The best restaurants Bruxelles - Brussel

There is a little Parisian air here and it is not for nothing, this bistronomic establishment claims to be part of this new French tradition that combines a relaxed atmosphere with a plate that is up to the task. All the codes are there: short menu (5 starters, main courses and desserts), a dish and lunch of the day, seasonal products and a beautiful list of favorite wines. Chef Olivier Morland has it all. An example of this philosophy? The farmhouse pork confit was like butter, with a beautiful sauce as it should be. On the counter side, we eat at the bar!

Eltin opened in a pretty Brussels house in 2023 (on the site of the former Tea Jolie). The new owners have inherited the cosy atmosphere of the place: tiled floor, huge ceiling, fireplace... The perfect place to enjoy a good cup of coffee or tea. The big change is the menu: here, Mediterranean cuisine reigns supreme: Chektchouka, garlic scampi, anchovy toast... But Eltin's brunch and tea time are in the pure British tradition, with clotted cream, sandwiches and pastries.

When you enter this room adorned with a pretty mosaic tile and the smell of the wood fire tickles your nose, you think you're going to have a good time because here, everything goes through the flame of the grill: meat, fish, vegetables ... the wood giving that little extra taste inimitable. At noon, we serve buns, a choice of grill or a dish of the week. In the evening, the menu becomes more sophisticated (Oedslach sirloin or smoked haddock) but no matter what time it is, the plates remain greedy and tasty (just like their terrible French toast).

Crab isn't the only thing on offer at the Crab Club, a small canteen-style establishment near Porte de Hal! Other seafood (crustaceans, shellfish, fish) and a few meats are lovingly handled by Yoth Ondara, a Nîmes chef of Thai origin. What characterizes the menu? Asian touches (sea bream with pak choi, duck with Chinese cabbage) and interesting land-sea combinations (glazed pork with octopus, mussels with sausage). A real treat at a fair price. In early 2022, the restaurant underwent a facelift, providing an opportunity to (re)discover it.

You know the smash burger, that burger that is smashed to extract the maximum of taste and that is crispy on the edges? Smash offers you these burgers, but not too junk food! The buns are made with spelt flour, the meat is Belgian and of rustic breed. Plus, it's organic. As for the toppings, a smash burger is simple: cheese, a little pickle or red onion, a leaf of lettuce, sauce and no more! Originality: they also offer a smash lobster. Vegan version with avocado too.

Just behind the Botanique, this small and cosy restaurant has been home to two gourmet ladies for over three decades. The creativity of the plate is matched only by the modesty of these two ladies, one in the kitchen, the other in the cellar and in service. Here, absolute priority is given to freshness and only seasonal products are prepared. If the vegetables are "forgotten", it is mainly because it is in this category that the gardener classifies them (to call them "found" would be much more accurate, since the time...).

The restaurant at the Manos Hotel is as sumptuous as the hotel itself. The cuisine is appreciated for its own sake, and the decor adds luxury to the tasting experience. The menu features classic French cuisine, sometimes Mediterranean, sometimes local (shrimp and chicory salads, sea bream fillet, eggplant caviar and chorizo...), with an abundance of spices. As for the wines, the very conventional menu is a perfect match for the dishes, adding a little extra soul. Too often, we hesitate to push open the doors of hotel restaurants.

Who would have thought that such a restaurant could be found so close to the university? And yet! At the Solbosch, one comes to taste lobster or grilled meat... cooked on pink Himalayan salt stone, which gives a different taste to the meat. The other speciality of the establishment is seafood; since the restaurant also has a bench of scaling, it could not be fresher. And as the chef, Renaud Beghin, is a great traveller, one is never safe from finding a little touch of exoticism in his menu.

Yen Pham took over the restaurant that was his parents' and gave it a real facelift. In this street between the Bourse and Saint-Géry, there is no shortage of Asian establishments but Yen has managed to stand out by proposing a fine Chinese-Vietnamese cuisine in a contemporary setting. You'll love the different baos as starters (with foie gras, glazed pork, scampi...) before daring to try a chicken leg with beans and chilli. But the trademark of Yin Chan is its original cocktails, whose ingredients evoke the Orient.

