La Fontanell’

A formerly great family restaurant, RUINED. We used to love this place, and had, in the past, recommended it to others many times -- but never again. My three children and I were just KICKED OUT for not ordering enough. Our *attempted* order was a margarita pizza (adult-size), a green side salad, a bottle of water (large), and a rather expensive fresh juice beverage for me (around €7). The total for those items was about €41 -- and we would have ordered one more bottle of water, another drink for me (prob a diet Coke at €4) and an ice cream for the kids to share, bringing the total to about €57. Let's bear in mind that this is no fine-dining establishment; it's a mid-range Italian place that has a terrace, garden and children's play area, which is open in nice weather. I'd actually understand this treatment somewhat had the place been packed, or had we been a party of adults, but neither of these cases were true; it was just me and my three small kids (9, 6 and 3). Anyway, the manager came out after our waiter took our order and said that, to stay, we'd each have to order a main meal -- the kids meals were €9-10 -- and I knew they'd never eat that much food, so that would have been a silly waste, and far more than I wanted to spend to take three kids out for a pizza. It seems this restaurant has forgotten the point of kids' meals is to allow parents to afford to go out with their kids, not to TAKE ADVANTAGE of families with kids. This is because kids are dependents without incomes.... This is really too bad b/c we've taken out-of-town guests there, gone for date nights, and of course, have taken the kids there a number of times. (Nice how they seemed to not remember us at all BTW....) I liked the place in the past for having the play area + good (not great) food for fair prices. Oh well. So we left, and went to another restaurant with a playground / garden, which is *wonderful* and where we've been treated warmly since arriving (we're still here, and the kids are having a blast in the garden). It's Nero Café in Hoeilaart in case anyone here wants to check it out -- it's superb. I in fact just asked them -- for the heck of it -- if our rather small order was OK with them, and the waiter looked at me with surprise and said, "You order what you want!" THANK YOU. Obviously La Fontanelle is free to conduct their business as they wish -- they simply won't be conducting it with us, nor our guests, nor the friends to whom we would have recommended them, ever again. The tragedy is that the place appeared quite successful, but they've decided to push for "per head" profits, and may very well lose their regular customer base as a result. It's not in a touristy area either, so good luck finding replacements for once loyal customers who will not be returning. I see that a number of other reviews here on Google reflect the same experience, so obviously this is La Fontanell's new "policy". A shame.

My wife, our small daughter and myself were seated at a table for two, our daughter was put at the side, actually too little space,but this was initially fine with us as our daughter could not and did not want to eat due to some allergy problems. However the main waitress, about whom others on tripadvisor were also complaining about (found out too late!) wanted to force us us to buy a dish for her she definitely would not eat. As we came more often her in the past, we felt offended by this service which was otherwise also always slow, even for belgian standards but we always endured this because available playgardn for young children. now we certainly dont come again and advise people who come with children to be aware that they dont even accept children to share a pizza or so.....and we talking here not about a top restauraunt.....

Well served, waiters always attentive. Food was good too; had pizza and salmon. Would definitely return. I believe it also a good option for an afternoon tea.

Most notable feature: a large wood-burning fire in the middle of the seating area - great on a cold winter evening. I found the staff to be friendly and accommodating to English speakers. The menu has good variety, and there are decent vegetarian options, as you would expect from an Italian restaurant. Service can be a little slow if you're not adept at catching the waiter's eye (maybe just my British shyness).

Great food, great service. Nice playground

Disappointing experience. On a summer day we arrived with our children. After being seated we wanted to order dishes to share for the children. We are asked to leave the restaurant because they considered that all individuals needed to consume a dish, including the children (1 yo and 3 yo). Never seen this in Belgium before. Rude and unfriendly staff. A éviter !

Good food, friendly staff, good atmosphere, recommend

Very disappointing experience. The staff is quite curt and not friendly.