The best French cuisine restaurants Wavre

Here is a young, welcoming and inspired house that offers fresh and light cuisine... well in tune with the times and the flavours of the moment. The chef, Alain Morillon, concocts little wonders of French cuisine in the "gastronomic" vein. The menus change every two months to keep up with the seasons and the products are as organic and local as possible. Everything is refined, from the decoration to the cooking and the prices have never killed anyone. The address, all in simplicity and humility, is really worth the detour.

At the helm are Gérard and Stanny, who have been sharing their 15 years of experience in the kitchen and dining room. The dishes are prepared in the house, which has a pretty room with exposed brick walls, but they can be enjoyed on the terrace, a must in summer. You can enjoy fresh pasta, a speciality of the house, following Italian recipes or others made with local ingredients. A seasonal suggestion card completes the menu. We loved the Bauletti with porcini mushrooms, oyster mushroom cream, fine herbs with a hint of garlic

A well-balanced mix of conviviality, exchange and reflection... At the start of a "project kot", four young people enthusiastically launched this café-citizen where debates and other militant events are organized. The menu is praiseworthy and includes a number of seasonal specialities, both organic and home-made (pasta, quiches, soups, sandwiches...). With special beers and some cocktails from far away places. Nice decoration and concert evenings, including regular jam sessions. Don't hesitate to check their Facebook page for the calendar.

Over the bridge... here it is! La Ferme du Moulin à Eau enjoys a bucolic country setting, just a few kilometres from Waterloo. It also benefits from a pretty terrace in the summer and an open fire in a rustic old barn in the winter. The menu reveals a French and traditional cuisine, whether for a good piece of meat or fish. Eggs are provided by the house and local cooked products are used whenever possible. The duck breast with Northern cherries was quite original and tasty.

Chef Alexandre Ciriello is on a roll: awarded the title of Young Walloon Chef of the Year by a famous culinary guide at the end of 2022, he opened L'Horizon in a building with large windows in the Brabant countryside, with his parents by his side. The menu is divided into "universes" (cold savoury, hot savoury, sweet, cheeses) and you can choose your menu according to the formula you have chosen. Don't miss the tarte de Chaumont-Gistoux, a house specialty featuring crab, caviar and sea urchin. Fine, precise cuisine with Asian touches.

Nestled in a beautiful old manor house, Le Pavot offers a range of flavors as seductive to the eye as they are to the taste buds. The chef's inspirations are French, with dishes such as a poached egg flavored with morel mushrooms, rack of pork on curried carrot mousseline and hazelnut crumble, smoked fresh trout aspic with sweet-and-sour vinaigrette and horseradish cream, and beer-braised cabbage stuffed with poultry and buckwheat. A fine cuisine to be enjoyed in a convivial setting, with a seasonal menu.

Belgium has very few "bouchons lyonnais" (traffic jams) but the city has its own, and you get a whiff of pleasure with each visit! The decoration sets the tone: red and white tiles, Guignol at the window, Gnafron on the menu... it is Lyon that chef Jean Dubois wanted to reproduce with happiness in the centre of Nivelles! We tasted a snout salad with vinaigrette, artichoke and chorizo in their broth, the inseparable Morteau and lentils, grilled marrow bone, pike quenelle, crayfish ravioli and asparagus, sweetbreads and calf's head... Lyonnais, we tell you!

Want to try this speciality of Nivello that is the pie al djote? Head for the Union! Right on the Grand Place, this tavern-restaurant can boast of having won the prize for the best pie, you can go there with your eyes closed. Moreover, it benefits from the Walloon label of Bistrot de Terroir® which rewards the establishments on the quality of the products, the promotion of local products and the conviviality. The wooden interior evokes the brasseries of yesteryear.

Black and white walls, wood, high chairs and zinc: the place is friendly, well thought-out and orchestrated. In the kitchen, Nicolas revisits the classics. He kicks things off with a Parmesan crème brûlée. What a surprise! Cod fillet on mousseline and crunchy vegetables... copious for a starter! What follows is just as generous: morel mushrooms surround sweetbreads and a full-bodied truffle jus! Finally, the caramel-salted butter moelleux is his specialty. The limited space of this tucked-away address makes for an intimate setting.

