restaurant review #177  – Taste is a gastronomic restaurant in the city centre of Louvain / Leuven. They offer a vegan menu on request (mention it when making the reservation). I made a reservation online a couple of days before we wanted to go (and had to make a deposit, by bank transfer).

This review is from a visit a couple of months ago, during the past Winter.

We were warmly welcomed when we arrived and given the menu, and asked whether we wanted a 4-course or 5-course menu. We went for the latter, which was 95€ per person. Additionally, Jim had the beers* (22,50€), and for me the non-alcoholic drinks (18,75€) to go along with the courses.

This is what we had for dinner (in sum, we tried to remember as many as the recited ingredients as we could, but – as is often the case in gastronomic restaurants, there were plenty more ingredients on the dishes and enumerated!).

• a trio of amuse geueles to start with: pumpkin soup, red beet and pumpernickel, and a bowl with radish, pumpkin puree and cucumber spaghetti
• Delvaux beer and a fresh juice based on lychee (not in photo overview)
• Course 1: couscous of romanesco, red beet, carrots, with a consommé of ‘forgotten’ vegetables
• beer: De Poes (unfiltered beer, with two sorts of hop), juice of parsley root and citrus
• Course 2: pumpkincreme, grilled courgette, marinated courgette, spinach and bell pepper, the rolls of courgette contained tomato salsa
• energy bier (alcohol free beer – jim didn’t like this one), no new juice, the waiter suggested I could have more of the previous juice (which was a bit of a bummer).  (not in photo overview)
• Course 3: fregula (pasta), mushrooms (cantherelles?), sugar peas, with small soft dots of celeriac (made with a thermomix the waiter told us).
• Beer: IV Saison (Quattre saison). Juice from red cabbage.
• Course 4: samosa, sap van knolselderij, cantharelles, green cabbage,  Jerusalem artichoke, carrot
• Beer: Guldenberg and juice of pears
• Course 5, dessert: ananas hibiscus + small glass of pear and rhubarb

*The beers were all local, and (some) unfiltered. I checked with each brewery about the beers being vegan friendly (possible use of animal ingredients in the production process), and got a positive reply from each, and forwarded the information to barnivore.com, so they can be added to the database of vegan friendly beers.

Coffee was served with soymilk, and fruits, and the candy was with pectine. Would have been nice to be served something with a bit more bite, like a cookie or chocolate though.

The courses followed swiftly and service was friendly. The interior of Taste is nicely decorated, and it did not feel crowded. The bench against the wall is not so comfortable though (although there are some cushions). Loved the fact that Taste offers non-alcoholic drinks to go along with the courses! Great idea!

Toilets are upstairs, small, and were clean and tidy. With individual towels to dry one’s hands.

Overall, we had an enjoyable evening and a nice dinner. We did find 95€ very expensive for our 5 course menu. The food was very nice, but all things considering, have had more refined gastronomic experiences that were not so expensive and a bit more fancy.
But it is great to have an another place in Louvain that is willing to make a vegan menu on request!

Taste, location 
Naamsestraat 62,
3000 Leuven
016/84.87.32

website: https://www.leuventaste.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.