Outremeuse — the small island neighbourhood across the Meuse from the historic centre, accessed by a series of bridges from Place Saint-Lambert — is Liège's most distinctive small-restaurant district, with a Bohemian-French character that feels closer to a Lyonnais or Marseillais quarter than to anywhere in Brussels. Jardin Majorelle sits on the Rue Puits-en-Sock in the heart of the neighbourhood, in a converted maison-de-maître with a small enclosed garden at the back that is the most romantic terrace in Liège in summer.
The cooking is modern French with a strong Mediterranean accent — careful sourcing, restrained plating, an obvious sun-drenched-Provence influence in the herbs and the olive oil. A starter of burrata with grilled peach and aged balsamic; a main of slow-cooked lamb shoulder with chickpeas and harissa; a course of pan-roasted North Sea sole with sauce vierge and capers; a dessert of olive-oil cake with crème fraîche and raspberries. The bread is house-baked, the olive oil is from a single Sicilian estate, and the petit-fours arrive with proper espresso.
The dining room is intimate — perhaps twenty-five covers indoors, twenty more in the garden — and dressed with the kind of relaxed Mediterranean elegance that the restaurant's name suggests. Candles on every table, white linen, jacquard banquettes against the walls, and the garden in the back lit with strung bulbs and surrounded by climbing jasmine that perfumes the entire terrace from late spring through early autumn. The wine list is short but well-chosen with a French-Italian focus and a careful by-the-glass selection.
For a first date in Liège — the romantic neighbourhood walk, the small candle-lit room, the cooking that demonstrates care without trying too hard — Jardin Majorelle is the obvious choice. Walk around Outremeuse afterwards; the small bars on the Rue Roture are the natural extension of the evening.