An iodized Mediterranean air floats through this district of Brussels, well endowed with fine addresses. We cross the inviting terrace to arrive in a somewhat bare room with beige and terracotta walls, but the shelves overflowing with bottles of wine, all natural, are enough to decorate. In the background, you can see the back terrace in Majorelle blue. The menu consists mainly of small dishes to share, with a focus on the sea (panisses, squid or mussels a la plancha, pork terrine and always a dessert). A no-frills address with a change of scenery.

Are you staying at the Hotel du Berger, the most sultry (and one of the most beautiful) of the Brussels hotels? Then you can continue your naughtiness at Fripon, the hotel's restaurant. The place has been reinvented following the Covid and has gone from being an Italian restaurant to a very Belgian one! You'll find perfectly executed classics such as shrimp croquettes, the good old stoemp, two kinds of American, including an astonishing trompe-l'oeil and a daring beer crème brûlée! As the hotel has kept its Art Deco cachet, the restaurant does the same.

The story of the restaurant is the story of a self-made man , Parfait Ebeng. Coming from Cameroon, he decided to take over a snack bar near the Parvis de Saint-Gilles. A fan of Roger Milla, he named his establishment after his idol and offered Cameroonian specialities. It's a success, and with good reason: in a relaxed atmosphere, they serve you chicken wings (grilled or barbecued), braised fish or goat or dishes with ndolé (a kind of spinach). Beware, the recipes are made just like over there and it often stings, but it's so good!

Since 1990, Dal Padrino has been delighting a Eurocrat clientele (given its location a stone's throw from the Commission) and local regulars in the plush atmosphere of a bourgeois house. The cuisine is refined, with fine proposals such as tagliolini with oyster mushrooms and bacon, swordfish with messinese sauce and truffle carpaccio. Not forgetting a Sardinian touch (fregola with clams and scampi and Sardinian ham and melon) that betrays the owners' origins. And if you still have room, wait until you've seen the dessert cart!

Open since the beginning of the century, Le Tournant is an indispensable beacon of good food in this neighbourhood. In an intimate bistro setting, you can see the open kitchen at the back. The menu gives pride of place to creativity. Amongst the specialities of Le Tournant, let's note the simmered dishes with influences from here or elsewhere (pork loin, beef cheek with Orval, duck with miso and wakame...). To accompany them, a very good list of natural wines from small French or Italian producers, met by the owners. Friendly, available and relaxed service.

A pleasant bar with the air of a Lyonnais "bouchon", with a family welcome and a solid cuisine that preserves the authenticity of the products without hiding them under confusing titles. Hake fillet from Saint-Jean-de-Luz, sea bass fillet a la plancha, braised veal cheeks, or even farm poultry, does this speak to you? Not forgetting the brilliant and authentic cassoulet of Castelnaudary (with Tarbais beans). You may come in by chance but you never leave disappointed. To be noted: the reasonably priced lunch worthy of the finest restaurants.

At Rino's, the setting is more contemporary than ever, with furniture and decoration in keeping with today's tastes, far from the usual transalpine clichés. But as for the menu, we are talking about a cuisine where the products of the Botte are magnified! For example, the spaghetti carbonara is prepared with pancetta and no cream is added! The establishment also offers delicious pizzas. Cesarino doesn't mess around with his restaurant! You'd almost forget that he set up the restaurant back in 2009, in the bustling Cimetière d'Ixelles district.

Contrary to what its name suggests, the Bier'cothèque is not just a bar reserved for beers. It's more like a small restaurant where it's good to put a few local dishes in your mouth, just to get you through the day or evening. Blanquette de veau (veal stew), mussels, american fries, salads, croquettes, croques and fish dish of the day on Friday. The "Bierco" is not original, but true and timeless. Just like the beer list which will of course delight the amateurs and specialists of the genre.

