10 excellent restaurants in Brussels (to help you avoid the tourist traps)
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The standard of cooking in Belgian restaurants is high. The Belgians themselves have a highly developed nose for good food: they like it to be seasonal, based on good-quality ingredients, cooked with fine judgement, and good value for money – and they won’t stomach pretension. So all should be well and good in Brussels, except that it is quite possible to eat badly if you end up in a touristy restaurant. The best advice is: if in doubt, listen to what the Belgians recommend, and eat where the Belgians eat. Here's a list of 10 excellent options from local expert Antony Mason to get you started.
Comme Chez Soi
A revered name in the Brussels restaurant firmament, with two Michelin stars to underpin its reputation. Comme Chez Soi prides itself on beautifully prepared and presented food of the highest standard in the French haute cuisine mould – with prices to match (five courses for €148/£130). The celebrated chef Pierre Wynants established its reputation over several decades, before handing over to his son-in-law Lionel Rigolet in 2006. The Art Nouveau-style dining room is small, with only 40 covers, and the kitchen is in full view. The starter of pan fried mackerel with crayfish, asparagus from Mechelen and a light fennel flower cream will set the tone.
Contact:00 32 2 512 29 21; commechezsoi.be
Prices: £££
Opening times: Tue-Wed, 7pm-9pm; Thurs-Sat, 12pm-1.30pm, 7pm-9pm
Reservations: Essential
Restaurant Vincent
A note of individuality rings out as you enter this restaurant, passing the display of fresh meat in the window and the busy kitchen to reach an atmospheric dining room decorated with marine-themed tiles. Restaurant Vincent specialises in traditional Belgian dishes, focusing on seafood and steaks (supplied by the celebrated breeder and butcher Hendrik Dierendonck). It's good, robust, hearty food prepared without fuss. Restaurant Vincent has always been one of the notable exceptions among the hordes of notoriously bad but picturesque tourist restaurants in the area, surrounding the Rue des Bouchers.
Contact: 00 32 2 511 26 07; restaurantvincent.com
Prices: ££
Opening times: Wed-Mon, 12pm-3pm, 6.30pm-11pm
Reservations: Recommended
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La Roue D’or
Expect a good choice of Belgian dishes in this relaxed and joyous brasserie-restaurant, close to the Grand Place, with traditional wood furnishing off-set by Magritte-esque murals. Chicons, mussels and chips, waterzooi de volaille (chicken in a creamy broth), anguilles au vert (eels in green herb sauce), boulettes à la liégoise (meatballs in a sweet sauce) – they are all here. It gets busy, but the 'cuisine non-stop' means that you can eat comfortably at off-peak hours. As it is very close to the Grand Place, you might think La Roue d’Or runs the risk of being touristy, but a Bruxellois authenticity saves the day.
Contact: 00 32 2 514 25 54; resto.be/rouedor
Prices: ££
Opening times: Daily, 12pm-12am
Reservations: Recommended
La Marée
The simple décor of seascape paintings and marine mementoes set the scene: this is an excellent place for seafood (although meat-eaters also get a look-in). Located close to the Place Sainte-Catherine – the former site of the fish market and still the place to eat fish in Brussels – La Marée has been establishing a solid reputation for fish cookery over the past few decades, under the watchful eye of its Portuguese-born owners Mario and Teresa Alves. Look for Belgian classics here, such as croquettes aux crevettes grises and moules-frites, and you’ll be hard put to find plaice better cooked.
Contact: 00 32 2 511 00 40; lamaree-sa.com
Prices: ££
Opening times: Tues-Sat, 12pm-2pm, 6.30pm-10pm
Reservations: Recommended
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Belga Queen
Restaurant designer Antoine Pinto is famous for his imaginative conversions, and here is one of his classics: a huge restaurant in a grand and spectacular old bank. There’s always a buzz here, because it’s busy and popular, stylish yet relaxed, with a broad brasserie-style menu centring on Belgian classics, prepared to exacting standards. It’s a glorious setting to get stuck into a fine plateau de fruits de mer. Even on the reasonably-priced 'business lunch' menu of two courses for €25 (£22), you will find dishes such as roasted escalope of salmon with orange butter, parsnip mousseline, chard and gratin dauphinois potatoes with parmesan.
Contact: 00 32 2 217 21 87; belgaqueen.be
Prices: ££
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 12pm-2.30pm, 6.30pm-11pm (until 12am on Fri and Sat)
Reservations: Recommended
De Noordzee / La Mer du Nord
This little fish-shop-turned-street-food-outlet is now a well-established Bruxellois favourite, and deservedly so. Located on the edge of the Place Sainte-Catherine, famed traditionally as the Brussels centre of seafood and now revitalised as a dynamic foodie hub, it serves first-class fishy snacks such as croquettes aux crevettes, escargots de mer (whelks), fish soup, pickled herring, smoked mackerel and salmon, hot dishes of crab and scallops – as well as wine and beer. You could make a tapas-style meal of it, but you’ll have to stand at a table on the pavement to eat, and seek a dessert elsewhere (if you're looking for a suggestion, try a pastry from Charli, the wonderful bakery at No 34).
Contact: 00 32 513 11 92; vishandelnoordzee.be
Prices: £
Opening times: Tues-Sat, 11am-6pm; Sunday, 11am-6pm
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Selecto
There's a growing number of restaurants in the Rue de Flandre, and Selecto is one of the more well-established options. It serves an excellent range of seasonal and inventive French and Belgian dishes in a style which they aptly call 'bistronomique' (bistro food with gastronomic flair): picture smoked quail salad, goujonnettes of sole, Black Angus beefburger, slabs of steak and fish deliciously sauced. The main bistro-style restaurant is elegant, tightly packed and lively – but you can also take up one of the eight places in the kitchen, such is the chefs’ deserved confidence in their skills.
Contact: 00 32 2 511 40 95; leselecto.com
Prices: ££
Opening times: Tues-Sat, 12pm-2.30pm and 7pm-10.30pm (Fri and Sat, open til 11pm); closed Sunday and Monday
Reservations: Recommended
Colonel
This is the kind of restaurant Brussels does so well: a specialist in high-quality, carefully aged beef (see their display cabinet of the marbled raw product), but where everything on the menu – such as the cured meats, scallops and skrei (Norwegian Arctic cod) – is worthy of attention. The restaurant is large, modern, stylish and busy, with an open kitchen. It's close to the Avenue Louise, so a good place to stop off for a fine lunch of marrowbone starter followed by filet pur or slow-cooked monkfish if shopping or on the way to the Horta Museum.
Contact: 00 32 2 538 57 36; colonelbrussels.com
Prices: ££
Opening times: Tues-Sat, 12pm-2pm, 7pm-10pm
Reservations: Recommended
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Ballekes
'Ballekes' is the Bruxellois word for meatballs, and here’s an admirable, crowd-funded effort to turn meatballs into fast food. The limited menu offers pork or chicken meatballs, or a veggie equivalent (chickpeas and quinoa), with a selection of sauces – tomato, mushroom, beer, 'lapin' (a sweetish sauce made with Sirop de Liège, rather than rabbit) – served in cast-iron dishes on wooden planks, with chips and salad options. All are filling and delicious. Order from the counter, where a young and engaged team work in an open kitchen, and eat at wooden tables in the agreeable, black-and-white retro workshop-style dining area. The drinks menu includes wine and Belgian beers.
Contact: 00 32 2 537 00 76; ballekes.be
Prices: £
Opening times: Mon, 6.30pm-10pm; Tue-Fri, 12pm-2.30pm, 6.30pm-10pm; Sat, 12pm-3pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm; Sun, 12.30pm-3pm, 6.30pm-9.30pm
Reservations: Walk-ins only
EXKi
The name is a transliteration of exquis (exquisite), which might be a bit of a hyperbole, but nonetheless if you are looking for a wholesome light meal this is a pretty good option. Founded in Brussels in 2001, EXKi has grown into a self-service chain based on a formula of ethically and ecologically sourced salads, sandwiches, and some hot dishes, to eat in or take away. It’s bright, cheery and good value, and this large Bourse branch is conveniently central, on the edge of the pedestrianised zone. A Fuji energy salad (organic red rice, hummus of red lentils, broccoli, edamame beans) can be just the refuelling you need for your on-going perambulations.
Contact: 00 32 2 512 33 50; exki.com
Prices: £
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 7am-10pm; Sat-Sun, 8am-10pm
Reservations: Walk-ins only
