restaurant review #110 – De Twijfelaar is a bistro in the city center of Bruges, near the Dyver. It is a family run bistro: the lady of the house serves the restaurant and her partner operates the kitchen. De Twijfelaar literally means ‘a person who is always in doubt’. It can also refer to a type of bed that is a bit larger than a one person bed, but too small for two persons. Maybe that refers to the size of the restaurant, as it is (as is the case with so many old buildings in Bruges) a bit of a peculiar shape, wider in front and more narrow in the back (not really a small dining room, but not really a big space too).
We went here for dinner a couple of weeks ago. I had e-mailed them some months ago and had gotten confirmation that they have a dish with vegetables that can be made vegan. I asked again for vegan when making the reservation and it was said to be no problem.

De Twijfelaar is a nice cosy bistro, with some special interior touches, like the high ceiling in the back and the menu cards made from old record sleeves (nice music too!).
We asked if we could get a starter, but unfortunately there was no vegan option, and the soup contained creme. That was a bit of a bummer (especially since we had asked when making the reservation)

We were served some small some appetizers though: olives, nuts and potato crisps. The main dish was a wok with chick peas, selery, and minced seitan, in coconut creme.

The dish was nice, although the seitan pieces were hardly detectable (would have liked some more). It tasted good, but was expensive: 20 euro. Yes, this is Bruges, were bistros and restaurants are generally way more expensive than those in New York or Paris.
We did not ask for dessert. The suggested dessert was apple sorbet with calvados, but we did not fancy any sorbet anyway, and sorbet is always a bit of a risky item (if it’s not homemade, chances are likely it contains some animal products like dairy or even egg).

De Twijfelaar is a good place for an occasional quick lunch or dinner. And it’s good to know you can have a vegan option here, for example when you go dining out in a group with family or for business. Service was very friendly, with no problem to go check for ingredients (e.g. the soup).
Would be nice if they add some more vegan options to the menu (like starters and desserts).

 

De Twijfelaar, location
Eekhoutstraat 24
8000 Brugge / Bruges
050 34 15 44

website: http://www.detwijfelaar.be/

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