Let yourself be transported to an urban India where street-food stalls invade the sidewalks. The journey begins as soon as you enter: a two-storey restaurant where the first floor seems like a suspended balcony, all drenched in red and pink lights, filled with plants and various objects from over there (doors, tins, posters). On the menu: comforting dishes to share (butter chicken, lamb chutney...), a long series of vegetarian dishes (papadi chaat, butter paneer...), cocktails, and service as attentive as at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

" Food and tequila " is the slogan of Vérigoud, which revisits Mexican cuisine with a contemporary twist. The restaurant's decor is not marked "Mexican" and is even rather sober. Everything is articulated around the bar from where you can watch the cooks working. We browse the menu where the degree of spiciness is indicated by small peppers: chicken tostadas, red bean salad and we recommend the conchinita pibil with the home made tortillas. Nice assortment of tequilas, mezcals and delicious cocktails (especially the Mezcal Smash).

Philippe Absil wanted to recreate a little bit of Milan, the city he loves, not far from the Parc du Cinquantenaire. We find the pleasure of tasting a good "caffé" with a croissant, quickly done before going to work, to buy a panino to take away during the lunch break or to taste the pasta of the day or the dishes prepared by the chef Valerio for those who have more time... The menu is short but that allows the chef to concentrate on the essential. We take a seat under the gaze of Marlon Brando, perhaps around the large wooden table?

Madame Lhamo, a Tibetan, has named her little restaurant after the steamed ravioli, the momo... made of wheat flour. Next to that, you can have a soup (with beef or momo, precisely). Lhamo's cuisine is copious, but it also allows you to discover different flavours and the lunch formula is a good opportunity to have a look. Everything is prepared freshly and the ingredients are made according to the principles of sustainable food. And to keep with the ethics, the employees are former Tibetan political prisoners: we say bravo!

Part caterer, part restaurant, this Fleur d'oranger has been exhaling its Mediterranean flavours for over fifteen years in this rather residential neighbourhood (between Montgomery and Cinquantenaire). Open at noon and often fully booked, one goes there for a lunch (soup + meat or fish or veggie) or for the tempting salad bar. The latter offers a dozen specialities and various salads of Mediterranean or Moroccan inspiration. It's good, healthy, inventive, respects the seasonality of the ingredients and is not expensive. All dishes are available to take away.

Near the Churchill tram stop in Uccle and the Montjoie park, Chez Musette is a charming bistro where, in addition to drinking, you can eat. The place is really cosy with all the decoration that has been found. From midday, you come to have a coffee, to eat (the menu is based on fresh products and short circuit with only 3 starters, main courses and dessert). At aperitif time, beers, wines and cocktails are available as well as plates to share, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. A real neighbourhood bistro!

After a great start, this restaurant in the south of the city has reworked its image with its new chef, Romain Longchamps. Feline to the tip of its velvet armchairs, Bagheera blends a jungle decor bathed in subdued light with the interior of a Belle Époque house. To start, we choose a well-balanced cocktail while waiting for the plates. These are laid out to perfection, as is the signature dish (Muscovy duck cooked on the trunk, bigarade sauce, surfing the sweet-savory line). After service, tables and armchairs are pushed aside for dancing.

Here's a Hawaiian poké bowls cantine a stone's throw from Louise and Châtelain. We like the personalized, cosy feel of the place, with surfboards on the bar, photos and a very Hawaiian decor, with cushions on the benches. Behind the counter, you can compose your own bowl or choose one already made, like the Maguro (with tuna, shoyu and sesame, avocado, mango, edamame, pickled ginger, mint and sriracha mayo). The Komo salad for starters is vegetarian and excellent. Smoothie bowls are also available for breakfast.

Nightshop is exactly the kind of address that's right for the times. In this former garage, Jocasta Allwood has created her "dining cellar" project, consisting of a room and a small grocery corner. The rough concrete contrasts nicely with the candlelight, which comes into its own in the evening. The menu is short and very plant-based, with a very pure and subtle treatment of products. Jocasta is a sommelier, so the natural wines are particularly well-chosen and off the beaten track, which you can take to the nightshop.

