2 Best Restaurants in Brussels, Belgium

A self-declared "vegetable rotisserie," the imaginative prix-fixe menu dangles a mostly pescatarian collection of disparate ingredients, spanning fruit, veg, and fish that somehow come together on the plate to create tiny edible jewels. Yes, they might spit-roast the odd cauliflower, but the ethos here is as much about market-garden ingredients awash in lacy foams and flavorsome sauces. The stylish red-brick interior, hidden away on an otherwise nondescript street, makes it feel all the more like you discovered a secret in St-Gilles.

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.