Belgian restaurants in Belgium
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De Gekroonde Hoofden
Spare ribs (in honey, natural, and the house version, sweet and sour) are the speciality of this large, airy restaurant situated footsteps from Ghent's castle. You can fill up on them à la carte (from around €15) or as part of all-you-can-eat menus (around €24.20 to around €37.70), finished off with chocolate mousse. Staff are welcoming and genuine.
reviewed
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Den Dyver
Not only are the seasonal dishes at this elegant restaurant individually paired with beers, they're also cooked in Belgium's favourite nectar (such as hare, turnip and cranberry ravioli in Oude Gueuze, served with a Petrus Winterbier). Three-, four- and five-course menus can be ordered with a beer accompanying each course. There's also the option of pairing with wines, but that would be missing the point.
reviewed
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Belga Queen
The Belga Queen is Brussels' queen of indulgence. Generous opening hours, a fabulous restaurant with an equally fab crowd, a lustrous ecailler (oyster bar) and a cigar bar leave you no excuses for not visiting. The main menu (split between meat and fish) even has a vegetarian section and low-calorie options for visiting supermodels.
reviewed
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Au Stekerlapatte
The grungy façade hides a cavernous bistro where the approach is casual, the menu extensive and the portions large. Meat, fish and fowl - cooked in traditional Belgian ways - are the staples. Well hidden but definitely known.
reviewed
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René
Deep in the heart of Anderlecht, overlooking a tree-lined square and the local gemeentehuis (town hall), is Brussels' most authentic family friterie-restaurant. It's the Dirk and Dorine Piolon show. Dad, Mum, offspring and in-laws, frying and refrying the frites, preparing a succulent filet américain and dishing up steaming cauldrons of mussels and other Belgian specialities to an appreciative local audience.
Turn up here at lunchtime on Saturday, as the market vendors on the facing square pack up their wares, and you'll find it's full house - only the rickety green metal tables decorating the footpath are unoccupied. For that quintessential Belgian experience, and not a…
reviewed
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Taverne du Passage
Consistently keen service and faithful Belgian meals are the pivotal points of this Brussels institution. Located in the sublime Galeries St Hubert, it has been around since 1928 and stepping through the draped doorway is like zapping away a century. An all-male middle-aged crew strut their stuff in slightly crumpled penguin uniforms, serving ample portions of Belgian classics such as moules-frites (mussels and chips) and waterzooi (cream-based chicken or fish stew).
With some daring, this could be the place to try filet américain (raw minced beef). No matter how busy it gets, the blokes are unfailingly friendly. In summer, tables line up in the gallery outside, and kid…
reviewed
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Kaffee Pergola
Follow the fairy lights to this most romantic of outdoor addresses, hidden among greenery beside a quiet and very picturesque stretch of canal right in the centre of Bruges. Book one of the four tables perched along the canal, and settle back to the sound of birdsong and the glow of fading light as evening mellows. A limited range of delicious Belgian specialities is offered, and the service is attentive.
This place is owned and operated by the discreet top-end Hotel Die Swaene, located across the canal, and though relatively new is highly popular.
reviewed
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Het Pomphuis
Monumental restaurant-brasserie-bar that occupies an old pump house located on a spit way to the north of the old city centre in the surreal world of Antwerp's mammoth harbour. Inside it's one big glassy space, overseen by eclectic architectural features, including Art Nouveau elements. Enter and come face-to-face with a 7m deep pit where the pumps once turned. The restaurant does Belgian and world cuisine, and the service is friendly and attentive. If you're without a car, a taxi's a must.
reviewed
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Walrus
Modern atmospheric eetcafé (eating café) at the southern end of 't Zuid, in an area ripe to take off. Its out-of-the-way location means few tourists come here - this is local central. Sit on the terrace to see the sails of the controversial new Justitiepaleis, or dine inside on dishes any Belgian Mum would be proud to serve. Very kid friendly, too. To get here take tram 12 (direction Bolivarplaats) from Gemeentestraat near Koningin Astridplein.
reviewed
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Den Dyver
Not only are the seasonal dishes at this elegant restaurant individually paired with beers, they’re also cooked in Belgium’s favourite nectar. One delicious example is the hare, turnip and cranberry ravioli cooked in Oude Gueuze, which is served with a Petrus Winterbier. Three-, four- and five-course menus can be ordered with a beer accompanying each course. There’s also the option of pairing with wines, but that would be missing the point.
reviewed
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Viva M’Boma
A white-tiled former triperie (offal butchers shop) now houses this fab restaurant. Viva M’Boma’s name means ‘long live the grandmother’ in the old Bruxellois dialect, and the updated dishes here would make both Grandma and the departed butchers proud. Mains like veal kidneys, liver-based casseroles or horse steak are accompanied by hand-cut fries or stoemp (mashed potato), with speculaas ice cream for dessert.
