Which restaurant in Brussels? t' Kelderke or Chez Leon
 

We are trying to decide whether to go to t' Kelderke or Chez Leon for Lunch in Brussels.

Which restaurant has better food and value?
Any suggestions for specialities? I know that they are both known for their mussels.
Thank you! Laurie

Laurie,
Don't forget that you are in the heart of the tourist zone. Some years ago, when I still went to Brussels very often, and I HAD to go eating in that neighbourhood, I always went to Scheltema on the Predikherenstraat or rue des Dominicains. It is a kind of Parisian brasserie in Brussels style.
Now, between both restaurants, 't Kelderke has a more 'ancient' interior.
As for food/value, I sincerely think that a restaurant claiming mussels to be their specialty: 1) cannot mess up a plate of mussels, certainly not in Belgium and 2) might not worry a lot about the rest of their cooking in the bulk of their turnover is made from mussels.
I would wait until someone else offers you more choice on the board...

The main Chez Leon off the Grand'Place is kind of fun. Service is fast. Their frites are excellent and their mussels are fine. It's a touristy spot, but so what.
However, if you want to do something different and find something that is near the Grand'Place but NOT touristy in any way, go to Belga Queen. Very stylish, very attractive restaurant, good food, and though the dinner menu is expensive, they have excellent lunch deals.
BTilke (Brussels)

Thank you Baldrick and BTilke for your suggestions. The Belga Queen sounds interesting. Maybe, we will check that out. Thanks again! Laurie

Here is a recent review of Belga Queen, including a review of their mussel dishes:
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/f...p?story=390297

The prices they quote are dinner prices. Thankfully, lunch is a lot cheaper. The restaurant is quite beautiful inside in a modern way.

Forgot to add, that the best experience, IMHO, would be to take a cab or tram to Les Brasseries Georges on Ave. Winston Churchill (the 23 and 90 trams stop 50 feet from its door) for a guaranteed excellent meal, good service, great atmosphere. EVERYTHING on its menu is very well prepared and it's extremely popular with Brussels bourgeoisie and diplomats. Good wine list too. Not cheap, but if someone wanted a special, but not stuffy, lunch in Brussels, this is the *one* place I'd recommend. The Grand'Place area is best enjoyed over drinks, not a meal, as most of the restaurants are geared toward the tourist trade.
Re the two restaurants you suggested, Baldrick is right, their mussel dishes are perfectly ok, but other items on their menus are hit or miss.

What is meant when it is said a restaurant is for the 'tourist trade'..? Does it imply poor food quality b/c there will always be unsuspecting customers in such a high-traffic area? Or does it mean the food is ok/fine, but you will pay more for it than similar quality at a less visible establishment?.. Just wondering. Thanks.

Basically, IMHO, a restaurant geared toward the tourist trade is not a place designed to attract repeat customers--they want to catch hungry passersby. The food at these restaurants is usually not bad, just not all that good either. They seem to offer more "staples"--steak frites, poulet roti, routinely prepared mussels, etc. In the streets around the Grand'Place most of the tourist-trade restaurants are interchangeable--you could eat at one on one night and another the next and find little difference between them.
Most tourist-oriented restaurants aren't overpriced, they are in the inexpensive to moderate range.
There is nothing *wrong* with going to a restaurant that is geared toward tourists, FYI. They meet a certain standard of reliable fare. But for something with personal style or dash or cuisine lifted above the ordinary, then try something not geared PRIMARILY toward tourists (there are many good restaurants that are equally appealing to travelers and locals).

I liked 'T KELDERKE a lot. We tried lots of places, but the food and the beer selection were great. The only one we came back to several times.
I saw plenty of locals there- it's a good sign.

We ate mussels a lot of places and they were always good, usually great. But we really enjoyed eating lunch at t'Kelderke. I had rabbit stewed in wine. My travel companions all had Staempot, wonderful stew with leeks and masted potatoes. Great atmosphere, very busy, very friendly service (they said they had a table, but if we wanted to wait just a few more minutes they had a much better one for us, so we did). It was not only excellent food, but very reasonable. I knew it was highly recommended and we were somehow expecting it to be expensive. It wasn't. And ana222 is right about the locals. The place was packed with local businessmen.

Oh, and don't forget the snails! they're fab! :)

We are back from our trip to Brussels and we ate at Chez Leon. We enjoyed the restaurant and the atmosphere and my husband really enjoyed the mussels here. I thought they were okay but very sandy tasting. My daughter enjoyed her free spaghetti bolognese, which was free.

Our very favorite restaurant on this trip was Perroquet, in the Sablon area. They had these wonderful Pita sandwiches for around 5 Euro each! We had the barbeque Pita and it was served with 4 different sauces to try. It had meat, fruit and veggies in it. It sounds weird but it tasted wonderful! We had dinner here one night and liked it so much that we came back for lunch another day. The restaurant was very pretty inside with lots of stained glass. There seemed to be mainly a local crowd here.

We also really like the spareribs at L'Amadeus. The atmosphere here was very dark with lots of candles. The food was very good and reasonably priced.

We did not get to try t' Kelderke or Belga Queen on this trip. Maybe next time.

Thanks again for your advice. Laurie