BTilke |
Aug 31st, 2002 01:53 PM |
Message: I live in Brussels, so here are my suggestions. Most of these are somewhat off the typical tourist path, are moderately priced, and offer good value for money. One or two are slightly more expensive, one or two are just plain cheap. They are not the usual guidebook restaurants or the ultimate destination places like Comme Chez Soi. <BR>First for lunch: <BR>* Atelier de la Truffe Noire, 300 Ave. Louise, corner of Ave. Louise and Rue Vleurgat, reached by walking or by the 93 or 94 trams (Vleurgat stop). Very good lunch food and great coffee. <BR>* Canterbury's by the Ixelles Lakes (2 Ave de la Hippodrome). Chicken a specialty. Nice fireplace, excellent coffee. Very popular with Ladies Who Lunch. Also good for dinner. <BR>* Au Chaloupe d'Or, Grande Place. Try the house plate (assiette) of toast fingers with Ardennes ham, pate, caviar, also cheese and slices of saucisse. The spinach and chevre quiche is quite good. Our favorite of the Grand'Place cafes. Snag a table upstairs, either by the window with a great view or by the fireplace on a cool day.<BR>* Au Vieux St. Martin in the Sablon. Same ownership as Canterbury. Very nice service, fab coffee, good food. Also good for dinner. <BR>Dinner: <BR>* Meo Patacca on the rue Jourdan just off the Ave. Louise. Italian, moderately priced. Ask for a pitcher of the house merlot. <BR>* Brasserie George on the corner of Ave. Winston Churchill and Chaussee de Waterloo. Seafood. Lunch caters to bureaucrats and professionals. Dinner for families living in the area, a nice, green neighborhood. <BR>* La Manufacture, 12 rue Notre Dame de Sommeil. *THE* place I'd recommend for a slightly splurge category dinner. Excellent food and service. Located in a former workshop for the top quality Delvaux leather goods maker, hence the name. Their winter game menu is outstanding (the menu offers far more than game). Guaranteed to please. Have your hotel make you a reservation. <BR>* L'Apocalypse, on Ave. Buyl, near the university. Great, cheap Vietnamese. Cash only. <BR>* Fellini, on the Place du Chatelain. Chic Italian in the equally branche Chatelain neighborhood. Lots of expats, no tourists. <BR>* In general, the Chatelain/Bascule areas, specifically the rue Page or Chaussee de Waterloo, are probably the *best* neighborhoods in Brussels to find a wide range of very good, moderately priced restaurants with flair. These are not tourist restaurants. Among the places worth trying are Lettre a Elise, Toucan, Le Parachute, Le Bistrot du Mail, Les Perles de Pluie (for Thai, great Sunday prix fixe brunch, probably the best Thai restaurant in town along with Les Larmes de Tigre near the Palais de Justice; The Blue Elephant chain of Thai restaurants started in Brussels, FYI), La Quincaillerie, etc. <BR>* Tagawa, on the Ave. Louise, across from Atelier de la Truffe Noire. Some of the best sushi in town, but truthfully, even the best doesn't compare to the standard quality of sushi in the Pacific NW (much less Japan).<BR>On the Rue Haute (Hoogstraat) shopping area, L'Arrossoir (the watering can) is consistently good. <BR>Along the lower end of Chaussee de Charleroi, near the Place Stephanie, are several popular wine bars and hangouts. <BR>Hope this helps... <BR>BTilke (Brussels) <BR>
|