Brussels Restaurants

"Bruxelles" or Brussels as it is known outside Belgium is not only the capital city but a wonderful place to enjoy good food and drinking venues. According to europe-cities, "Brussels' cuisine continues to use recipes which were created in Medieval times". The main dishes in Brussels surround fish and seafood, wild birds and pigs with vegetables. Most Belgian food, as with most European food has many dishes made with potatoes. http://www.europe-cities.com/en/610/belgium/brussels/eating-out/

Lunchtimes are a bit later than some countries, usually between 1-3pm and dinner is usually eaten around 7-8pm. http://www.europe-cities.com/en/610/belgium/brussels/eating-out/ In the evening, it is recommended to order the "plat du jour" or daily special if you want the best food the restaurant is offering on a particular day at the best price.

On Sundays, you can find good brunch buffets on offer to the public at some of the best hotels like the Conrad for a mere 20-25 Euros per person http://www.frommers.com/destinations/brussels/0104010028.html. Rick's Café Américain on Avenue Louise serves good American style breakfasts. A popular bakery, Le Pain Quotidien, on rue de la Croix is a Brussels breakfast and picnic supply favorite.

In general, a simple meal shouldn't cost more than 20 Euros but a lavish meal at a fancy restaurant may cost 200 Euros per person. http://www.europe-cities.com/en/610/belgium/brussels/eating-out/

"Cooking Meets Art" at the Museum Brasserie http://www.museumfood.be/flashOK.html is a large restaurant (seating for more than 600 people) in the Centre Ville area that is a brewery as well as serves Belgian food in a beautiful setting according to DeltaWeb.

The Michelin rating's highest ratings are given to Comme Chez Soi and Villa Lorraine which have wonderful views of the city and a wide variety of delicious Brussels favorites to enjoy. As with all fine dining, reservations are essential. http://www.villalorraine.be/en/contact/index.cfm

Vegetarians will be pleased to find La Tsampa for dining and take-away meals and organic goods. Other organic and vegetarian venues can be found on the official Brussels tourist page.

Other Mahalo pages are available for Brussels Hotels, Brussels Tours and Brussels Vacation.

• L'Ogenblik (French), Phone: 02-511-61-51 Google Map
  • Frommer's Highly Recommended: "Look for garlicky meat and seafood menu dishes, and expect to pay a smidgeon more for atmosphere than might be strictly justified by results on the plate."

• • Fodor's Review: "This small, split-level restaurant, on a side alley off the Galeries St-Hubert, has all the trappings of an old-time bistro: green-shaded lamps over marble-top tables, sawdust on the floor, and laid-back waiters."

• • Zagat Well-Rated: "[B]een a 'favorite Brussels haunt' since 1969, it still attracts a cosmopolitan crowd."

• Aux Armes de Bruxelles (French/Belgian), Phone: 02-511-55-50 Google Map
  • Concierge.com Recommendation: "Service is brisk, efficient, and as traditional as the food. Waterzooi (fish or chicken stew), carbonnade (beef stew), moules-frites, anguilles (eels), steak tartare...it's all good."

• • Frommer's Recommended: "It's an excellent place for your introduction to Belgian cooking, since it combines traditional cuisine with great quality, and offers just about every regional specialty you can think of..."

• • Zagat Well-Rated: "[I]t's a 'popular', 'prototypical brasserie' for 'eating like the locals.'"

• Belga Queen (Belgian), Phone: 02-217-21-87 Google Map
  • Concierge.com Recommendation: "A Belle Epoque bank converted by restaurateur-designer extraordinaire Antoine Pinto, this huge brasserie is all buzz, from the bars (oyster, beer, and cigar) to the grand 187-cover restaurant under a stained-glass cupola supported by rows of pink marble columns."

• • Fodor's Review: "This is the place to impress a date, but don't be alarmed by the unisex bathroom stalls -- the clear glass doors become opaque once they're locked."

• Falstaff Gourmand (French/Belgian), Phone: 02-512-17-61 Google Map
  • Frommer's Highly Recommended: "First-class Belgian and French menu dishes include one of the best deals in Brussels: a three-course menu gourmand, which includes an aperitif, glass of wine with the starter, and small pitcher of wine with the main course."

• Comme Chez Soi (French), Phone: 02-512-29-21 Google Map
  • Frommer's Exceptional Rating: "Although the food is a long way from what most people eat at home, the welcome from master chef Pierre Wynants is warm, and his standards are high enough for the most rigorous tastes."

• • Fodor's Choice: "The superb cuisine, excellent wines, and attentive service complement the warm decor."

• • Zagat Well-Rated: "Pierre Wynants and his son-in-law Lionel Rigolet's 'sublime' Belgian in the Lower Town is Voted No. 1 for Food in Brussels."

• Bruneau (French), Phone: 02-421-70-70 Google Map
  • Fodor's Review: "Although it's outside the city center, this long-established restaurant persuades many gourmets from Belgium and beyond to flex their plastic."

• • Zagat Well-Rated: "[C]hef-owner Jean-Pierre Bruneau's 'outstanding' cuisine is complemented by equally 'excellent service'..."

• Villa Lorraine (French), Phone: 02-374-31-63 Google Map
  • Frommer's Very Highly Recommended: "The dining rooms are spacious, with wicker furnishings, flower arrangements everywhere, and a skylight. In good weather you may elect to have drinks outside under the trees."

