.
I was offered a small glass of olives along with brown bread and butter. A few of my favorite things to get my appetite rolling.
I ended up ordering off that seasonal menu because one of my rules is to always order ‘seasonal’. Asparagus was all over that Seasonal Menu so I ordered the Rolled stuffed chicken, asparagus and morel mushrooms.
I was thrilled to have Morel Mushrooms because they are very hard to come by in the States and are very seasonal. One of the last times I had them, I was living in the Mid-West and people hunted for them in the forest within a very small window of time. I thought it would be a long while before I had them again since I now live in Vegas. Fortunately for me RAS offered Morel Mushrooms on their menu!
I was also served a dish of small seasoned hash browned potatoes with my meal. I found it an interesting casual accompaniment to the exquisite looking lunch. The hash browns did work well with my rolled chicken dish and added a crunchy texture.
At the end of my lunch, I decided to order dessert. I scanned the menu and what looked appealing was the Belgian Chocolate Mousse! My dessert instincts were correct and the chocolate mousse at RAS was phenomenal. There were three types of chocolate mousses- white chocolate, chocolate hazelnut and dark chocolate. Plus dots of a lighter chocolate mouse and dark chocolate beads. Everything about this dessert was perfect from the presentation, the creamy mousse texture and the rich flavors of each bite. It was a divine ending to a sumptious lunch.
My bumping into RAS was definitely no accident. Thank you Food Universe! 💫
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For my Five Star Yelp Review: Read Trixie N.‘s review of RAS on Yelp
For restaurant location and information: RAS- Restaurant Aan De Stroom
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🌎 Thank you for visiting my website and NEVER STOP EXPLORING!
📸 All photos are taken by me and are my intellectual property – Trixie Navarre