More than just a wine bar, Picpoul is a true neighborhood restaurant. Owner Marc Combas is both wine merchant and chef. It's he who carefully prepares, by instinct, the few dishes on the menu, which change regularly. During our visit, he had smoked iberico ribs himself, full of flavor and tender as butter, and what can we say about the chocolate mousse, hazelnut slivers and smoked salt (the signature dessert)? The wines here are all natural, and Lou, the sommelier, will be happy to advise you. A place we love!

The name has a double meaning: barge, to evoke the old quays where the restaurant is located, or is it the grain of folly of Grégoire Gillaert (the chef) and Barbara Hoonaert (the sommelier). The very raw room (exposed brick walls, wooden tables) fits in well with the philosophy of the chef (who can be seen cooking behind glass): to highlight the nature of each product, according to the seasons. The result is colorful, gourmet dishes that are just right. The wines selected by Marie Houx, the new sommelier, also hit the mark.

Damien Vanderhoeven's neighborhood restaurant, a member of the Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe, has become a fine gastronomic establishment with a national reputation. His cuisine is creative, modern, based on seasonal products, flirting with Japanese gastronomy... and probably a bit too expensive for small budgets. Inspired by painting, he seems to have fun projecting colors on the plate like an artist. Cooking classes to try to reproduce his works at home. And always the smile of Agnes to punctuate the service..

Manhattan ambience (like the name of this Chairman's district) in this classy brasserie, all in black, with orange banquettes, circle-shaped light fittings and large windows. The menu takes you around the world: burger, green curry, linguine alle vongole, schnitzel and that good old American filet. Honest cooking, fast and attentive service, especially at lunchtime when there are a lot of offices around. It's at cocktail hour that the Chairman really comes into its own. A good idea after a shopping spree on Rue Neuve.

A small neighborhood restaurant opened in 2023, Crush already has its regulars, especially at lunchtime. Is it its emerald walls and wooden furniture? Its short but effective menu of Franco-Belgian cuisine? Or its lunch menu that highlights seasonal produce? We're also very partial to the friendly, smiling service provided by Aurélie (the partner of chef Jonathan, an ex-Counter des Galeries employee). Add to that a well-thought-out wine list and one of the prettiest terraces in the city center, overlooking the Béguinage church.

Nancy Delsanne and Grégory Huon decided to open their wine bar and grocery store in one of the center's most charming neighborhoods, the Saint-Jacques district, before expanding into the building next door to open their restaurant. Light tones (straw yellow and sage green), soft lighting, fine but well-stocked plates and carefully selected wines are the winning recipe for this establishment where Italy and Belgium meet in the kitchen (cacio e pepe squash gnocchi, Brussels trout, Sandefjord sauce). Bistronomy in all its glory!

Through his typical Moroccan cuisine, Hassan takes us on a gastronomic and culinary journey. In 2000, he created this restaurant in his image: a picturesque setting and an authentic decoration, a simple and qualitative cuisine, a family atmosphere. Hassan focuses mainly on couscous and tajines, but he also offers snack food (grilled dishes, chips, durums, falafel...). As for the restaurant, the prices are unbeatable. Facing the Calvoet station, Hassan invites his customers to a trip to the Moroccan South. A reference in Brussels.

In 2022, Le Coq en Pâte celebrated a double anniversary: the 50th anniversary of the opening of the restaurant by the Bacchetta family and the 20th anniversary of the takeover by their son Olivier, who is also the chef. A nice longevity for an Italian restaurant that leans resolutely towards the gastro side of Italian cuisine. The setting is warm and relaxed but it is in the plate that the creativity of the chef is discovered: a play of colors, textures and flavors and dishes prepared with precision. We fall for the 30 month old parmesan ravioli or the veal sweetbreads with morels.