You’ll need to arrive earlier than the Spanish to ensure a table and tapas in this thriving,
buzzy Asturian community centre, open Friday to Sunday evenings and staffed by volunteers for the last 20 years. Inside older community members prop up the bar, and tables of Spanish speakers alternate with other nationalities, all happily gorging on generous plates of gambas, ham, cheese, sardines and calamares – washed down with beer for 1 euro or Asturian cider, poured from a great height to get the air into it. Past the bar with its photos of landscapes and Asturians proudly wielding their prize-winning cabrales cheese, the centro gives way to a village hall atmosphere, complete with functional tables and plastic chairs. Last time I was convinced our table of seven had over-done it: we’d ordered nearly everything on the menu, twice! But we still managed to finish everything – and three bottles of rioja - for the princely sum of 20 euros per head.
Open Friday and Saturday evenings and for lunch on Sunday.

www.centrocabraliego.net
171 rue Haute/Hoogstraat, 1000 Brussels
+32 (0)2 511 05 59
Google map: bit.ly/ysbmVR

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

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You simply must eat at the fishmonger’s pavement bar, the Mer Du Nord on the corner of Place Sainte Catherine and Rue Sainte Catherine.

It’s perfect for a delicious tapas style seafood lunch particularly if you are on a tight schedule, it’s also excellent value: small glass of Muscadet €2 (we had several).

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