For a good quarter of a century, this small restaurant has been offering hearty and tempting brasserie dishes in a nice Parisian bistro decor where the walls are initialled by comic book authors. Efficient cooking with these grills (their great classic "single-sided", served with a butter-mustard-scallion sauce and a gratin dauphinois), fish, pasta, salads without forgetting some canaille dishes: roasted marrow bone, cassoulet, andouillette 5A. Everything is homemade, some wines are organic and the menu respects the seasons.

may 12, 1974, Nivelles hosted its 2nd and last F1 GP. The site reconverted in zoning accommodates in particular this restaurant. The plate is very correct and the decoration of red, black checkers and miniature cars evokes this prestigious past. The ceiling light simulates the circuit, the bottles of wine are waiting on the starting grid. At the billboard, the grilled rib steak carburetted with real fries with beef white. The tifosi will enjoy pizza or a saltimbocca. For a quick pit stop, pick from the salads and sandwiches to go.

A homemade beer, a snack or a real meal, everything is possible at the Taverne de l'Homme Bleu. This attractive brewery in the former stable of the Château de La Hulpe Farm (1833) owes its name to the main character in Folon's work. The place has kept its original decor: red brick walls and floors, high vaulted ceilings and of course the bucolic terrace, a real added value in good weather. Seasonal suggestions escort the brewery dishes and some emblematic Belgian specialities.

Opening in 2019, La Planche d'Ailleurs takes the stylistic codes of its predecessor, only better. You can sit on the pretty terrace away from the peri-urban bustle. But we prefer the interior, which is so worth a look. Solid wood floors and tables, contemporary chairs of the most beautiful effect, we love it. The menu is surprising and explains the name of the place: the meats are from elsewhere! The least exotic is undoubtedly the pata negra, that's saying something! Next to it, guanaco or zebra (!) filet, reindeer... Exotic we tell you !

It's been 20 years since Sébastien Cailletton took over his parents' restaurant, after honing his culinary skills in some of the best restaurants in the world. His credo: a French-inspired cuisine, from the market and following the seasons, with a menu that changes almost every day. For example, in the fall: a pan of wild mushrooms, pheasant nem and its emulsion with triple blonde Waterloo. The lunch is rather attractively priced. And then, there is the charm of this old building and its rose garden which gave its name to the restaurant.

Located inside the Hergé museum, the decor is based on the themes of the adventures of the young reporter. For Le Petit Vingtième was a weekly supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle intended for young people, where Tintin's adventures were born in 1930. One can see the front pages of the newspaper exposed on the ceiling following a luminous ribbon. Sitting here is ideal to enjoy the place and taste the quality French-Belgian brasserie dishes. Sharp tintinophiles will however regret not finding Syldavian specialities on the menu!

This recently opened establishment has already made a name for itself with its excellence. In a bucolic setting, it's in what looks like a farmhouse that chef Xavier Catoul and Sandrine Cuzon welcome you for a gastronomic journey through the classics of French cuisine. With classics, it's hard to cheat: simplicity and perfection of execution are the order of the day. Mêzon takes up the challenge: grilled veal sweetbread, rabbit leg à la provençale, apple flaky pie and pistachio ice cream. A real treat! As for the wine, Mathieu Closset keeps a close eye on things.

Not so long ago, Isabelle Browet and Yves Delruelle took over this Waterloo establishment, which has been in existence for over 20 years. This little restaurant serves classic, homemade dishes (a whole range of pasta dishes, duck breast, sole meunière...) in a vintage setting and a no-frills atmosphere (Waterloo is known for being rather posh) at reasonable prices. A rather exceptional feature: the restaurant is open late, until midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends! The back terrace is particularly pleasant.

A warm welcome tops the list of qualities of this well-known Hélécine restaurant. But a smile, a kind word and attentive service don't fill the stomachs of gourmands, so the menu comes to the rescue. If you're a gourmet, this is the place for you: grill, flammekuches, raclette and mussels as much as you can eat (weekdays and in season), while those with smaller appetites need look no further than the salads, which are also very tasty. The terrace is a delight in summer.

This brewery, housed in a restored former spinning mill, has all the cachet of an industrial space: large windows, exposed brickwork and a superb terrace to boot. Jean Rodriguez brews his beers here, while his son Nicolas is in the kitchen. The highlights of the menu: Belgian specialties (carbonnades, vol-au-vent) and meat dishes (pavé or Irish entrecôte). Nicolas went to good school (with his father, a former restaurateur, and at the hotel school in Namur), so he knows what he's doing!