A treasure from the Belgian coast
The grey shrimp croquette is one of the finest pages of Belgian culinary heritage. It all begins with the grey shrimp of the North Sea (Crangon crangon), tiny and delicately briny, fished for centuries along the Flemish coast from Ostend to Nieuwpoort. In Oostduinkerke, a tradition found nowhere else in the world still survives: the shrimp fishermen on horseback, who haul their nets through the surf astride powerful Brabant draft horses — a craft more than five centuries old, inscribed by UNESCO on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. As for the croquette itself — a bound béchamel, breaded and deep-fried — it borrows its technique from French cuisine before becoming, on brasserie tables, one of the most cherished emblems of Belgian gastronomy. Peeled patiently by hand, the little grey shrimp reveals here all of its inimitable, briny flavour.
The art of house-made
At Au Repos des Chasseurs, the croquette is entirely house-made. A béchamel generously filled with grey shrimp is shaped, breaded and fried until it takes on that golden, crisp crust which yields to a creamy, melting heart. The contrast — crisp outside, soft within — makes all the difference and betrays the care of a kitchen that refuses shortcuts. Served as one, two or three pieces, as a starter or a main, they come traditionally with fried parsley and a wedge of lemon, the only companions this classic needs.
The signature of a house founded in 1683
In our house, born in 1683 on the edge of the Sonian Forest, Chef Adrien Schurgers sees in the grey shrimp croquette a tribute to simplicity well executed — the very thing that sets a great brasserie apart from an ordinary table. No frills: only the product, the right cooking and the gesture repeated to precision. It is this quiet exactness, inherited from more than three centuries of hospitality, that makes the dish a true signature of the house.
To savour in Watermael-Boitsfort
An iconic starter or a hearty main, the grey shrimp croquette can be enjoyed all year round in our brasserie and on our terrace, just fifteen minutes from the centre of Brussels. For the length of a pause on the edge of the Sonian Forest, it offers a distillation of Belgian cooking at its best: an exceptional product, a preserved craft, and the simple pleasure of a crust that crackles.
