While visiting the capital of Belgium, why not put together your own Brussels food tour? Here are some suggestions to get started!
On a recent visit to Belgium, we knew that we wanted to enjoy the local food scene as much as possible! An unofficial Brussels food tour, if you will.
Want to incorporate the same idea into your trip? Here are some suggestions, as well as a few of our favorite dining spots!
Tips For Avoiding “Tourist Traps” on a Brussels Food Tour
Central Brussels is home to many highly rated restaurants in very touristy areas, such as on the Rue de Bouchers and other sightseeing areas.
Should you avoid these restaurants? Not necessarily! But be aware that you’re likely to pay much higher prices than if you venture a few blocks farther away.
One clue that you’re in a touristy area is that the main restaurant menu may be in English. (Remember: while this might be convenient, the main languages spoken in Brussels are French and Dutch.)
We noticed prices for restaurant meals were considerably higher in these areas, and even street food (like a cone of fries) cost a few euros more than it did elsewhere.
Food Museums
Brussels has a plethora of museums. Museums of all kinds, including ones for comic books, musical instruments and, of course, food.
During our stay, we visited two food museums: the Beer World Experience and the Choco-Story Chocolate Museum.
Technically our Cantillon tour was also a museum, but I’ll talk about it later in the beer section, as it really felt more like a self-guided brewery tour.
Both the Beer World and Choco-Story felt more like museums than tasting experiences.
While both were interesting, I’d recommend considering if a museum experience is what you want, or if you’re more interested in tastings. Both these museums were information-heavy more than they were tasting-heavy! Both were interesting, though, and did end with a tasting (or three).
Even if you decide to skip the museum part, I still recommend visiting the Beer World Experience and taking the elevator to the rooftop bar for stunning views of Brussels (as pictured at the top of this post).
Brussels Food Tour: The Fries
Belgium is famous for its frites, and Belgians may be quick to tell you that fries were invented in Belgium, not France.
What’s the deal with Belgian fries? They’re thick-cut (but not as thick as a potato wedge), and are traditionally topped with mayonnaise. (Don’t like the sound of mayo? While you can absolutely get other toppings, it was better than I expected.)
Also, traditional Belgian fries are NOT vegetarian, and are fried in beef tallow. If that matters to you, ask what the fries are cooked in before ordering.
Fries are easy to find in Brussels. Lots of frite shops sell fries as street food in a cone, and they’re also often a side when ordering mussels (moules et frites).
One of my all time favorite seafood dishes originated in Belgium. So, despite arriving in summer (not mussel season), we wanted to order some Mussels and Fries!
We ordered ours at Rotisse, but they are on menus all around.
One thing to note is that the seasoning may be milder than expected, especially if you’ve only had the dish elsewhere.
However, we thought the mussels we tried were perfectly cooked (tender, not chewy) and well seasoned with delicate tasting herbs, garlic and cream. There were only one or two inedible mussels that weren’t popped open in the whole bowl.
I’d definitely go back for more, especially if we visit during a colder time of year.
We love mussels, and have enjoyed them in Kentucky, Maine, and New York. And we even make them at home! But since we were in Belgium, we had to try this classic Belgian dish during our visit.
Waffles
What we think of as a Belgian waffle in the United States doesn’t seem to actually exist in Belgium. Instead, there are two primary styles of waffles: the Brussels Waffle and the Leige Waffle.
The Brussels waffle is made with a batter and is generally rectangular with deep pockets for filling with chocolate syrup, berries and all sorts of decadent toppings. We saw these in lots of shop windows, but I neglected to snap a photo.
There’s also the Leige waffle, which is made with dough and has large pearl sugar crystals throughout. It’s generally an uneven shape (whatever shape the dough takes when the dough ball hits the waffle maker) and can be eaten handheld.
Leige waffles can also be topped with powdered sugar and other decadent toppings, but I quite enjoyed them plain.
If you venture outside of Brussels to Bruges, I highly recommend the waffles at The Old Chocolate House.
From what I can tell, these are more of a Norwegian-style waffle, but I’ve seen them labeled as Belgian waffles as well (such as in this cafe in Iceland). Whatever the case, the thin heart shaped waffles we had here were also phenomenal.
Chocolate
Belgium is known for its chocolate pralines (filled chocolates), but all of the chocolate (praline or otherwise) that we tried here was fabulous.
We did most of our chocolate tastings in the nearby city of Bruges at The Old Chocolate House. I highly recommend a stop here!
If you’re sticking to Brussels, we found lots of chocolate shops inside the Royal Gallery shopping area. (Many of them even offered free tastings!)
Beer
Belgium is known for (and is quite proud of) its beer. While visiting, it only makes sense to try some!
Our most niche beer stop was at the Cantillon Brewery for a self-guided tour and tasting. If you enjoy sour beer (or are just really interested in the brewing process), this is a great stop.
If you’re looking for beer with a view, we really enjoyed the rooftop bar at the Belgium Beer World Experience, as mentioned above, which you can visit without going through the museum.
If you’re looking for a smaller brewery experience, try one of the beer locations tucked into quiet side streets, such as À la Bécasse.
And of course, one of Brussels' most famous beer locations is the Delirium Village, where you can sample over 2,000 varieties of beer. (Although you shouldn’t attempt to sample them all at once!)
Other Options on a Brussels Food Tour
Some other food locations we enjoyed in Brussels included the following:
Gaston (an ice cream shop) was recommended to us by locals. It had a nice view of the Fontaine Anspac (a fountain).
We found multiple little coffee shops, some of which didn’t seem to exist on Google Maps yet. I found these a nice way to step off the busy streets of Brussels (which could be fairly overwhelming) and enjoy some calm time.
The food court called Wolf is full of eclectic varieties of food, not just traditional Belgian food. Since only around 23% of Brussels population is actually Belgian, this may be the most authentic Brussels experience we tried.
We went to Curry N Grill House Indian Restaurant when I was feeling desperately in need of some vegetables after days of waffles and pastries. We found it delightful, and despite them insisting that the vegetable korma should be sweet not spicy, they adjusted it and made it extra spicy just for me. If you too are in need of veggies, this is an excellent spot.
What would I say to sum up the food in Brussels? There will be no escaping the scent of waffles and fries wafting through the air. You might as well enjoy!
Leave a Comment: