Eating in Brussels
It looks like I will be tagging along with my husband for a business meeting in Brussels, Belgium, at the beginning of November. We would like to do one major, no-holds-barred, wallet-be-damned meal while there. We plan on enjoying the beer and frites with abandon, as well, and would be grateful for any suggestions as to where to go for both of these eating scenarios.
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7 Comments:
Greyhounddrrl,
Do yourself a favor and go for a meal at Comme Chez Soi, located on Place Rouppe. I've only had a handful of life altering meals (Per Se, French Laundry, Robuchon in Macau) and Comme Chez Soi was one of them. They have a Chef's table located right in the kitchen, which you should def. ask about, where you'll be able to see Chef Rigolet work his magic.
If you can't make it for dinner, I recall they had a very affordable lunch tasting menu too--something along the lines of 50 Euros per head.
Good luck!
___________________
I like to eats.
http://dru.gobbl.com
druz99 at 8:03PM on 10/17/07
For mussels: Le Pre Sale - rue de Flandre 20 / 20 Vlaamsesteenweg - close to Place St Catherine
raphael at 12:20AM on 10/18/07
Second Chez Soi -- it's a luxury, and at the same time not to be missed. When we lived there, it was the only Michelin-starred resto in Belgium -- a real sore point with Belgians, who saw themselves as slighted by the French. Well, number two tries harder and it's difficult to get a bad meal in Brussels, unlike Paris. Once ate a killer spaghetti marinara for five Euros in a formica-topped joint off the Grand Place that looked to be run by Serbian mobsters. I'd avoid the "Stomach" as its so touristy as to have hawkers outside beckoning you in in fifteen languages, which they try one after the other until people stop, having heard their own tongue. The places we ate at were mainly in our part of the city, but you can get the same wherever you go. Once we went to the Blue Elephant for a Thai brunch on some holiday and it was fantastic food (considering how hard it must be to make good Thai food in Europe in the winter. It had an elevated dining room with tables at different levels, which made each table more intimate, with buffet and cooking stations set up on the different levels. It's at 1120 Chaussée de Waterloo. In walking distance from us was a place called Pirate's Cove, where we went for mussels and booze, and an ace Portuguese restaurant up the hill. Really, we didn't luck out with these; they were just the local joints that are sprinkled like culinary snow all over that gourmet's city.
TikiPundit at 9:29PM on 10/18/07
Thanks everyone! It looks like we will do the lunch tasting at Chez Soi.
TikiPundit--- do you know the name of the Portuguese place? My husband is half Portuguese and we are always in search of good Portuguese restaurants, which seem to be few and far between.
Greyhoundgrrl at 12:25PM on 10/19/07
Wow...I'll be watching this thread - my favorite cooking teacher was from Brussels and frequently waxed nostalgic about the food.
chiff0nade at 11:32AM on 10/20/07
Greyhoundgrrl:
I don't and couldn't find it quickly on the Internet. HOWEVER, check out this link for the nearby Pirates Cafe (could swear it was Pirates Cove when we were there). First, Pirates gets a good review; but check out the link to the map. You see Pirates at the #2 icon. Go "left" up Leuvensesteenweg on this map, which is really taking you into Brussels. If you are going up this street towards Brussels, to your right you see Eversestraat angling off. The Portuguese place was at this corner, if I've got the street right. To be certain, the decor is not like Pirates (ahem), but the Sole du Sol with shaved almonds was the best I've had -- no expert on Portuguese food but it was hard to resist it when we went. The place has that kind of mildly kitschy European decor (possibly not updated in years), but is comforting on a cold, wet evening. Of which there were too many in Brussels. Note: left five years ago, but the resto had been there several years and it's unlikely it folded since then, since most of the customers seemed to know the owner and staff and everyone was friendly.
TikiPundit at 9:03PM on 10/22/07
i was in brussels too long ago to be of much use here, but i would like to say that the town square is one of the most beautiful places on earth. enjoy!
cybercita at 9:15PM on 10/22/07