Thank goodness for travel forums. You get some great advice(s) from others' experience(s).

Having said that, do you have a favorite restaurant in Brussels and Brugges you care to recommend?

My husband and I enjoy dining good food and although ambience is important, it is of secondary importance to great tasting food.

Without a doubt, my fave restaurant in Brugge (eaten there 3 times now) is Den Dyver. The food is superb, and the service and ambience match.

I can't really recommend any restaurants there as the ones I dined at were unremarkable.

The restaurant in the Ferme St.Simeon hotel is very good.

How expensive is the Den Dyver restaurant?

It's been three years but I liked Armand & Ko so much in Brussels I ate there twice.

www.armandandko.be

A group of us had a great dinner at Tom's Diner...weird name!.. in Bruges..
casula atmosphere and eally good food with a varied menu..from traditional dishes to things like ostrich.

West Gistelhof 23 8000 Bruges

For a 3 course meal for 4 adults, including beverages and tips, our meal at Den Dyver was roughly 240 USD.

I second Jody's recommendation!
the place is nothing like a diner in ambience (although I think diners are fun) and the food was really really good.
The servie was also very pleasant.
If I ever return to Brugge, I would eat there again.
another restuarant I enjoyed was the Marieke Van Brugghe (do not remember address) I had a piece of Dover Sole that was melt in my mouth yummy
Have a lovley time.I thought Brugge was lovely, esp. the small canals everywhere .

Our favorite restaurant in Brussels in Les Brasseries Georges. Always good, excellent top quality bistro fare. Reservations highly advised. If you only ate at one good restaurant in Brussels, this is the one I'd recommend.
For a Thai Sunday brunch, Les Perles de Pluie is very popular, again reservations highly advised (Sunday brunch buffet fixed price is currently 27 euros per person, I think). Belga Queen is another of our top choices, very cool, modern interior, great buzz, very good food. Good lunch deals, dinner can be expensive. Reservations advised. An unusual choice, but very good food, is Cote d'Yvoir on the Sablon. It offers a prix fixe menu (about 40 euros as I recall) that changes from day to day depending on what's fresh. You tell the chef your preferences--meat, fish, vegetarian--and let him take it from there. Great if you like surprises and a variety of food. Not so great if you have very specific likes and dislikes. Reserations required. Finally, there's L'Arrossoir (watering can, and there are dozens of them hanging from the walls, ceiling, etc.) on the rue Haute is a popular neighborhood favorite.
In Brugge, we really like Den Gouden Harynck. Very pretty, fairly formal, excellent food, seafood emphasis. Less casual but very popular is Rock Fort. Reservations suggested for both.
BTilke (Brussels)

Pro Deo (i think thats what it was called) was a great restaurant in Brugges. Its run by a family and has a really cool atmosphere and decent priced, very tasty food.

My St. Simeon recommendation was a brain spasm.I'm amazed no one has beat me up on it yet. I do realize it's in Honfleur,sometimes the places flow together in my memories.

Brussels: I love the Belga Queen -- have been there twice.

Wonderful classy atmosphere (extremely modern furnishings in an ornate old bank building), excellent high-end contemporary Belgian cuisine. There are multiple reviews of it on the web, if you Google for it. It's also got the most striking and unusual bathroom I've ever seen, anywhere.

I wouldn't chance it without reservations for dinner -- hotel concierge can do that for you, or I'm confident that whoever answers the phone there would handle English well.

If you are in the mood for asian food my family owns a restaurant that makes authentic Vietnamese/Chinese cuisine which is superb. There isn't anyone who works there that isn't family. They ambieyance is great, my aunt decorated it herself and she cuts her own flowers everyday.

La Pagod'ore 332 Chee de Boondael

Hi Mai, we will try and visit your family's restaurant! A couple of additions/corrections to my list...first, Cote d'Yvoir appears to have closed. Too bad, it was a very interesting place.
Other recommendations not on my first list include Lola's, on the Sablon (a see and be seen kind of place), Kolya (www.kolya.be), Dolce Campana (on the chaussee de Vleurgat), DD on the rue Tenbosch, En Face de Parachute, La Poste, and Cafe Camille on the Chaussee de Waterloo (in the 400 to 500 blocks). The last five are neighborhood favorites, you won't find tourists there, and are all moderately priced. All of the restaurants I've listed here and above have very nice atmosphere as well as good food. Brussels has more attractive, moderately priced restaurants serving good food and wine than any city I've ever visited or lived in.

Is the 3 Star Michelin in Bruges worthwhile/memorable/wonderful or not ? Any views ? Thanks for your help.

I understand the Michelin Three Star Restaurant is called De Karmeliet. Does anyone have experience of this restaurant ?

I will toss in this restaurant, my cousin's favorite. He always takes me there my first night in Brussels:

http://www.lasoeurdupatron.be/

In Brussels: Perroquet on 31 Watteeustraat - rue Watteeu. The food was excellent, the restaurant was quaint and the stained glass was beautiful. Best of all, the prices were very reasonable!

In Bruges we enjoyed the Hobbit, especially the ribs!

My favorite restaurant/s in Brussels are as follows:

Comme Chez Soi- still a point of reference in Brussels. One of the only 2 3-star Michelin restaurants in town, in a fantastic Art Nouveau setting, with impeccable service and bespoke kitchen..On pricey side though, but have great fixed menus;

Belga Queen- fantabulous decor in a majestic interior that used to be a bank. Very modern and posey. The food is good and continues improving, the service still occasionally leaves something to be desired;

Kolya- fabulous garden and relaxed setting. International fusion cuisine with a Belgian touch..Very nice in summer;

Khnopff- for the younger crowd... Very posh, modern setting. The food is nice, but not spectacular, and the service is very good...Mostly go for ambiance and a great DJ after hours;

I find les Perles de Pluie to be fairly unremarkable...It has a nice decor, to be sure, but the food is unimpressive as far as Thai cuisine goes. Generally, Brussels lacks good Asian restaurants. So far my favorite are - Blue Elephant (great authentic decor, food and service, but, then again, it is a chain of upscale Asian restaurants, so you know what to expect) and, more obscurely, Chez Fleur..The atmosphere is ecclectic and unpretentious, but the food is best Thai I had in Brussels...Generally, though, if you want Thai go to Bangkok- why Brussels?! You know what they say "when in Rome"...

In Bruges:

Duc de Bourgogne- a restaurant for 300 years, the food is just amazing and the decor is beyond..The service is also impeccable..

Den Dijver- I agree with that recommendation. A fantastic restaurant and superb food...

Generally, for all referrences on Belgian restaurants, visit:

www.resto.be

Sempronia
Brussels,BE