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We've compiled the best of the best in Brussels - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
A bustling little coffee shop that's usually packed with gossiping, bitching politicos—which is always entertaining to overhear—because it just edges the European district. The bagels are fresh and rightfully celebrated, while the coffee is first-rate.
Kline's concrete, brutalist interior reflects the shock-and-awe spirit of its location on fashionable Rue Antoine Dansaert. It's certainly a palate cleanser for the often delicate fare that arrives on your plate. Offering a refined locavore's take on old-school comfort food, its open kitchen and back-to-basics design is more of a clue to chef Nico Corbesier's zero-waste approach, squeezing everything out of his ingredients. Simply named dishes such as glazed slow-cooked bacon and pickles, or the poetically named "The first of the mushrooms—the last tomatoes" move with the seasons and belie the skill with which they're crafted.
Spring rolls are the specialty at this über-popular fast-food café beloved by local office workers, though the fillings are hardly traditional: meat loaf, crispy bacon and avocado, caramelized tofu. There are a few locations in the city now (the original opened in Saint-Gilles), but this is the perfect snack stop for shoppers on Rue Antoine Dansaert.
This beloved local favorite lingers on a busy street of cafés behind the Oude Markt. Its small terraces and ethical approach are popular lures, with most of its coffee beans directly sourced from the farmers. You can also buy its own roasted blends in-house.
The main menu is more polished than you'd expect, dishing up soups, burgers, and salads, as the odd cultured surprise, but you come here for the titular croquette (breadcrumbed parcels of potato and various fillings). These come with several wild stuffings, ranging from carbonnade flamande (beef stew) to the classic grey shrimp. Order a few for an indulgent pit stop.
Located just above the place de Jeu de Balle in the heart of the Marolles area, this café is a local institution—legend has it that residents would come to fill their buckets full of hot water in times of need, hence the name. In 2014, its closure was imminent, but locals stepped in and reopened it as a social cooperative (open 11–4) with a kitchen dishing up hearty, organic, vegetarian lunches (coconut curry, lasagne) and a dish of the day for a decent price. It also boasts a well-curated list of bottled beers (many of them organic) from lesser-known artisanal Belgian breweries.
This split-level restaurant, on a side alley off the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, has all the trappings of an old-time bistro: green-shaded lamps over marble-top tables, a forest's worth of dark wood paneling, and laid-back waiters. There's nothing casual about the French-style cuisine, however: grilled sweetbreads with baked courgettes, mille-feuille of crayfish and salmon with a puree of langoustines, and saddle of lamb with spring vegetables and potato gratin. The selection of Beaujolais is particularly good.
A new restaurant that elevates the more traditional brasserie fare, proving there is a life beyond carbonnades and meatballs (though they do a highly passable version of both). Chef Alex Cardoso, who made his name with the equally impressive Caves des Alex in Ixelles, embraces the kind of dishes that La Roue d'Or made its name on: here you'll find ox tongue in Madeira sauce and veal kidney in mustard sauce alongside the usual stewy Belgian hits. A fine selection of wines accompanies a reasonably small menu that knows what it does best.
This family-run Tunisian restaurant is as delightful as it is unexpected. The blackboard menu is never huge, but that's no bad thing; it just means they do a few things extremely well, and that's more than most manage. A few Belgian beers and Tunisian wines accompany vast portions of tagines (fish, meat, and veggie) and buttery couscous.
Paella is the prime reason to come here. It dominates the menu and holds to the old-school Valencian style, with rabbit and snails added to the usual chicken, pork, and fruits of the sea. Certainly, classics like the arroz negro (cuttlefish and blackened squid-ink rice) more than live up to their East-coast Spanish roots. A little piece of Spain in Schaerbeek.
From Magritte to Hergé, this convent-turned-estaminet was once a regular meeting point for Brussels's art elite—photos and doodles (traded for booze) are found everywhere. It went out of business in 2006, only to be rescued by the community regulars that adore it, and little has changed. Its nicotine-yellow walls are still bedecked in all manner of clutter from ages gone by, with antiques (and junk) scattered on almost every surface. The tiny menu focuses on local favorites such as ballekes in tomatensaus (meatballs in tomato sauce) and stoempe, pottekeis et bloempanch (cream cheese mash and blood sausage).
A Brussels institution named after a card game called "Sudden Death," A la Mort Subite is practically unchanged since its 1920s heyday; and with its distinctive high ceilings, wooden tables, and mirrored walls, it remains a favorite of beer lovers from all over the world. Balancing a vast drinks menu with a choice of simple snacks (sandwiches and omelets), it still brews its own traditional Brussels beers (Lambik, Gueuze, and Faro). These sour potent drafts may be an acquired taste, but, like singer Jacques Brel, who came here often, you'll find it hard to resist the bar's gruff charm.
While COVID-19 forced a lot of Brussels restaurants to embrace reservation policies, 203 has gone for the first-come, first-served approach, and recommends turning up at 7 (we'd argue 10 minutes beforehand) to guarantee a spot at dinner. It's certainly worth the effort. Set menus at this charming bistro change every week, according to the whims of the season, and there's a fine selection of natural wines, which are, by now, almost mandatory in all modern Brussels restaurants.
