Restaurant review #77 – Mykene is a classic restaurant in the city center of Louvain (about 15 minutes from Brussels). We already posted a review of Mykene in 2014. You can see that review here.
There are several vegan dishes and also some vegan appetizers standardly available à la carte. Since our last visit, the menu has changed so we tried some new things.

This is what we ordered:

• mushroom carpaccio, pecan cheese, merlot vinegar gel (11,50€)
• toast with wild mushrooms (15€)

And these were our main dishes:

• jacked potato, stir fried vegetables, sundried tomatoes and almond parmezan (16€)
• seitan in coconut curry, lentils and basmatic rice (17,50€)

The carpaccio of mushrooms was very nice and original. The toast with champignons was also very nice, but way too much as an appetizer. I could easily have this as a main dish.
We were already quite stuffed with these starters, before the main dishes came. And these were also very large portions, way too much for us. We tried to eat as much as we could, but even with some waiting in between, we still could not finish the main courses. The seitan curry was a nice dish, but after some bites tasted rather monotone. The jacked potato was nice, but a bit heavy on the oil.

Although we were stuffed, we did want to try some desserts. It is very rare to be able to order a vegan dessert in Belgian restaurants, so we did not want to miss this opportunity! We had the aquafaba chocolate mousse (8€) and the amareno cherry rice icecream with chocolate sauce (8,50€). Wonderful!

Our overall impressions

Service was swift and friendly. We mentioned that we came for a vegan dinner when being seated (I had also mentionned it making the reservation), and the waiter immediately took away the butter and said he would bring some oil, and mentioned that the bread is vegan. Nice 🙂 (and progress compared to our previous visit 😉

The portions of the dishes we had were very big. Too much for us, we could hardly finish them. The desserts were lovely.
Mykene has a nice atmophere and seatings are comfortable (I think unfortunately they are leather chairs though). It is a very big place and there is also a terrace out front and at the back yard. It was not nearly a full house, so there was still plenty of air to breath. Toilets are upstairs (did not notice a lift). Toilets are spacious and were clean and tidy.
Note that it is not a vegan restaurant, but has several vegan options standardly available. We did find it quite confrontational to see and smell the fried pig’s ribs being eaten by the British tourists sitting close to us. Wine card does not mention vegan wines.

Overall it is a bit on the expensive side (especially the appetizers 11,50€ and 15€, and 6€ for a small freshly squeezed organge juice is also steep), although – as stated above – all dishes were very big portions.
Would definitely visit Mykene again when in Louvain, although with such large portions, would only order an appetizer or a main course.

Mykene, location
Muntstraat 44
3000 Leuven
016/23.75.23

website: http://www.mykene.be/

When visiting Leuven, you can also considering dropping by at vegan restaurants Loving Hut or Vegaverso, and shop at vegan store SHAVT. All within walking distance of restaurant Mykene.

See our lists of restaurants where vegans are welcome in the menu section of The Bruges vegan! List restaurants in Bruges and around Bruges.