Why the Vijfhoek is probably the best restaurant in Belgium (Sint-Katelijne-Waver)

The Mystery of the Vijfhoek. It could have been the title of a Kiekeboe comic strip. A golden tip had come to our attention via via. The Vijfhoek is said to be a weekday brasserie/ village pub where a former top chef is now stirring the pot. The Sapperdeboere in us took over and off we went to Sint-Katelijne-Waver to unravel the mystery.

Steen roads in Flanders, it is a well-known phenomenon thanks to the Flemish master builders of the sixties. So too is the spot where ‘De Vijfhoek‘ is situated, on a busy connecting road between Lier and Mechelen. Café de sportduif could have had its premises there. But history had foreseen otherwise and so, more than 100 years ago, café De Vijfhoek saw the light of day. You have to be a culinary genius to suspect a culinary Valhalla behind the façade with the showy bull logo of a well-known beer brand. We enter the building with great curiosity. With great strides, a kindly older gentleman greets us. Later, this turned out to be the father of the chef, who would soon be playing with our senses. Admittedly, we had to convince ourselves that the golden tip was not fake news. The sight of it as we entered catapulted us back to the better brown cafe with its inviting counter.

However, our ‘happiness’ barometer rose immediately after we were kindly invited to take a seat on the nice terrace. The roll of honour we just crossed mentioned that Kenny Bernaerts had just managed to secure third place in the national selection for the prestigious international cooking competition Bocuse d’Or. Rest assured! Kenny is in fact one of the most talented young chefs Belgium has. At a young age he crossed the canal with just a backpack and a few bucks, after he got the urge to cook at Foliez in Mechelen. Kenny was determined to throw himself at Gordon Ramsey. He made the most of it and became chef de partie in one of Gordon’s restaurants. After that he wandered around with the French star chef Michel Roux and closer to home Yves Mattagne of the Sea Grill (Brussels).

Father Swa is proud to announce that he is the beer sommelier for Orval. The Walloon Trappists can hang up their habit in the evening with a clear conscience, if all ambassadors do their job as well as Swa. From the nice selection of Orval (available in several vintages and maturations), we decide to go for a beer and food pairing! Thanks Swa!

First we go for a nice board of cold cuts and cheese which, as tapas, open perfectly with the first Orval of the evening. Kenny has given the menu of his parents’ café a serious gastronomic pimp. The brasserie menu remained intact, but the ingredients became nobler and the preparation methods adjusted. In the starter we chose a cheese croquette with, how could it be otherwise, Orval in it. The croquette was very creamy but to detect the notes of Orval, you probably need to be a trappist with some years of service. But it certainly tasted good.

In the main course, we continued with the dashing combinations of meat and Orval. My table-mate groaned with delight as he feasted on a duo of beef: a nice onglet (very tender) and a beef tartare of the same onglet, served in a hollowed-out leg. I chose something that really caught my attention on the menu: the Simmentahl aged for 2 weeks in Orval. This made the meat taste more intense but super tender. Here I could feel the power of the Trappist in the meat. The accompanying fries taste deliciously of the oxblood and the gravy from Orval, noblesse oblige, is a wonderful addition. This made us very happy!

At the end of the evening, the chef reluctantly came to ask what we thought of it. Happy faces were his share, Kenny opened up completely and took us along on his plans for the place. The mystery of the vijfhoek is now solved. If you want to enjoy a top chef like us in a relaxed Flemish bistro, Sint-Katelijne-Waver is the place to be. The vijfhoek will never be the vijfhoek again. Or at least it will be. Thanks