reviewed
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Etablissement Max
This elegant, pale-pistachio-and-gold brasserie serving refined fare is run by Yves Van Maldeghem whose entrepreneurial family started out with a grand mobile fair stall. Yves bakes waffles using his family's 120-year-old waffle irons, and also makes pancakes and sizzling apple fritters. To bake them yourself, pick up Jan Gheysens' book Belgian Waffles and other treats (2006) here, which contains Yves' family recipes.
reviewed
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Het Groot Vleeshuis
Only products from the surrounding province are sold at this medieval butchers' hall, which has been converted into a shop selling artisan products (with free counter tastings of cheeses and meats). That means you won't find Coke on the menu in the attached glassed-in restaurant overlooking the old covered market's ceilings strung with hams, but you will find local brews, apple wine and, naturally, meat galore.
reviewed
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La Maison du Cygne
Try for a table overlooking the Grand Place in this refined 2nd-floor restaurant where you can dine on bank-breaking, but beautifully prepared Belgian classics. Service is appropriately fussy and the wine list outstanding. Budget diners after a taste of Louis XIV grandeur should try the 1st-floor Ommengang bar (noon to 2pm Monday to Friday), where lunch menus cost €18, including a half-bottle of water.
reviewed
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Pré Salé
Local diner on a shabby backstreet that's become an institution with the locals. Looks a bit like a butcher's shop when you first enter - all white tiles, bright lights and big plates of spare ribs - but it's very infectious, particularly on Friday nights when you'll need to book a few weeks in advance to partake in the soirée spectacle, a vaudeville-style dinner show.
reviewed
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De Karmeliet
Chef Geert Van Hecke's intricate compositions such as Zeeland oysters, poached quail eggs, caviar and potato mousseline have earned him a trio of Michelin stars. The setting is slightly austere, but gourmands will be too busy swooning to notice. Lunch menus are a good deal, and Van Hecke is also in the process of opening a cheaper bistro. Book well ahead, especially for weekends.
reviewed
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Café des Spores
Getting here means trekking out to Uccle, but it’s well worth it if you like chanterelles, porcini and other assorted fungi from the forest floor. Mushrooms feature in every dish (even the cep tiramisu) at this ‘mushroom restaurant’. It sounds gimmicky but it isn’t at all – the daily changing menu is market-fresh and there’s a solid wine list.
reviewed
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Nieuw Museum
So called because of the museum-like collection of brewery plaques, money boxes and other mementos of café life adorning the walls, this family-owned local favourite serves five kinds of dagschotel (dish of the day) for lunch (around €7-12.50), and succulent meat cooked on a 17th-century open fire in the evenings.
reviewed
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De Gekroonde Hoofden
Spare ribs (in honey, natural, and the house version, sweet and sour) are the speciality of this large, airy restaurant situated footsteps from Ghent’s castle. You can fill up on them à la carte (from €15) or as part of all-you-can-eat deals (€23 to €37), finished off with chocolate mousse. Staff are welcoming and genuine.
reviewed
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Mamé Vi Cou
'Mamé Vi Cou' is Walloon-speak for 'an older woman of ample proportions'. But try not to binge here, though you may want to after tasting such local specialities as Rognon de Veau au Pékèt (veal in a jenever-based sauce). It's carnivorous food served in cavernous surroundings and it's all very very good.
reviewed
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De Koetse
Restaurants on the Markt dish up the ubiquitous mussels and frites, but the quality and ambience can be trite and lacking. If you want both good mussels and attentive service, follow the locals here. Paling in 't groen (eel in spinach sauce), another Belgian speciality, also features.
reviewed
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In't Spinnekopke
This long-time favourite with its odd name (In the Spider's Head) occupies a 17th-century whitewashed cottage on a newly revamped square. Dine outside in summer, or cosy up inside in winter and enjoy Brussels' specialities (in particular the cod or the assortment of meats cooked in beer-based sauces).
reviewed
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Le Chapitre
Convivial and very cosy restaurant huddled in a corner beneath the tower of Cathédrale St Aubain. Specialises in regional cuisine, Breton crepes, and Belgian beers, all at very affordable prices. A blackboard lists the available brews (usually around 30), and the décor's charmingly rustic.
reviewed
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Chagall
Checked olive banquettes, candles, shelves cluttered with knick-knacks and an upright piano make you feel like you're dining in a family home. Seafood, such as several variations on eel, is Chagall's specialty, but it also does daily meat specials and good deals on two- and three-course menus.
reviewed
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Hungry Henrietta
Fashion buyers cut deals over seafood bisque, crispy-skinned ray with capers, and seared scallops on a bed of mashed potato in Henrietta’s glossy black-lacquered and polished-concrete interior, or on the outdoor terrace. Call ahead as it’s periodically closed during school holidays.
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