6 Best Restaurants in Day Trips from Brussels, Brussels

In a city of students, it's no surprise that something so simple as a "chicken and bread" restaurant would take off. But it is also a thing of beauty. It has been going since the 1960s but closed for several years, reopening to much nostalgia and a hipper new look (think cocktails and decent beer) among the boutiques of Mechelsestraat. At its heart, it's just a hunk of delicious marinated roast chicken with a selection of sides (salads, veggies, apple sauce, hummus), but to locals, it's so much more than that. 

A much-revered Italian restaurant that has been remodeled in recent years to be more of a meal out. There's a nice garden terrace, the wine selection is proficient, and the cooking is never less than spot on. It's been a local favorite for years, and you can see why: a good choice of seafood (particularly lobster) accompanies pasta that reliably conjures the scents and tastes of Italy. 

This sprawling brewpub-restaurant is pretty much the city's old standby for when you've run out of ideas. It's particularly good for families, it's always packed, the menu is littered with Flemish favorites (carbonnade, meatballs, vol-au-vent), and the service is impossibly quick no matter how full it is. A lot of the food is slathered in the house beer (typically Con Domus and Nostra Domus), which funnels directly from the neighboring brewery into the restaurant. You can even get guided tours and tastings for €11. If you're there for the food, stick to the Flemish classics for a solid meal. 

While tours of the Grimbergen Abbey brewery aren't possible, you can taste the fruits of its labor at its brasserie in town, which is slightly more upmarket than you'd imagine. A pretty terrace overlooks the abbey, while the food served is unrepentantly Flemish: beery stews, gray-shrimp croquettes, Ostend-style fish stew. Everything on the menu, unsurprisingly, has a suggested beer pairing, as if you needed an excuse to try its trio of Grimbergen specials on draft: the pale ale, opus, and quadruple. The latter weighs in at a hefty 10% ABV, so it may be a sleepy bus journey back. 

This Tunisian restaurant is newer to the Tervuren scene but has quickly established a loyal following among locals. The blackboard menu is never huge, but that's no bad thing; it just means they do a few things well, and that's better than most manage. A few Belgian beers and Tunisian wines accompany vast portions of tagines (fish, meat, and veggie) and buttery couscous. 

Salads packed with flavor, great hunks of quiches, and homemade lemonades are what keeps locals healthy at this popular lunch spot.