• • Zagat Well-Rated: "[S]terling service and a 'stellar wine cellar' lead to long, lovely lunches or 'romantic evenings'..."

• La Maison du Cygne (French/Belgian), Phone: 02-511-82-44 Google Map
  • Frommer's Very Highly Recommended: "The service, though a tad stuffy, is as elegant as the polished walnut walls, bronze wall sconces, and green velvet. Because of its location, the restaurant is usually crowded at lunchtime, but dinner reservations are likely to be available."

• • Zagat Well-Rated: "'[E]xceptional service' and an 'extensive wine list'..."

• Sea Grill at the Radisson SAS (Seafood), Phone: 02-227-92-25 Google Map
  • Concierge.com Recommendation: "This is widely held to be the best seafood restaurant in Belgium — even, some claim, in all of Europe. Yves Mattagne's dishes are classic preparations made just postmodern enough to fascinate..."

• • Zagat Well-Rated: "[I]nternational seafooder with 'superb' cuisine, 'an excellent wine list' and 'incomparable service'..."

• La Manufacture (French/Belgian), Phone: 02-502-25-25 Google Map
  • Frommer's Very Highly Recommended: "Fully refurbished, with hardwood floors, leather banquettes, polished wood, and stone tables, all set amid iron pillars and exposed air ducts, it produces trendy world cuisine on a French foundation, for a mostly youthful public."

• • Zagat Well-Rated : "[T]he 'great atmosphere' comes from an expansive, dramatic industrial space with leather banquettes, stone tables and a 'sexy staff.'"

• Taverne Du Passage (French/Belgian), Phone: 02-512-37-31 Google Map
  • Frommer's Highly Recommended: "Located in the city's most elegant shopping gallery, this stylish brasserie offers a wide variety of seafood and, this being Brussels, mussels."

• • Fodor's Review: "The multilingual waiters are jolly and the wine list is exceptional -- not surprising in a restaurant owned by the president of the Belgian guild of sommeliers. Reserve a table outside if you like to watch the world go by."

• In't Spinnekopke (French/Belgian), Phone: 02-511-86-95 Google Map
  • Frommer's Very Highly Recommended: "You dine in a tilting, tiled-floor building, at plain tables, and more likely than not squeezed into a tight space. This is one of Brussels's most traditional cafe/restaurants -- so much so, in fact, that the menu lists its hardy standbys of regional Belgian cuisine in the old Bruxellois dialect."

• • Fodor's Review: "True Brussels cooking flourishes in this charming restaurant. The low ceilings and benches around the walls remain from its days as a coach inn during the 18th century."

• Le Pain et le Vin (Mediterranean), Phone: 02-332-37-74 Google Map
  • Frommer's Very Highly Recommended: "The restaurant, in a converted house, looks out onto a garden. There's a terrace for alfresco dining in good weather. Whether the dish is chicken, fish, meat, or vegetables, the preparation concentrates on bringing out the natural taste, rather than smothering it with over-rich sauces."

• Bla Bla & Gallery (French), Phone: 02-503-59-18 Google Map
  • Concierge.com Recommendation: "Near the two Sablon squares and the flea market, this gallery-restaurant has young Brussels showing her best profile."

• Le Pain Quotidien (Belgian), Phone: 02-502-23-61 Multiple Locations
  • Concierge.com Recommendation: "Yes, this is the founding branch of the wildly popular anti-Atkins boites, of which there are 10 in Brussels (plus 13 in New York City and nine in the Los Angeles area)."

• • Fodor's Review: "These bakeries-cum-snack bars are a popular brunch spot on weekend mornings. They have spread like wildfire all over Europe (and even to New York and Los Angeles) with the same satisfying formula..."

• Chez Leon (Seafood), Phone: 02-511-14-15 Google Map
  • Frommer's Recommended: "Think of it as the mussels from Brussels, as this big, basic restaurant is the city's most famous purveyor of that marine delicacy. Leon has been flexing its mussels since 1893 and now has clones all over Belgium..."

• • Fodor's Review: "More than a century old, this cheerful restaurant has expanded over the years into a row of eight old houses, while its franchises can now be found across Belgium and even in Paris."

• La Mirabelle (French/Belgian), Phone: 02-649-51-73 Google Map
  • Frommer's Recommended: "Plainly decorated, with wooden tables crowded together, the Mirabelle looks more like a bar than a restaurant and often has a boisterous pub-style atmosphere to match."

• Paradiso Italian Restaurant (Italian), Phone: 02-512-52-32 Google Map
  • Frommer's Recommended: "This great little Italian restaurant is close enough to the Grand-Place to be convenient, but just far enough away to not be immediately obvious to the crowds. As such, it is one of Brussels's best-kept secrets."

• Shanti Phone: 02-649-40-96 Google Map
  • Frommer's Highly Recommended: "An exotic look keeps faith with its multicultural menus: lots of greenery and flowers create a gardenlike feel, and crystal lamps, mirrors, and old paintings adorn the walls."

• Happy Cow's Vegetarian Guide: Vegetarian Restaurants Brussels Belgium

• La Tsampa Vegetarian and Organic Dining http://www.tsampa.be/