The Belgian capital Brussels is a great city to visit, as there is plenty to see and explore. It is also a city with long-standing culinary traditions and most probably the traveller will want to experience some great tastes, besides the typical Belgian chocolates. For those who want to try the local food in Brussels there is one major piece of advice to follow and that is to avoid the tourist traps near their Brussels apartments and especially the area around the Grand Place. The best way to experience typical Belgian cuisine is to make some Belgian friends and be invited at their home of course. If however, you do not have such Belgian friends, there are some nice local restaurants to consider.
Grand Place Brussels
Those who want to taste the local Belgian food specialties like stoemp, mussels and frites, beer stew, etc. should check out the area of Sainte Catherine with its square and the seafood restaurant on the corner. The place is called Mer du Nord and it is close to the church. Here, they serve fresh seafood with white wine and the flavours are superb. This area is ideal if you want to stay in the central zone of Brussels, but it is definitely not cheap.
Another good place to consider if you want to try some good local food in Brussels is the restaurant Le Pre Sale near the same Sainte Catherine area. You will find rabbit with beer, mussels with frites, Eel in green sauce, as well as shrimp croquettes and horse steaks. Close to this place there is a lovely café called Café Roskam.
Rue des bouchers Brussels
Some other good restaurants, which however are in the central zone of Brussels and may be full of tourists, are the restaurants Au Vieux St. Martin, La Taverne du Passage, and also Aux Armes de Brussels and Chez Leon. Another good restaurant near the center is the Spinnekopke. A good way to experience the Belgian capital is to check out the bakery shop Le Pain Quotidien, which is furnished with big wooden tables where a tasty lunch or breakfast is served. The bread baked there is among the best in town and comes with a crunchy crust.
Another nice place to consider is the fancy place Mokafe, which is a coffee bar where one can get a tasty cup of coffee with a piece of cake or some pie. They also serve salads, sandwiches, home-made ice-cream, etc. Among the most famous places to buy Flemish frites is Maison Antoine, which serves the most tasty chips, thus be prepared to wait a long queue. In case you want to try mussels the best place to do so is Au Vieux Brussels, which is a charming restaurant where one can order mussels with white beer, with blue cheese or in a curry and there are also raw mussels with a white wine sauce. The restaurant also serves typical Brussels dishes that are not based on seafood. Other nice restaurants may be found here: http://www.citytrips-europe.com/brussels/restaurants
