La Brasserie des Etangs Mellaerts

Hockey season is nearing its end but not without another busy Saturday with 2 away games on the same day. This time we had to leave around 9:30 for our first match against La Louvière. Because they are renovating their site the match was at Lynx. Not as far but traffic was bad with a lot of road constructions added to the mix to make it worse. So it still took us more than 75 minutes to get there. After this match we pushed on for a match at Ombrage which would start at 3PM. As we didn’t have lunch yet the plan was to have lunch at Ombrage before the match. Unfortunately the kitchen was short on staff and a large group had just arrived for lunch so they told us it would take too long. We could come back in an hour or so. But that was too late for us so we looked around on Google Maps and found this brasserie at the Mellaertsvijver which was within walking distance. It was one of the first sunny days so the walk was pleasant. The place is quite large so no issue with getting a table here. We sat outside on their large terrace but at a table with little shade (we had to lean towards the next table to catch a bit of shade). There was a bit of a waft of stale water coming from somewhere. Luckily it was not constant but every now and then we caught a bit of it: A pity as the terrace and the surroundings are very nice otherwise. Service was prompt and friendly. We took a Cesar salad and penne with 4 tomatoes. This was a nice twist to the traditional tomato sauce with a few sliced up cold tomatoes added to it. With the warmth this added some welcome refreshment. Plenty of beer to chose from as well. There is space for kids to run around behind the terrace so certainly a tip for families with little children. As the salad and penne sauce didn’t take a lot of preparation we got our food fast so we managed to catch the bulk of the match still. At the back of the terrace there is a section where people were only having a drink or enjoying an ice cream. No complaints about the food, quality in line with what can be expected from a Brasserie. The kitchen at Ombrage is supposedly good but that was full and apart from that not so much choice in the neighbourhood in this price category so we picked the right place by chance.