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Belgium
Take refuge in Frederic’s shop, where you can revive flagging legs with a cup of rich hot chocolate. No instant stuff this; but basically just melted chocolate, including the speciality Fredericisime, with no sugar and just a little honey, that you might not like but will knock your socks off. Along with the large and imaginative chocolate selection there are hot chocolate spoons, chocolate spreads, and ice creams. I must try the “Belgian sunshine” - I like a chocolatier with a sense of humour!
www.frederic-blondeel.com/en/presentation/
Quai aux Briques/Baksteenkaai 24, 1000 Brussels
+32 2 502 21 31
Google map: bit.ly/x8SWpl
* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels
Founded in 1919 in Brussels, since 1942 Mary has been the chocolate supplier to the Belgian royal family. There are only three shops in the country, and the brand has
shunned expansion and stuck to its retro-style packing, discreet service and pralines named after Princesses past and present. This is about class, but there is nothing to be concerned about on price! Chocolates are still made by hand by around ten employees in a former armaments factory.
A browse through the brochure reveals that chocolates should be kept between 15 and 18 degrees, avoiding rapid changes in temperature. “In truth, however, our chocolates seem to disappear rather quickly.” You bet they do.
www.marychoc.com/
Rue Royal/Konigsstraat 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 217 45 00
Google map: bit.ly/zyRZ1L
* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels
Once upon a time in Brussels, two chefs decided they’d had enough of working for someone else
and set out on their own. So, what did friends Stefan and Régis - those intrepid chefs - do next? They began selling homemade tarts and quiches from a cart at Flagey market, using recipes from their respective grandmothers. I wasn’t in Brussels then, but I know that I would have approved.
Over the last twelve years the tarts have moved inside from cart to shop, and some recipes have
evolved, but others have stayed exactly as they were, including the grandmothers’ Linzer raspberry tart and the frangipane. However it was the lure of lemon that first drew me into their shop on the rue de la Paix, and I am happy to learn that the tangy, creamy lemon tart and the raspberry Linzer one are the bestsellers! There is one other shop run by the friends, and a few franchises, but Régis says they have no plans (or scope) to expand outside Brussels.
It’s a good thing they enjoy it: Stefan and Régis get to work at about 6am producing their daily tart selection. Theirs is an enticing window display of chocolate, raspberry, apple and brown sugar – in mini tarts and larger versions for you to take away - or step inside to savour them all on the premises where they are made.
www.le-tartisan.com
Rue de la Paix, 27, 1050 Brussels
(just off Place Saint-Boniface; nearest metro Porte de Namur)
+32 (0)2 503 36
Open Mon/Tues 10:00 – 19:00; Wed – Sat 10:00 – 22:00
* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels
A mix of simple wooden tables, utilitarian steel shelves and brown floral seventies wallpaper.
Delecta is another of my favourite small Brussels bars, an intimate after-work venue both in summer and winter, where you can share bottles of wine and plates of antipasti or huddle round the stove when it’s cold. There is a good selection of beer and light meals: more interesting variations on the ubiquitous croque monsieur, quiches and lasagne. Thursday evenings host the popular “les apéros
du Delecta”, complete with DJ.
Rue Lannoy/Lannoystraat 2, 1050 Ixelles
+32 (0)2 644 19 49
Google map: bit.ly/pkPES7
Do not be perturbed by the sight of people emerging with armfuls of boxes from this unassuming little atelier. For the busy staff keep restaurants and and dinner parties well supplied with speculoos cheesecake and other delicious sweet and savoury tarts. I’ve spotted them all over the place – your party hosts will welcome them with a gleam in their eyes, others may try to pass them off as their own and restaurants will stay tight-lipped about where their desserts come from!
I particularly like the fluffy, light, lemony fromage blanc speculoos, the tangy tarte citron meringuée, the pêches framboises, the sucre brun, the barbecue quiche, the gourmand au chocolat … I’d better stop there. Perhaps they won’t travel well, perhaps you’ll have no dinner party to go to, but you can still enjoy one in the gardens of the Abbaye de la Cambre, a short walk away. The residential area around the abbey, Ixelles ponds and Place Flagey area is a good place for a wander.
A New York outpost of Les Tartes de Françoise opened recently, the first outside Belgium. Surely the first of many …
http://91.121.96.65/tartes/fr/presentation.asp?lg=UK
Hippodroomlaan 75, 1050 Brussels
+32(0)2 640 88 41
Google map: bit.ly/risXqD
Rebecca is our Been there local for Brussels. You can read her page and tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp.
She has her own blog at: www.becinbrussels.blogspot.com
It is a sensible approach for an ice cream shop to advertise separate opening hours for sunny or rainy weather. Even when the skies cloud over the ice cream served here is a worthy diversion from your shopping or bar sampling in the Châtelain district – and excellent value at three euro for the double scoop! It’s made the traditional way using egg yolk, whole milk, crème fraîche, vanilla pods and fresh fruit; and the sorbet using fruit juices and pulp – with absolutely nothing artificial used to colour, preserve or enhance it. There are around 200 flavours in the repertoire and you can expect to find up to 24 of these on offer on an average summer evening. This week I chose a double cone of old fashioned vanilla with candied mandarin, while my friend picked Périgord nuts and Speculoos.
