The story
In the heart of Hasselt, on a quiet street called Het Dorp, ROSS brings a focused, contemporary vision of French cuisine to the table. The restaurant has earned a Michelin recommendation, a nod to the precision and creativity found in every course.
The kitchen works with the market’s best, building menus that shift with the seasons. A typical evening might begin with a pair of mór oysters – either natural or sparked with ginger and chili. Snacks like broccolini with gochujang and cashew, or shrimp toast with habanero and bottarga, set a confident, playful tone.
From there, the menu moves through dishes that balance depth and brightness. Scallop appears with sea buckthorn, yoghurt, and huacatay. Cuttlefish is cut into tagliatelle-like ribbons with lemongrass and spinach. Pork belly is paired with pecorino, smoked eel, and celeriac. Young pigeon, cooked on the bone, comes with beetroot and smoked almond. Dessert might be a sticky toffee cake with miso and yuzu, or a classic dame blanche with vanilla, pecan, and chocolate.
At lunch, a streamlined two- or three-course menu offers the same seasonal approach. Dinner can be ordered à la carte except on Fridays, when only the tasting menu is served. The wine list and cheese selection – from affineurs Van Tricht – round out the experience.
ROSS is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for lunch and dinner. The atmosphere is understated and direct, letting the food speak. It is a place where French technique meets a modern Belgian sensibility, and where every detail, from the cooking to the service, is considered.
Recognition
Details
History
Glenn Ross (ex-Écailler du Palais Royal and Sea Grill in Brussels) changed his restaurant’s name from Rosch to Ross in 2022 after his alter-ego, Nicole Schellekens, left the party. Regardless, the same spirit and freshness remain in the dishes, which are as lovely as a spring day. For a taste of the action, first shuffle past the open kitchen, before taking a seat on a banquette in the long, narrow dining room. The evening kicked off with an appetizer, before the folie that followed: hard-boiled eggs and mayo enhanced with mackerel roe, Iberian ham and edamame hummus; graceful hamachi (amberjack) sashimi seasoned with umeboshi (Japanese salted plums) and green sea fingers (seaweed); delicate barbecued sea bass smothered in an ‘nduja white wine sauce; matured Basque Txogitxu veal rib steak given a go on the grill, with some tasty roasted asparagus glazed in wild garlic oil, plus guanciale and wild garlic pesto; and for the stunning dessert, honey crunch, carrot cake with orange marmalade, and ginger mango sorbet. // Cleo Popina
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