Restaurant in Oisquercq, Belgium
Belgian sourcing, Italian roots, Michelin-noted.
Viticolo earns its 2024 Michelin Plate with Italian cooking that takes local Belgian produce seriously: house-made pasta, octopus with cime di rapa, and herb-coated pluma iberico in a stylish red brick setting outside Oisquercq. At €€€ with a 4.6 Google rating across 321 reviews, it is one of the more credible options in this part of Belgium at a price that does not require a special occasion to justify.
If you have been to Viticolo once, the question on a return trip is whether the kitchen holds its standard or coasts on goodwill. Based on a Google rating of 4.6 across 321 reviews and a 2024 Michelin Plate, the answer is that it holds. This is a restaurant that has settled into a clear identity: Italian technique, locally sourced produce, and a setting in a red brick building on the edge of Oisquercq that feels more considered than its rural address would suggest. The patio is worth requesting when the weather cooperates.
The Michelin Plate is a useful calibration tool here. It signals cooking that is clean, well-executed, and consistent, without the ceremony or price weight of a starred room. At €€€ pricing, Viticolo sits in a tier where the expectations are real but the bill will not require an apology. For the Tubize area, that combination of credentialed cooking at a non-stratospheric price is genuinely useful to know.
The kitchen's approach connects Italian tradition to Belgian sourcing in ways that read as deliberate rather than opportunistic. Garden-fresh herbs feature prominently, including as a coating on pluma iberico, which is a Spanish cut but handled with the kind of herbal generosity more common in Italian cooking. The octopus dish pairs the protein with cime di rapa, the bitter Italian turnip green, finished with a sauce built around the vegetable's natural acidity. Fresh, house-made pasta is a core part of the offer, and given the venue's stated commitment to Italian traditions, it should be a priority on any return visit. These are dishes grounded in specific technique, not in approximation.
On a second visit, if you ate pasta last time, consider the octopus. If you went straight for the mains, the pasta deserves more attention than a side note. The menu operates with enough Italian coherence that moving through courses systematically will serve you better than ordering by instinct.
Viticolo's cooking does not lend itself naturally to off-premise eating. Fresh pasta loses texture quickly once it leaves the kitchen. Herb-coated proteins are at their leading served immediately. The patio and interior are both described as stylish and cosy, which suggests the room itself is part of the value. This is a venue built for sitting down and eating at the pace the kitchen sets. If your situation requires takeout or delivery, the format here will work against you. Come in, or don't come at all. The dining room is where the offer makes sense.
Booking is described as easy, which is one of Viticolo's practical advantages over the starred rooms in the wider Belgian dining circuit. You are unlikely to be turned away at short notice, but given the venue's size and the fact that it draws from the surrounding Tubize area, weekend evenings will fill faster than midweek. Call or book online to confirm hours before making the trip, as published hours are not available in the record.
See the comparison section below for how Viticolo stacks up against other options in the region.
If Viticolo is your entry point into Belgium's broader dining offer, there is a lot of ground to cover. For Italian cooking benchmarked at the highest level internationally, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto show what the cuisine can reach in fine dining contexts. Closer to home, Belgium's leading tables include Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem, Zilte in Antwerp, and Bozar Restaurant in Brussels. For something closer in spirit to Viticolo's register, L'air du temps in Liernu and d'Eugénie à Emilie in Baudour are worth knowing about. Further afield, Bartholomeus in Heist and Willem Hiele in Oudenburg represent the coastal end of Belgium's creative dining circuit.
For everything in the area: our full Oisquercq restaurants guide, hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences.
Yes, and it is a better solo choice than most rooms at this price point in the area. The cosy interior suggests a setting where a single diner at a small table will not feel conspicuous. At €€€ pricing, you can eat well without the bill becoming uncomfortable. Order the pasta and one main course and you will leave satisfied without over-ordering.