A really solid and reliable Belgian brasserie that rarely lets you down. One thing you are guaranteed: all food will be slathered in creamy, beery, or mustardy sauces and frites will fall from the air like raindrops on the battlefield this restaurant is named after. All the classic Belgian dishes are here, they're cheap, and they're well made. It might not be all that hip, but it's popular, and who needs a cellar of natural wines when you have squeezy sauce and friendly staff.
Salads packed with flavor, great hunks of quiches, and homemade lemonades are what keeps locals healthy at this popular lunch spot.
The definition of on-trend Brussels dining. It's not flashy, it's not too expensive, but this Taiwanese-inspired, plant-based street food restaurant, run by a pair of sisters, has certainly captured a mood. It's always packed with mostly younger diners, huddled over their noodle soups, coconut curries, and rice bowls of crispy "chicken," bright lights bouncing off the plain white interior.
In and among the pricey antiques and jewelry shops of the Sablon, you'll find a fair amount of stylish dining. Among these establishments comfortably snuggles Lola, an undeniably charming brasserie of black-leather booths and a bar counter for those grabbing a quick lunch. The menu is rotundly French but with a small exclave of Belgian and house dishes, such as cod and peeled gray shrimp or Holstein carpaccio.
The Maison Antoine frites stand sells the best fries in the capital, accompanied by a dizzying range of condiments; try either local fave "Bicky" or the indulgent vol-au-vent sauce. It's a bit out of the way, but it's a great place to try Belgium's famous snack (the country's secret is frying the potatoes twice in beef tallow) and most of the bars that line the square will let you sit down either inside or outside and order a beer to go with your paper cone of frites. Although don't leave your greasy paper behind or you will get told off.
This organic Neapolitan-style pizzeria has a couple of branches now (Sainte-Catherine, Flagey, Rue de Bailli), but this branch next to the Merode subway has one advantage over the others: its location. In summer, it's not unusual to see locals queuing for a takeaway to sit and eat their wood-fired pizzas on the grass of Parc du Cinquantenaire, which lies just across the road. But it's no hardship to sit inside, either, and the quality is always good.
This modest, well-executed Flemish restaurant comes with a superb beer menu and is named after the Dutch phrase for those who "can't get enough." Diners clearly share that sentiment, and queue dutifully alongside its Art Nouveau facade, clutching beers from the bar for warmth—the restaurant's brief dalliance with a booking system has ended. The food leans into the best of Belgian comfort food: stews slow-cooked in fruity beers and meat flaking off in gravy-soaked, hop-flavored chunks onto crisp frites and chicory. It's simple food executed well, and its selection of local lambic beers is a connoisseur's dream.
This family-run restaurant on shopping mecca has won admirers aplenty for its blend of Belgian favorites filtered through a Vietnamese lens. Sticky rice and pork croquettes, beef tai chanh (the Vietnamese take on tartare), and curried mussels hint as to why it's been so successful. The mix of winning sharing plates and a sleek, minimalist interior in one of the hipper parts of the city point to a rising star.
All desserts, all of the time. This chocolate-theme café might be part of a chain, but it's captured the imagination of locals in part due to the sheer abundance of melted chocolate, particularly the fountainlike fondue.
Only a 10-minute walk from the castle, in the village of Gaasbeek, lies this pleasant country restaurant with a pretty courtyard. Its building dates back to the late 18th century, and it has been a brewery, a tavern, and a farm in its day. Expect dishes such as horse steaks, venison tornados, and goose-liver pie with fig jam, all of which offer a more rustic take on the usual brasserie fare. A few dishes even make ample use of the local lambic beer made in these parts.
This sturdy Belgian chain nestles on the pedestrianized Chaussée de Wavre, just opposite place Jourdan, where you'll find slightly better dining options than around the square. It's as reliable as its gravy-soaked meats are tasty, dishing up the classics (meatballs, beery beef stews, ham and mustard sauce) amid walls plastered with old advertising posters from the '50s and '60s. It's one of a half-dozen in the city, but still worth a go.
St-Gilles has become a real haven for creative chefs wanting to stamp down on their food miles. The leafy yard and rustic-meets-industrial interior of Smala offers not only a peaceful retreat from the street outside, but a field-to-fork menu fueled largely by the restaurant's own 1.2-hectare (3-acre) market garden in nearby Anderlecht, which opens up to visitors in the summer and autumn. Well-priced prix fixe (€48) and a la carte menus change up every few weeks to meet the seasons and are not short on flair. It's a real breath of fresh air in the heart of the city.
Plant-based burgers, salads, and hot bowls (usually a grain and a curry or veg medley) make this vegan fast-food joint a cheerful spot to rest your feet.
A patisserie-cum-deli with a Greek twist, where you can sate your appetite on bougatsa (custard pie) or spanakopita (cheese and spinach pie), or just bag a coffee and chocolate croissant.
Umā's "bistronomic" approach is geared around food without borders. In reality, this often boils down to chef Aurélie Kluyskens's own spin on Nikkei, the Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine. The open kitchen lets you see her working out its angles in a sublime space amid the high-end boutiques of Boulevard de Waterloo. The €100 tasting menu is a symphony of subtle flavors, though the a la carte is every bit as enticing, seducing diners through hamachi ceviche or red tuna udon taki finished with black truffle.
Power food, in all its acai glory. Wild Lab is the kind of place you get chia jam on your chocolate-banana pancakes or can find a "Goodness Bowl" brimming with lentils, roasted parsnip, and za'atar. It's a great spot for brunch, and the juices and smoothies leave you glowing.
