Bob

Will be visiting Brussels for the first time next week. Can anyone recommend a few restaurants?

PB

Bon Appetit ! Here are some recommendations in the most visited parts of Brussels.<BR><BR>Near the Grand Place (Ilot Sacr&eacute :<BR>l'Ogenblik in the Galerie des Princes (off the rue des Bouchers, which is lined with restaurants both good and bad) Great food (tables are quite close together)<BR><BR>Aux Armes de Bruxelles - a Belgian institution - on the rue des Bouchers. Excellent<BR><BR>Rotisserie Vincent.... just off the rue des Bouchers. You walk through the kitchen to get to the dining rooms. ANother old Brussels favorite. They only take reservations for early in the evening - then it's first come, first served.<BR><BR>In the Place Ste. Catherine (the old fish market area)<BR>Fran&ccedil;ois - great seafood<BR><BR>La Sirene d'Or - again , great seafood<BR><BR>If you decide to drive out to Waterloo to visit the famous battlegrounds and the Lion, and take the Chaussee de Waterloo - stop for lunch at the Brasserie Georges - a typical brasserie, excellent fresh seafood<BR><BR>If you want to get dressed up and have an elegant meal and expensive meal- try one of these. If you don't want to spend a lot, lunch is always good because they usually have reasonably priced menus - Just be aware that you should make reservations sometimes a month in advance for dinner.<BR>In the Grand Place - La Maison du Cyne<BR><BR>In the Bois (the forrest on the edge of the city) - La Villa Lorraine<BR><BR>Downtown - Comme chez Soi (often you need a reservation here two months in advance - it's a Michelin 3 star)<BR><BR>In the Sablon - (also a great area for antiques - and the antique market on the weekend) L'Ecaillier du Palais Royal.... speciality is seafood<BR>PB<BR>

Anne

And here's another favorite - in the St. Catherine's area as well:<BR><BR>Le Vistro<BR>16 Quai Aux Briques<BR>02/512 41 81<BR>Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday<BR>My husband often says that the best meal he's ever had was their superb roasted lotte (monkfish) in honey lemon sauce. It's one of the many seafood restaurants surrounding the Quaix aux Briques in the St. Catherine's area. You'll know you're there when you see the red neon lobsters adorning one establishment after another. M&eacute;dallion de Lotte roti au miel et citron was still on the menu last time we were there, and my choice of lobster on a bed of tagliatelle in a buttery melange of basil, tomato, and scallions was a winner as well.

BillJ

Armond's, just off Grand Place. Informal, fun. Kind of a brasserie type. We had a great white asparagus with butter sauce.

Joy

I second Aux Armes de Bruxelles--we just asked the waiter (or service person) for suggestions and ordered what he told us. One of our best meals in Brussels. I loved it so much I took home the menu (with his permission of course).<BR><BR>Also for lunch, we enjoyed Leon's (moules place), very near Grand Place and we never fail to eat in one of its branches whenever we are in Paris. We did have more choices though in Brussels, if I can remember correctly.<BR><BR>Joy

BTilke

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>