It works well for a low-key special occasion: a birthday dinner for two, an anniversary where the priority is good food over spectacle, or a meal with someone you want to impress without the formality of a starred room. The Michelin Plate gives it credibility as a destination choice, and the stylish interior supports the occasion. If you need private dining or a more ceremonial experience, you will want to look at the €€€€ tier, including Castor or Cuchara.
No dress code is published, but at €€€ in a Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant, smart casual is the right call. Think well-fitted trousers and a shirt or blouse rather than a suit. The setting is described as stylish but cosy, so anything overly formal would be out of place. Trainers and casual sportswear would feel underdressed.
The house-made fresh pasta is the headline commitment the kitchen has made to Italian tradition and should be on your table. The octopus with cime di rapa sauce is a technically specific dish that reflects what the kitchen does well with local acidity and Italian framing. The pluma iberico with garden herbs rounds out what the Michelin description flags as the kitchen's strengths. On a return visit, focus on whichever of these you skipped the first time.
Tasting menu availability is not confirmed in the available data. At €€€ pricing with Michelin Plate recognition, if a tasting menu is offered it likely represents good value relative to starred alternatives in Belgium. The kitchen's cooking style, fresh pasta, local herbs, and Italian technique applied to locally sourced proteins, is well suited to a multi-course format. Ask when booking whether a tasting menu is available and what it costs before committing.
Oisquercq itself is a small commune, so direct local alternatives are limited. Within the broader Belgian dining circuit at a similar or higher tier, L'air du temps in Liernu is the closest in spirit for produce-driven cooking with a clear culinary identity. For a step up in formality and price, Boury in Roeselare and De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis operate at €€€€ with starred credentials. If you are willing to travel to Brussels, Bozar Restaurant covers a different cuisine profile but a comparable level of seriousness.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viticolo | Italian | €€€ | Easy |
| Boury | Modern Frlemish, Creative French | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Comme chez Soi | French - Belgian, Classic Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Castor | Modern European, Modern French | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Cuchara | Modern European, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| De Jonkman | Modern Flemish, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
Comparing your options in Oisquercq for this tier.
It works for solo diners who want to eat well rather than socialise. The Michelin Plate-recognised kitchen focuses on craft — fresh pasta, herb-coated proteins, thoughtful saucing — so the food holds your attention. The patio and interior are described as cosy rather than cavernous, which suits a solo visit better than a large buzzy room. Worth the trip from Brussels if Italian-forward cooking at €€€ is what you are after.
Yes, with the right expectations. The stylish interior and peaceful patio set a tone that works for a birthday or anniversary dinner, and the Michelin Plate (2024) gives the kitchen credibility. At €€€, the spend is appropriate for a celebration rather than a casual night out. The setting is intimate and comfortable rather than grand, so if you need a formal dining room with full ceremony, look at Comme chez Soi in Brussels instead.
The venue description points to a stylish but cosy interior rather than a formal dining room, so dressed-up casual fits the room. Think a neat shirt or blouse rather than a suit or tie. Viticolo is not the kind of place that demands jacket service, but arriving in gym wear would feel out of step with the €€€ price point and the overall tone.
The Michelin recognition specifically calls out the herb-coated pluma iberico and the octopus with cime di rapa sauce as kitchen highlights. The fresh pasta is made in-house and described as a point of pride, so order it. The sourcing is deliberately local, so dishes rooted in Belgian produce interpreted through an Italian lens are where the kitchen is most focused.
Tasting menu details are not publicly confirmed for Viticolo. What is documented is a Michelin Plate kitchen at €€€ with a clear commitment to house-made pasta and produce-led Italian cooking. If a tasting format is available, the kitchen's track record with the octopus and pluma iberico dishes suggests it would be the way to see the full range. Confirm directly before booking.
Oisquercq has a limited dining scene, so the realistic alternatives are a short drive away. For Italian cooking benchmarked higher, Brussels offers more options at greater cost. Castor and Cuchara are worth considering for a different register. If the draw is Michelin-level cooking in a rural Belgian setting, Viticolo has few direct competitors at its price point in this part of Brabant wallon.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