Of course there are typical Belgian flavours to choose from, including Liège waffle, salted butter caramel, dark chocolate and speculoos. However for me it’s always vanilla that is the yardstick by which all other flavours are judged, and here the vanilla is very good indeed: not artificial or overbearing; while the mandarin sorbet is delicate and fruity. Once the ice cream has gone finishing the cone is normally a chore. Not here: the crisp, not over-sweet wafer is dispatched within seconds.
Rue du Bailli 35/Baljuwstraat 35, Ixelles
+32(0) 647 51 44
Google map: bit.ly/p1xhdi
Along with its fantastic beer and chocolate, Belgium is rightly famous for its frites and you can find little chip huts (baraques à frites or frietkots in Flemish) dotted all over Brussels. Tracking down the best friteries in the land seems to be a national pastime, at least in cyberspace. There’s even a new itunes application showing 49 top Brussels frietkots with their GPS positioning. I say you have to start somewhere, so why not first sample the offerings at Frit’ Flagey? Here they are fried twice (as they should be) and emerge golden with a crispy exterior - tastier than those of the famed Maison Antoine, in my opinion. Chips come either in small or large portions, but the choice of sauces can be bewildering, so spend your waiting time wisely deciding which to have. I recently strayed from my usual unimaginative ketchup and chose provençale. Frite-eating in Brussels is a pleasure shared by people of all ages, shapes and sizes and I often wonder at the orderliness of the queue – why is it never like this in the post office or waiting for the bus?
Place Flagey/Flageyplein, 1050 Ixelles
Google map: bit.ly/mydj7Z
For a quality lunch, pay a visit to the Museum Brasserie, which is in the Museum of Fine Arts overlooking the Palace Royale. It has a menu terroir of Belgian cuisine cooked by the Michelin-starred chef Peter Goossens.
www.museumfood.be
Rue de la Regence 3, 1000 Brussels
Google map: tinyurl.com/njs39t
Le Bier Circus - fantastic beer list (look at the vintage beers) and typical hearty Belgian food.
www.bier-circus.be/
Rue de l'Enseignement, 57 Brussels, 1000 Belgium
Google map: tinyurl.com/nppzrp
Aux Armes De Bruxelles is a long-established restaurant near the Grand Place with an excellent menu and good beer and wine list. The moules are to die for. I ate there every evening on my last trip.
Address: 13, Rue des Bouchers - 1000 Bruxelles; Phone: +32 2 511.55.50; Website: www.armebrux.be/
Google map: tinyurl.com/mhoh6p
Place Saint-Géry is a great place to grab a drink in the evening in Brussels. There are also great restaurants around this area.
Place Saint-Géry
Google map: tinyurl.com/kta7uf
La Quincaillerie (if you can pronounce it) is the place to go for upmarket Belgian dining in the atmospheric, bustling setting of an old ironmonger's store. It's a really memorable experience for visitors to Brussels and has fantastic seafood.
45 rue du Page, Brussels
www.quincaillerie.be
+32 2 533 9833
Google map: tinyurl.com/myn6vs
Visit Musée du Cacao et du Chocolat. Belgium is renowned for its delicious chocolate, which makes this an essential visit.
The museum tells the story of chocolate, right from its cocoa-based origins, as well as having lots of unexpected things made out of chocolate.
Ever fancied wearing chocolate? Marvel at the chocolate clothing, which means chocolate can now be worn outside the bedroom!
Sample the museum’s delicacy as you explore and you can even take some home with you, with a visit to the shop. It can be found on Rue de la Tête d'Or, Brussels.
An excellent restaurant slightly out of the normal tourist areas. A converted warehouse with some al fresco dining. Food was excellent and very Belgian. Service was prompt but not intrusive. Lots of locals. Atmosphere was great.
Rue Notre-Dame du Sommeil 12-20 ... Off place du Jardin-aux-Fleurs, Around the Fish Market ... www.manufacture.be
The little chocolate shops around the Grand Place are divine. The shop owners will let you sample some of the chocolates, too - so you can end up doing a chocolate crawl for free!
Venture to Godiva in Brussels for sublime chocolate.
Don't miss Pierre Marcolini at 39 Place du Grand Sablon - probably the best chocolates in the universe.
This is an area about ten minutes walk from the Grand Place. Follow the road downhill and you will arrive in Place St Catherine. It is much quieter than the Grand Place but has lots of places to eat.
I can recommend "La Villette" if you want a Belgian experince both in terms of hospitality and cuisine.
La Villette, Place St.Catherine
A spotless no-frills hotel 20 metres from the Grand Place, which in itself is an architectural gem.
Book the hotel from an internet booking site as we got a rate one third of the rack rate. The hotel provides a substantial breakfast and is close to all the sites.
Strongly recommend Chez Leon to eat. It prepares fresh moules in a huge variety of ways. For an after meal beverage you cannot beat Cafe Delirium which is down an alley 25 metres beneath Chez Leon, directly opposite the feminine version of the Manekin Pis. A trip to Brugges is well worth the train journey including a climb up the magnificent Belfort tower.
Hotel Aris, Rue De Marche aux Herbes
Forget what you've read in a guide book or heard in whispers, the best frites in Brussels can be found at Place St. Josse. Choose lashings of mayonnaise, pili-pili, cocktail sauce, ketchup or just au natural. Check it out, you will not be sorry!
Brussels, Place St. Josse
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