The best bistros and brasseries Wallonie

Thierry Van Damme, who collects fine breweries like others collect classic cars, launched this one with his partner Michel Grenier. A brasserie overlooking the Meuse at the foot of the Luxembourg Bridge, it boasts a shellfish bench (oysters, mussels, clams, langoustines, North Sea shrimps...). The menu features regional classics: croquettes crevettes, entrecôte, américain, sole meunière, vol au vent... Afternoon drinks service only. In fine weather, superb outdoor terrace.

A local classic, Restaurant Léo has been housed in a train carriage in the center of Bastogne since 1946! In the bistro, you can come just for a drink, while nibbling on snacks to enjoy the setting. The restaurant serves good local brasserie cuisine (dumplings in tomato sauce, sauerkraut...), as well as pizzas and more elaborate specialities using noble seasonal ingredients: game, scallop risotto, homemade shrimp croquettes, ravioli with foie gras...

Owned by the Trappist beers of Chimay, the Auberge represents the beers and cheeses of the same name in the store or on the menu. A must-see destination, the Auberge offers a restaurant with Chimay flavors, a brewery, a boutique, a hotel and the famous Chimay Experience Museum. In addition to the numerous dishes cooked with the local Trappist, Poteaupré is a privileged place to discover the particular vintages and almost all the Chimay on cask. To digest all this, several walks start from the inn.

This is one of the most pleasant addresses with its large terrace on the banks of the Meuse in the summer. At the head of the updated sign, Max Guldentops and Gregory Franchi. Here the decoration is modern, very clean and bright, offering an absolute view of the river. A place that offers dishes ranging from the simplest brasserie dishes (prepared American, scampi friti, vitello tonato...) to the noblest such as lobster or cod back and other fresh fish, so that you can open their menu to all wallets and desires.

At the entrance to the city, the tavern offers a variety of menus and daily specials. Pan-fried Irish entrecôte, vol-au-vent, homemade meatballs and old-fashioned knuckle of pork are just a few of the must-tries served at Champs-Élysées. Seafood is also a highlight. In fact, everything is homemade, in keeping with the traditions of an authentic brasserie. The owner is a sommelier by passion, and it's a pleasure to discuss wines with him. The dining room and veranda are spacious, as is the terrace, heated in winter and shaded in summer.

Jean-Baptiste and his team manage this magnificent old country house (^18th-century stonework). In a green setting in Soiron, one of the twenty most beautiful villages in Wallonia. Having worked for some of the world's top chefs, the chef now offers a new take on traditional, seasonal cuisine. The menu includes homemade croquettes, crispy sweetbreads with 5-spice caramel, grilled Holstein rib steak and pan-fried prawns with fresh herbs. For dessert, don't miss the authentic Liège coffee with Walloon peket.

Annual closure from mid-June to mid-July Reduction of 20 % to take away Restaurant since 51 years Traditional cooking, service and kitchen of quality American prepared in room, mussels re-elected in season, meats of 1st choice Old dishes still à la carte: eel, calf's head to the green and calf brain

This restaurant-brasserie, with its contemporary furnishings, is housed in a perfectly renovated former grain market. The premises are pleasant, bordering the Sambre and overlooking the Citadelle, and popular with tourists in fine weather, especially on the terrace. The menu features regional and local cuisine in a busy atmosphere. A tempting selection: shrimp croquettes, veal bread à la namuroise, braised sweetbreads, salmon au gratin or linguine with scampi. Sauces are plentiful, so ask for them on the side.

Here, the menu oscillates between local and refined cuisine, following seasonal trends. Classics include roast camembert and ham with old-fashioned mustard. Salads and pastas complete the menu, with a variety of suggestions that can be accompanied by regional beers. A lively place, it sometimes hosts concert evenings in an artistic setting, depending on the artist's work on display. An ideal spot for a good time, the brasserie is located near the famous stag sculpture, L'Appel de la forêt.

The restaurant offers authentic bistro cuisine using local products. You will find meats, fish (cod or sole in season) as well as some burgers. For dessert, the chocolate fondant with a minute cooking is a success. Every lunchtime, a small price formula is proposed. Not forgetting the wide choice of beers. Sébastien, the friendly owner, will give you a very warm welcome. Many events are organised throughout the year. The agenda is updated on Facebook.

Nestled on Chimay's Grand-Place, where it's always a pleasure to stroll, the Grand Café is an ideal place to stop for a drink or a bite to eat: burgers, fresh pastas, pizzas and salads (the table's strong point), at reasonable prices and in gargantuan quantities. Escavèche is also on the menu. Not great cuisine here, but a good place to stop after a visit to the château, 150 metres away. What's more, its gigantic summer terrace is undoubtedly the most beautiful in the city center, so you might as well make the most of it!

The Brasserie Binchoise was founded in 1986, but the Brasserie tavern arrived 14 years later. Here, you can taste and buy the beers brewed on the premises, and take a guided tour of the Brasserie, but you can also eat and drink. The menu features regional brewery dishes: shrimp croquettes, ham on the bone, onglet, entrecôte bûcheron... The dishes are rustic, hearty and generous. Sauce brasseur recommended, of course. In short, the assurance that you won't die of hunger or thirst, and that you'll leave satisfied.

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.

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.

This is the gourmet brewery of the Hostellerie du Peiffeschof. In the kitchen, Miguel Giltaire follows the seasons and alternates traditional recipes in the grandmother's way and creations of the moment. No fixed card, nothing but inspiration. The chef is sometimes accompanied by Thierry Neyens, head of the Hostellerie, who offers you "his" wine list from over 500 labels. A reference in the region. This table d'hôtes has only a few tables and a nice friendly fireplace, so reversion is recommended.

Thanks to its independent management, the EHN (Eau d'Heure Nautique) clubhouse is now open to all. And we're not going to complain. The place is particularly pleasant, with an outdoor terrace adorned with rustic tables and benches, and an indoor terrace overlooking the small marina and lake. On the menu at any time of day: tagliatas, entrecôtes, meatballs with homemade tomato sauce, filet américain, burgers, pastas and salads, a jumbled menu of dishes that aren't too fancy, but are good, hearty and reasonably priced.

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.

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.