As autumn stretches across Monaco, Le Méridien Beach Plaza welcomes back one of its most distinctive culinary voices. Smakelijk!, the hotel’s Belgian brasserie, reopened on October 6, 2025, marking a flavorful return to the Principality’s dynamic dining scene. Set against sweeping views of the Mediterranean, the restaurant blends culinary tradition with creative ambition - and fries. Exceptionally good fries.
The name Smakelijk! (Dutch for “Enjoy your meal!”) encapsulates its ethos: unpretentious hospitality rooted in Belgian classics and regional French flair. Reopening for lunch service from Monday to Saturday, the restaurant returns with its hallmark warm welcome, a revamped menu, and a few new surprises.
At the heart of the menu are beloved Belgian staples - Liège-style meatballs, sole meunière, and steak tartare among them - dishes that honor their origins with depth and generosity. Desserts like crème brûlée and café liégeois punctuate the meal with sweetness and nostalgia.
But Smakelijk! now steps further afield with Les Rendez-vous Gourmands, a series of daily specials that showcase its chefs’ creative range. Each day brings a new dish that nods to the Mediterranean basin or the broader European table: spaghetti alle vongole on Mondays, lamb shoulder with citrus on Tuesdays, bouillabaisse on Fridays. It’s a format designed to delight repeat visitors - and reward curiosity.
If there's a single dish that elevates Smakelijk! beyond the expected, it’s the frites.
The brasserie has partnered with Frites Atelier, a concept developed by Michelin-starred Dutch chef Sergio Herman. The result is not your average cone of fries. Made from specially selected Dutch potatoes, these frites come dressed in imaginative toppings: barbecue-braised pork shoulder, truffle and aged Parmesan cream, even a bold nacho-inspired variant with crispy bacon and Jack Daniel’s cheese.
The combinations walk a fine line between indulgence and precision. Each plate - whether croquettes or loaded frites - showcases what happens when comfort food is treated with serious culinary respect.
Sundays shift the mood entirely. Smakelijk! opens its doors for a convivial, family-oriented brunch that’s as much about experience as it is about food.
Children are welcomed into a supervised Kids Club offering nature-themed activities and pastry workshops. While adults linger over sweet-and-savory brunch selections on the terrace, young guests roll up their sleeves to create macarons, cream puffs, and cookies - a gentle reminder that food, at its best, is a shared joy.
The décor, created by Studio Adjamé’s Talissa Bachelot and Alice Calemard, merges bold tiling with Art Nouveau flourishes, vintage finds with contemporary warmth. The interior offers a tactile sense of Belgian identity, but it’s the seafront terrace that captures Monaco’s particular magic - bright sun, salt air, and the occasional yacht gliding by.
For all its careful styling and curated menus, Smakelijk! remains, at its core, what every good brasserie should be: a gathering place. In a city of spectacle, it succeeds by creating a quieter kind of indulgence - one centered not on flash, but on flavor, hospitality, and heart.