Midi Station, Brussels

2014-09-09 14.36.19

Business Meetings.  I’ve been to a few.  Sometimes meetings can be fun.  You like the people you are meeting.  They say things that you agree with.  You say things that they agree with.  Everything is going just fine.  You go home knowing a win-win was achieved and the world has moved forward a step or two.  These kind of meetings normally take place in an office or a meeting room somewhere where the chairs are suitably comfortable and the refreshments are pleasantly average. Then you have a meeting somewhere else, perhaps a railway station concourse, or an airport lounge where the culinary options are slightly more, well, varied.

In my view, the best business meeting location is the one held in a restaurant. You and your co-meeters have something to distract you from the meeting subject matter.  The menu.  Perhaps the wine list, if the sun has passed over the yardarm (somewhere in the world).  The only challenge to this whether to have two courses or three and whether your business acumen will stand up to the test of postprandial somnolence.

Thankfully, the meeting that catalysed this post was the second of the day, held in a restaurant, the first meeting being of the pleasantly average type. Midi Station is a large ballroom style eatery just outside Brussels Central Station which at the time we were there, was empty. Our hosts were of the hospitable type, and promptly requested the menu on our arrival, where I found exactly the kind of mid-afternoon snack I was looking for…

And as you can see, this one was a lot of fun.  Two small dishes sat side-by-side in a jaunty 45 degree offset.  Those Belgians!  Alongside the excellent presentation (loving the sliced strawberry) was a cool and smooth custard, sat underneath an slightly over done caramelisation.  Just at the edges of the dish, the sugar was scorched and had a blackened treacly flavour.  Whilst this in itself was not terrible, it meant an otherwise excellent sugar top left a toasted treacle tinge on the tongue…  This should have scored more based on simple and classic presentation, but those toasted undertones mean only a 4/10 score.  Better luck next time Midi Station.